1. Collecting Library Statistics for Management Decision-making
Sarah Aerni
Special Projects Librarian
University of Pittsburgh
12 April 2005

2. Overview of this Presentation
Summary of major U.S. library organizations to whom we report statistics.
An introduction to the statistics we keep.
Some examples of how these numbers are interpreted.
A discussion of how statistics are kept for Wuhan University libraries and for other libraries in China.

3. People and Organizations to whom we report Statistics
American Library Association (ALA)
Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
The Board of Directors of the University of Pittsburgh

4. Association of Research Libraries
The main library organization who collects statistics on research libraries
It has 123 members, of which 113 are university libraries.
There are 16 Canadian libraries and 107 U.S. Research Institutions.

5. ARL Statistics
Statistics have been collected and published annually for the members of ARL since
These data are available on the Web at:
There are also annual statistics for university libraries for the years that were collected by James Gerould.

6. Standards for Library Statistics
There is a standard for library statistics (NISO Z ) that is used by ARL.
The standards are modified slightly to accommodate electronic resources.
Problems with adhering to, and variations from, the standard are common in libraries.

7. Types of Data reported to ARL
Counts of materials (print and electronic)
Counts of Services provided
Expenditures
Demographics of the library, university and student body
LibQual survey measures service gaps

8. Counts of Materials (print and electronic)
Volumes in library
Volumes added in most recent year
Current Serials purchased
Microform units held
Audio and Video (film) materials
Archives and Manuscripts

9. Counts of Services Provided
Library presentations to groups
Participants in group presentations
Reference Transactions
Initial Circulation Transactions
Total Circulation Transactions
Inter-library loan (items loaned and items borrowed)

10. Expenditures
Monographs
Current Serials
Binding of materials
Salaries and Wages
Other operating expenditures
Total library expenditures

11. Demographic Information
Number of library employees
Number of students at the University (broken down by undergraduate & graduate)
Number of faculty at the University
Full-time and part-time students

12. What can you do with these numbers?
Trends Analysis – looks at how your library has changed over time.
Comparative Benchmarking – compares your library to certain other libraries. The selection of the comparison partners is an important decision to consider.
Longitudinal Analysis – evaluates your library compared to others over time.

13. LibQual+
Survey designed to measure library users perceptions of service quality. It measures the gaps between the desired, perceived and minimum expectations of service.
In 2003, over 300 libraries participated.
Developed by the ARL New Measures Initiatives Program.

14. LibQual+
25 core questions make up the main survey, and they deal with these themes: effect of service, library as place, personal control and access to information.
A “gap analysis” is sent to you as a result. Your library receives individual data, and some summary data for benchmarking purposes.

15. For more information
ARL Statistics Compiled and Edited by Martha Kyrillidou and Mark Young. ARL: Washington DC, 2004.
“Library Assessment as a Collaborative Enterprise” Martha Kyrillidou. Resource Sharing and Information Networks special issue (preprint from 9/7/2004).

16. Discussion and Questions
How are library statistics collected at the library here at Wuhan University?
Are these numbers reported to anyone else outside the library? To whom?
How do you collaborate with other libraries on data standards?
What types of analysis do you do with the numbers?
What else could we investigate to test how libraries are performing?

17. Thank you very much for coming and participating today!