WAM link checker

[Virginia Scheschy <scheschy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I was wondering how folks might be dealing with vendor use statistics when
an automatic link checker is employed.

Our WAM link checker is set at the system default and does a weekly check
on several thousand URLs in our bib records.  We were feeling pretty smug
about the level and breadth of usage of our electronic resources (as
reported by vendor statistics).  Then we realized that every time the link
checker is run it establishes a connection or use and increments the usage
statistics.  We're now running our link checker monthly, and even at that
will have to factor this in when evaluating use statistics.  

Maybe we're being unduly pessimistic, but we're also wondering if higher
use statistics could translate to increased charges by the database
vendor.  We have links to over 1,000 Elsevier titles, and if we ran a
weekly check on those, it would translate to well over 50,000 apparent
uses per year.

I was also informed by ProQuest that they must pay royalties to some
publishers based on use.  This means that everytime a link checker is run
against that publisher's title, they get paid.  

What's a librarian to do?

Virginia