Explore Subscription Catalogue Report

Overview

Provides publishers with insight into their Explore subscriptions, related assets, risks of asset availability and the countdown to renewal. Includes institution-specific subscription details such as concurrent users, integration type, subscription assets and asset availability.

 

Key Questions This Report Answers

  • Which of my Explore subscriptions are active, upcoming or expired, and which are approaching renewal?

  • Which of my assets tied to a subscription are Limited or Out of Distribution and could put that subscription at risk?

  • What are the key contract terms – concurrent users, integration type, borrow duration, cost – for a given subscription?


How to Use This Report

  1. Start with the filters – The report defaults to 'Active' subscriptions. Narrow by Subscription Availability to isolate at-risk or renewal-flagged subscriptions, or by Institution, Institution Country or Asset Publisher to scope to a specific market or company.

  2. Interpret the results – The tiles at the top summarise active subscriptions, subscriptions with at-risk assets and subscriptions expiring in the next twelve, six and three months (each a cumulative count). The detail table below lists subscription- and asset-level information.

  3. Take action – Use a Subscription Availability of 'At Risk' or 'Renewal - X months' to flag subscriptions that may need an Off Sale Date update or renewal outreach.

💡 Tip: Filter Institution Country to your operating region to see fulfilment, buy/sell and marketplace collections relevant to you.

Filters

Filter Name

Description

Required?

Default Value

Example Values

Subscription Status

Status for the subscription from the Explore application

No

Active

'Active', 'Expired', 'Upcoming'

Subscription Availability

Actionable insights related to all subscriptions owned by the system user

No

(none)

'At Risk', 'Available', 'Renewal – 6 months'

Institution

Name of the institution (Manage company name)

No

All

(institution name)

Institution Country

Country the institution is located in (two-character code)

No

All

'US', 'CA'

Asset Publisher

Publisher of the asset (Manage company name)

No

All

(auto-scoped to your company)

Asset Status

Distribution status of the asset (from Manage)

No

All

'In Inventory', 'Limited Distribution', 'Out of Distribution'

Subscription Start Date

Date when the subscription starts

No

(none)

date range, relative date or specific date

Subscription End Date

Date the subscription ends

No

(none)

date range, relative date or specific date


Tiles

ℹ️ Tiles are numbered based on navigation from top to bottom, left to right.
 

Tile Name

Description

1

Active Subscriptions

Count of currently active subscriptions, with no renewal pending in the next 12 months.

2

Subscriptions with At-Risk Assets

Subset count of active subscriptions where at least one asset holds an Asset Availability Status of 'Limited Distribution' or 'Out of Distribution'.

3

Subscriptions Expiring in Next 12 Months

Count of active subscriptions with an end date within the next 12 months. Cumulative – includes the subscriptions in the next two tiles.

4

Subscriptions Expiring in Next Six Months

Count of active subscriptions with an end date within the next six months. Cumulative – includes the subscriptions in the next tile.

5

Subscriptions Expiring in Next Three Months

Count of active subscriptions with an end date within the next three months.

 
Report Actions: No drill-down actions are currently configured for this report.

Fields & Metrics

Field Name

Description

Data Type

Example Value

Subscription Status

Status for the subscription from the Explore application. Values: Active (start date past, end date future), Expired (end date past), Upcoming (start date future).

text

'Active'

Subscription Availability

Actionable insight on the subscription: At Risk (an asset is Out/Limited Distribution with no or later Off Sale Date), Available, Renewal - No. of months (Active subscription ending within 3/6/12 months) or Unavailable (Expired).

text

'Renewal - 6 months'

Subscription ID

Subscription VBID, Asset VBID (for single title sales) or Transaction ID (for Marketplace transactions)

text

'12345'

Subscription Name

Name of the subscription within Explore

text

'Sample Subscription'

Institution

Name of the institution (Manage company name)

text

'Sample University'

Institution Country

Country the institution is located in (two-character code)

text

'US'

Subscription Start Date

Date when the subscription begins

Date

'2026-01-01'

Subscription End Date

Date the subscription ends

Date

'2026-12-31'

Number of Concurrent Users

Amount of concurrent users allowed by the subscription terms

Number

'5'

Integration Type

Type of integration used by the institution

text

'SSO'

Subscription Borrow Duration

Amount of time allowed to borrow items within the subscription

text

'14 days'

Subscription Cost

Agreed-upon cost for the subscription

Number

'1,000.00'

Subscription Cost Currency

Currency type for the Subscription Cost

text

'USD'

Asset VBID

VBID representing a specific asset within a subscription (from Manage)

text

'V12345'

Asset Status

Distribution status of the asset (from Manage)

text

'Limited Distribution'

Asset Off Sale Date

Date an asset will be moved to ‘Out of Distribution’ (when available)

Date

'2026-12-31'

Asset Item Name

Item Name associated with the asset

text

'Sample Textbook Title'

Asset Edition

Edition associated with the asset

text

'3rd Edition'

Asset Author(s)

Author name(s) associated with the asset

text

'Jane Sample'

Asset Publisher

Publisher company name associated with the asset (Manage company name)

text

(your company name)

Report Actions: No drill-down actions are currently configured for this report.
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why don't I see all of my subscriptions in this report?
A: The report automatically filters to subscriptions associated with your company. For fulfilment, scoping is based on the subscription owner; for buy/sell or marketplace, it's based on the asset owner. Confirm that your system user's company associations in Manage are correct.

Q: Why can't I match a renewed subscription back to its prior contract?
A: VitalSource can't provide subscription-to-subscription analysis. Renewals are frequently issued under a new Subscription ID and may not carry the identical asset list from one contract term to the next, so there's no reliable way to confirm a match.

Q: What does 'Renewal - X months' mean under Subscription Availability?
A: It flags an Active subscription whose end date falls within the next three, six or 12 months. The flag updates as the end date approaches (12 → 6 → 3 months) and the subscription remains on the report until its end date passes, at which point it moves to 'Unavailable.'

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