62 ARL Statistics Questionnaire Instructions and Worksheet
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© 2015 Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC
Question 3. Basis of Volume Count. A physical count is a piece count a bibliographic count is a catalog record
count.
Question 4. E-books. Report the number of electronic books held. Include electronic theses and dissertations.
This number is a subset of Volumes Held reported in Q2. Exclude electronic serials and other virtual serial
volumes. See the definition of Volumes Held above for more guidance.
EXPENDITURES:
Questions 6-12. Expenditures. Report all expenditures of funds that come to the library from the regular
institutional budget, and from sources such as research grants, special projects, gifts and endowments, and fees
for service. (For Salaries and wages include non-library funds see specific instructions below). Do not report
encumbrances of funds that have not yet been expended. Canadian libraries should report expenditures in
Canadian dollars. (For your information, if interested in determining figures in U.S. dollars, divide Canadian
dollar amounts by 1.1739, the average monthly noon exchange rate published in the Bank of Canada Review for
the period July 2014-June 2015). Please round figures to the nearest dollar.
Report figures for the following categories of expenditures:
Question 7. Total Library Materials Expenditures.
Question 7a. One time library materials expenditures. Report expenditures for all library materials that are
non-subscription, one-time, or monographic in nature include expenditures for software and machine-readable
materials considered part of the collections. Examples include periodical backfiles, literature collections, one-time
costs for JSTOR membership, etc.
Question 7b. Ongoing library materials expenditures. Report subscription expenditures (or those which are
expected to be ongoing commitments) for serial and other publications include online searches of remote
databases such as OCLC FirstSearch®, DIALOG®, Lexis-Nexis®, etc. Examples include paid subscriptions for print
and electronic journals and indexes/abstracts available via the Internet, CD-ROM serials, and annual access fees
for resources purchased on a “one-time” basis, such as literature collections, JSTOR membership, etc.
Question 7c. Collection support. Include miscellaneous expenditures as well as document delivery/interlibrary
loan. Include materials funds expenditures not included in questions (7a)-(7b), e.g., expenditures for bibliographic
utilities, literature searching, security devices, memberships for the purposes of publications, etc. Please list
categories, with amounts, in a footnote. Note: If your library does not use materials funds for non-materials
expenditures—i.e., if those expenditures are included in “Other Operating Expenditures”— report 0. Include all
Contract Binding expenditures – that is only contract expenditures for binding done outside the library. If all
binding is done in-house, state this fact and give in-house expenditures in a footnote do not include personnel
expenditures in this question. Some computer hardware and software expenditures may be reported here if they
are expended from collection funds.
Question 8. Salaries and wages. Exclude fringe benefits. If professional, support staff and student salaries cannot
be separated, check the Manual Override box and enter the total.
Question 8c. Salaries and wages: Student Assistants. Report 100% of student wages regardless of budgetary
source of funds. Include federal and local funds for work study students.
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© 2015 Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC
Question 3. Basis of Volume Count. A physical count is a piece count a bibliographic count is a catalog record
count.
Question 4. E-books. Report the number of electronic books held. Include electronic theses and dissertations.
This number is a subset of Volumes Held reported in Q2. Exclude electronic serials and other virtual serial
volumes. See the definition of Volumes Held above for more guidance.
EXPENDITURES:
Questions 6-12. Expenditures. Report all expenditures of funds that come to the library from the regular
institutional budget, and from sources such as research grants, special projects, gifts and endowments, and fees
for service. (For Salaries and wages include non-library funds see specific instructions below). Do not report
encumbrances of funds that have not yet been expended. Canadian libraries should report expenditures in
Canadian dollars. (For your information, if interested in determining figures in U.S. dollars, divide Canadian
dollar amounts by 1.1739, the average monthly noon exchange rate published in the Bank of Canada Review for
the period July 2014-June 2015). Please round figures to the nearest dollar.
Report figures for the following categories of expenditures:
Question 7. Total Library Materials Expenditures.
Question 7a. One time library materials expenditures. Report expenditures for all library materials that are
non-subscription, one-time, or monographic in nature include expenditures for software and machine-readable
materials considered part of the collections. Examples include periodical backfiles, literature collections, one-time
costs for JSTOR membership, etc.
Question 7b. Ongoing library materials expenditures. Report subscription expenditures (or those which are
expected to be ongoing commitments) for serial and other publications include online searches of remote
databases such as OCLC FirstSearch®, DIALOG®, Lexis-Nexis®, etc. Examples include paid subscriptions for print
and electronic journals and indexes/abstracts available via the Internet, CD-ROM serials, and annual access fees
for resources purchased on a “one-time” basis, such as literature collections, JSTOR membership, etc.
Question 7c. Collection support. Include miscellaneous expenditures as well as document delivery/interlibrary
loan. Include materials funds expenditures not included in questions (7a)-(7b), e.g., expenditures for bibliographic
utilities, literature searching, security devices, memberships for the purposes of publications, etc. Please list
categories, with amounts, in a footnote. Note: If your library does not use materials funds for non-materials
expenditures—i.e., if those expenditures are included in “Other Operating Expenditures”— report 0. Include all
Contract Binding expenditures – that is only contract expenditures for binding done outside the library. If all
binding is done in-house, state this fact and give in-house expenditures in a footnote do not include personnel
expenditures in this question. Some computer hardware and software expenditures may be reported here if they
are expended from collection funds.
Question 8. Salaries and wages. Exclude fringe benefits. If professional, support staff and student salaries cannot
be separated, check the Manual Override box and enter the total.
Question 8c. Salaries and wages: Student Assistants. Report 100% of student wages regardless of budgetary
source of funds. Include federal and local funds for work study students.
