44 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 295 2018 professional colleagues are building feels like a compelling, even urgent question, but we will not get there with demographic data such as ARL collects. The problem here isn’t that the ARL data doesn’t ask enough questions, or even the right ones. It is instead a reflection of the limitations of demographic research, and maybe quantitative research altogether. The impact of millennials on culture, values, and product are better suited to qualitative research methods. In the meantime, we can be grateful for the emergence of a fresh generation that will see our current challenges with eyes uniquely qualified to adapt and then shape the next environment. The kids are alright. Endnotes 1 The meaning of “professional” is self-defined by each library that responds to the ARL Annual Salary Survey. 2 Martha Kyrillidou and Shaneka Morris, comps. and eds., ARL Annual Salary Survey 2014–2015 (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, 2015), 25, https://doi.org/10.29242/salary.2014-2015. 3 Canadian ARL libraries and non-university ARL libraries do not report data on racial/ethnic group status. 4 Campbell Gibson and Kay Jung, “Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990, and by Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, for the United States, Regions, Divisions, and States,” Working Paper no. 56, Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, Population Division, September 2002, 154-162 (164-172 in PDF), Table F-1: Race and Hispanic Origin, for the United States and Historical Sections and Subsections of the United States: 1790 to 1990, https://census.gov/content/dam/ Census/library/working-papers/2002/demo/POP-twps0056.pdf. 5 Currently, the ARL Salary Survey collects data on the distribution of male and female professional-level employees in ARL university libraries, in keeping with the sex categories utilized by the US Census. Although this allows ARL Salary Survey data to be compared with state, local, and national labor statistics, the Association realizes the limitations
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