The Cookie Trail - Where is it Leading Us? Can We Measure Effectiveness without Infringing Privacy?

The increased focus on privacy and restrictions on cookie usage is having a definite effect on what can or can't be done with academic content. Publishers want to see how their content is used. Libraries want to track usage but also to respect user privacy. What we want for our own content may not be the same as what we demand from other people's content. Many organizations that provide recommendations, for example, use third-party cookies. These third-party cookies are being forbidden, and publishers should be aware of the implications. For example, a vendor may currently collect data on society members and use that data to provide targeted pharma-related adverts. With all this in mind, can we implement tools for auditing our site performance without infringing privacy regulations? While site audits have been widespread for e-commerce sites for years, it is desirable to audit the recommendation and discovery capability of an academic site. Can we identify the metrics of success for recommendations for our users without infringing privacy? How can we effectively measure site engagement when the customers don't purchase anything? Topics covered will include the use (and misuse) of APIs to enhance and measure the site's effectiveness. || Learning Level: Foundational || Speakers: Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe; Chirag Jay Patel; Tim Lloyd; Amanda Ferrante