ARL Statistics 2007-2008

Kyrillidou, Martha; Bland, Les

Research Library Trends Tables and Graphs · 7
Research Library Trends Tables and Graphs

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ARL Statistics 2007-2008 resources

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Research Library Trends Tables and Graphs · 7
Research Library Trends Tables and Graphs

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6 · ARL Statistics 2007–2008
Change in Counting Serials
For the second year in a row the definition of counting serials in the ARL Statistics is now counting serial titles. As a result
the trend line of publishing serial cost per subscription is being discontinued and eventually a new one will emerge as
we collect annual data on serial titles. This change, though simple at first glance, is very important as it makes the concept
of serials more meaningful in the electronic environment.
What prompted this change? In earlier years the instructions for reporting serials were that libraries report the “total
number of subscriptions, not titles, but electronic serials acquired as part of an aggregated package (such as MUSE or
Academic’s IDEAL) were to be counted by title.” Directors and other staff have expressed concern that the serials count
was problematic since many libraries engage in multiple consortia arrangements and the serials count was inflated
by duplicate titles held in multiple packages. The Statistics and Assessment Committee determined that a new way of
counting serials focusing on titles would provide better descriptive data reflecting the true scope of the content provided
by research libraries. A pilot at various ARL libraries demonstrated the feasibility of the new method.
In the electronic environment once you own or lease a title, it is often accessible by all users so a more authentic
descriptive statistic for the scope of the content is titles rather than subscriptions. A unique title count favors broader
coverage. Any duplication of those titles through packages, aggregations, bundles, etc., becomes more a management
issue. The new definition asks that titles be reported as electronic if available both in print and electronic formats
and they be reported as purchased if available both through purchased and non-purchased arrangements. So, if a
title appears in both print and electronic form and a library has acquired it through several different providers, it
would be counted as one title. Training events were delivered last fall to ensure that there is a well-grounded, shared
understanding of the new definitions.
The outcome has been successful as we have more libraries reporting serials titles than they ever managed to report
serial subscriptions indicating that the new definition is moving us into the right direction of having data that are both
collectable and useful. However, we had to delete all earlier trend lines that were based on serial subscriptions. A variety
of resources have been developed for libraries to consult as they implemented the change and they are available through
http://www.arl.org/stats/annualsurveys/arlstats/07statmail.shtml.
This year, 2007–2008, we changed the categories of serials reported under “serials titles currently received but not
purchased.” The subcategories are now: (a) consortial, (b) freely accessible, (c) print (and other formats) -exchanges, gifts,
etc., and (d) government documents. These categories are more meaningful in the context of “serials titles received” as
they emphasize major components of that concept.

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ARL Statistics 2007-2008 resources

8 · ARL Statistics 2007–2008
Table 1
Service Trends in ARL Libraries, 1991–2008
Median Values for Time-Series Trends
Year ILL:
Borrowed
Group
Pres.
Participants
In Pres.
Reference
Trans.
Initial
Circ.
Total
Circ.
Ratio of Circ.
Init./Tot.
Total
Staff
Total
Students
(Libraries) (103) (84) (82) (79) (36) (80) (34) (105) (103)
1991 10,397 508 7,137 125,103 296,964 509,673 1.26 271 18,290
1992 11,362 526 7,154 132,549 342,989 554,579 1.27 265 18,273
1993 12,489 616 7,688 136,115 343,293 568,628 1.32 262 18,450
1994 14,007 568 7,831 147,582 369,996 572,749 1.31 264 18,305
1995 14,472 687 8,461 147,023 347,144 578,989 1.32 267 18,209
1996 15,278 719 8,410 155,336 336,481 560,244 1.39 264 18,320
1997 16,264 687 9,218 149,659 348,157 542,438 1.37 273 18,166
1998 17,656 698 9,462 132,850 354,924 514,574 1.37 273 18,335
1999 18,942 711 9,406 128,696 300,923 514,087 1.38 277 18,609
2000 20,475 722 9,596 115,636 273,231 482,542 1.42 267 18,908
2001 21,902 669 10,121 104,409 265,195 467,277 1.48 269 19,102
2002 21,339 776 11,350 95,910 251,146 462,223 1.51 279 19,925
2003 22,146 806 12,516 89,150 248,689 479,733 1.57 277 21,132
2004 25,737 757 12,864 84,546 261,526 496,369 1.60 273 21,562
2005 25,729 803 13,782 65,168 250,971 473,216 1.58 267 22,047
2006 27,412 833 13,051 67,697 267,213 466,403 1.52 267 22,618
2007 26,813 830 14,417 61,703 222,037 456,597 1.59 266 22,874
2008 27,822 803 15,480 58,763 221,144 429,626 1.59 260 22,762
Average annual
%change
6.0% 2.7% 4.7% -4.3% -1.7 -1.0 1.4% -0.2 1.3%
Table 1 presents data about select public service activities such as circulation (initial and total), reference transactions, library
instruction (group presentations and participants in these presentations), and interlibrary borrowing and lending. As seen in
table 1, the median of group presentations dropped again during 2007–2008. However, the number of participants increased
with a median of 15,480 for the typical research library. Perhaps what is of most interest is that by 2008 there were more than
double the participants compared to 1991, while there is only a 20 percent difference in the number of students between 1991
and 2008 (see Graph 1).

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