There is more work involved in idenifying a distinct user. David Skole illustrated the important difference between metrics and evaluation. He recalled an example from Glassmeier. In a medical experiment if 15 of 25 patients die after taking a particular medication, that statistic represents a metric. That is, a metric is simply the numbers.
Evaluation goes much deeper.
Evaluation attempts to figure out whether or not the medication actually caused all of the deaths or whether other circumstances were at work. Dave cited an example from the Federation. Evaluation is about asking how many of those hits are distinct users. The big question this group has to answer is how to develop a metrics and evaluation plan that best quantifies the success of the Federation experiment. John Townshend pointed out that another showcase is planned for Category II ESIPs in June.