ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 760 / C&RL News ■ October 1999 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news How you can get the results by H ugh Thom pson A CRL has just co m p leted th e first y ear o f its c o m p re h e n s iv e statistics-g ath erin g project, serving academ ic libraries at all els th ro u g h o u t the U nited States a n d Canada. A lthough th e re sp o n se rate w as w ell b elo w 100%, th e A cadem ic Libraries Trends a n d Sta­ tistics w as ju d g ed highly successful for a n ew project, w ith just o v er 34% o f th e 3,000 insti­ tutions resp o n d in g to letters their inviting par­ ticipation. W h y is A C R L d o in g th is su rv e y ? W ith a n u m b e r o f o th e r library surveys being carried out, w h y did ACRL feel th at an o th e r survey w as necessary? William Miller, direc­ to r o f libraries at Florida Atlantic University an d chair o f th e advisory com m ittee for the project, said, “Many academ ic librarians have long felt th e n e e d for m ore cu rren t an d com ­ prehensive data ab o u t o ther libraries than w as easily accessible.” ACRL w as attem pting to ad d ress several issues w ith its survey. T he first w as th e tim ely availability o f library statistics. To sh o rten the com pilation time, th e d ata w as g ath ered by u se o f th e Web. This re d u c e d b o th th e tim e a n d th e m ailing ex p en ses re q u ire d for b o th ACRL an d th e respondents. T he data w as also in electronic form as so o n as it w as g ath ered a n d thus co u ld b e co m p iled a n d reform atted immediately. A nother issue w as to pro v id e data fo r th e full ra n g e o f in stitu tio n s. M any h a v e felt lev­u n d e rs e rv e d b y existing surveys, m a n y o f w hich serve lim ited segm ents o f th e academ ic library universe. T h ere w as very g o o d re p re ­ sen tatio n in all four C arnegie Classifications and, as the survey becom es b etter k n o w n an d v alu ed in su cceed in g years, ACRL h o p e s that participation will increase significantly. Finally, ACRL p lan s to c o n d u c t th e survey o n a n an n u al basis. This will pro v id e current data w ith in creased relevance to th e various research a n d p ro p o sals fo r w h ich it is b ein g cited. H o w ca n th e re su lt s b e o b ta in e d ? ACRL h a s p u b lis h e d th e s u rv e y re s u lts in tw o form ats: CD-ROM a n d p rin t. T h e tra ­ d itio n a l p a p e r v e rs io n is in tw o v o lu m e s: o n e listin g th e A sso ciate o f A rts C arn eg ie C la s s ific a tio n a n d th e o t h e r lis tin g th e D o c to ra l/M a ste r’s /B a c c a la u re a te classifica­ tio n s . E ach lists th e c o m p le te d a ta a n d v a rio u s su m m a ry tab les. T h e A ssociate o f Arts v o lu m e (ISBN 0- 8389-8069-4, 135p.) is $75 ($65 for ACRL m em b ers) an d th e D octoral/M aster’s/B acca- lau reate volum e (ISBN 0-8389-8070-8, 315p.) is $135 ($115 for ACRL m em bers). T hey can b e o rd e re d from ALA O rd er Fulfillm ent, 155 N. W acker Drive, C hicago, IL 60606; (800) About the author Hugh Thompson is ACRL director o f publications, e-mail: hthompson@ ala.org ACRL wraps up Year 1 o f Academ ic Library Statistics Project mailto:hthompson@ala.org C&RL News ■ October 1999 / 761 545-2433, p ress 7. T he CD c o n ta in s th e c o m ­ p lete d a ta b a se a n d an extensive capability for searching across differ­ en t param eters specified by th e u se r an d n u m er­ ous o ptions for graphi­ cal d isp lay o f selected data. It is com m ercially available from M anage­ m ent Dynamics, 175 N. F reed o m Blvd., Provo, UT 84601; (8 0 1 ) 371- 9222. W h at is u p n e x t? The data-gathering phase fo r th e n e w su rv e y is planned for N ovem ber to D e c e m b e r 1999, w ith publication o f results by April 2000. T he statistics will cover th e fiscal year en d in g a ro u n d Ju n e 30, 1999. In addition, a n u m b e r o f trends questions will b e a d d e d — questions that address cur­ rent developm ents result­ ing from n ew technology o r changing conditions in th e aca d e m ic e n v iro n ­ ment. Trends questions in the 1999 survey will in­ clude institutional prac­ tices w ith respect to aca­ demic or faculty status for librarians an d questions that will identify th e to ­ tal n u m b er o f electronic journals to w hich librar­ ies offer access as a re­ sult o f the various su b ­ s c rip tio n serv ices th e y are purchasing. “We are hoping for a significant increase in par­ ticipation,” says Miller. “As the project continues and b e c o m e s m o re w id e ly k n ow n a n d valued in future years, additional institutions will w ish to b e included, w hich in tu rn will e n h a n c e th e c o m p reh en siv en ess a n d value o f the d a ta .” ■ 762 / C&RL News ■ October 1999 Charlemagne (7 42-814), benefactor, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris C&RL News ■ October 1999 / 763 I N F O R M A T I O N I N T E G R I T Y i n t e l l i g e n t l y o r g a n i z e d r e l e v a n t p u r e a c c u r a t e c u r r e n t b a l a n c e d f a i r In every world-class library P E O P L E M A K E T H E D I F F E R E N C E In the past, it took the likes o f kings, diplomats or presidents to create a great library. 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