The annual SCONUL Statistics
Philip Payne
JIBS workshop on management data in higher education libraries
1st. June 2009
SCONUL statistics: aims
• Allows libraries to make comparisons with
other similar libraries (benchmarking)
• Provides sector-wide information on
university and college libraries
SCONUL statistics: coverage
• UK university and college libraries in
membership of SCONUL
• … so long as they have completed the
annual statistics return
SCONUL Statistics:
the compilation
•
Annual (online) statistics return
•
Return reviewed annually - Stats Group in May
•
Institutions invited to complete return – August
•
Libraries submit their return online
•
Returns checked and collated by LISU
•
Queries – LIS-SCONUL-STATS - SCONUL
•
86% response rate for last year
•
HESA data for fte staff & student numbers
•
SCONUL WGPI proof read
•
Publication
SCONUL statistics: online return
SCONUL statistics: outputs
• Published SCONUL statistics
• Higher Education Library Management Statistics
(HELMS)
• SCONUL statistics: trends
• Statistics on the web (hosted by ILRT, University of
Bristol) – part of SCONUL Performance Portal
• Tailored outputs
SCONUL statistics: annual
statistics volume
• Published annually by SCONUL
• Listings for each items on the return
• Derived ratios
• Commentary and notes
Means/minimum/maximum/ quartiles
for SCONUL, RLUK, other old unis,
new unis, HE colleges
SCONUL statistics: HELMS
•
•Management statistics about HE libraries
• Cut-down version of Annual Statistics
• Sent to Vice-Chancellors
SCONUL statistics:
statistics on the web
• On line password controlled
• Choose who to benchmark with
• Data from 1993/1994
• Institutional data
• Ranked lists
• Multiple institutions time series
• Multiple variables time series
• Download
• Define groups
SCONUL statistics: trend
analysis
• 10 year trends
• Summary data
• service provision
• library use
• staffing
• financial data
• RLUK
• Other old universities,
• New universities
• HE colleges
• Annual
• PDF publication
SCONUL statistics: outputs
• Final version of main statistical tables for
2007/2008 available by 9th. June
• HELMS report available w/c 15th. June
• SCONUL trends available w/c 13th. July
• Web database update available 27th. July
SCONUL statistics: key areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Organisational structure
Accommodation and provision
Provision of stock
Clientele
Use of libraries
Expenditure – staff
Expenditure – other expenditure
Library Income
SCONUL statistics:
known problems
• Non-response
• Inconsistent responses
• Changing environments
• E-measures
SCONUL statistics: e-measures
• Current e-measures questions introduced for
2003/2004 return
• Informed by HEFCE-funded E-measures project
undertaken by Evidence Base at BCU [with
SCONUL]
• Increase in number of libraries reporting on use
of e-resources with higher level of consistency
SCONUL statistics:
E-measures (1)
• Number of unique serial titles (print & electronic)
• Number of unique titles received in electronic form only)
• Number of unique titles received in print and electronic
form
• Number of electronic databases received by subscription
and licence
• Number of electronic books
SCONUL statistics:
E-measures (2)
• Number of successful requests for full text
articles (journals only)
• Number of successful section requests for
electronic books
SCONUL statistics:
E-measures (3)
Expenditure: information provision & access
• Serials subscriptions to titles received in electronic form
only
• Serials subscriptions received in both print & electronic
form
• Subscription to electronic databases
• Expenditure on e-books
• Expenditure on other digital documents
Review of e-measures questions
• Executive Board agreed WGPI recommendation
to review e-measures (April 2009)
• Aim of review:
“To ensure that the e-measures questions in the
SCONUL annual statistics are sufficiently robust
to give confidence in their use in a
national/international context and in assisting
SCONUL members to benchmark their own
results with other libraries.”
Review of e-measures questions
• Review being undertaken by Angela Conyers
(BCU), Pat Barclay (Westminster), & Claire
Creaser (LISU)
• Working with Stats Group & WGPI
• Review of how statistics collected by the Council
of Australian Librarians (CAUL) & the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
• Set of draft proposals drawn up
Review of e-measures questions
• Wide circulation & discussion
– E-resource librarians, LIS-SCONUL-STATS,
SCONUL Directors
• Final decision in September 2009 at WGPI
• Implementation for 2010 return (major
revision to return)
Review of e-measures questions
• Number of serial titles
– Inclusion of full text serial title in aggregator
databases
– New category of serial titles received but not
purchased
– Serial titles to be divided into print only and
electronic (including print and electronic)
Review of e-measures questions
• Number of databases
– Break down into type of database
•
•
•
•
•
•
Abstracts and Indexes
Full text: serials
Full text: e-books
Non text databases
Composite
Other
Review of e-measures questions
• Number of electronic books
– Inclusion of e-books held within aggregator
databases
– New category of e-books received but not
purchased
Review of e-measures questions
• Number of full-text article requests
– To remain as at present
• Number of database sessions and searches
– New questions on number of sessions and number of
searches based on COUNTER data
• Number of section requests for e-Books
– Additional questions being considered covering title
requests and/or searches and sessions
Review of e-measures questions
• Expenditure
– Changes being considered to give a clearer
idea of expenditure on electronic resources
including serials, and to give more accurate
idea of cost per download.
Support for SCONUL statistics
contributors
• Notes on the statistics return
• SCONUL performance portal – guidance on
completing the return, guidance on e-measures
questions, definitions table
• LIS-SCONUL-STATS mailing list
• Workshops run by LISU
Contact details
Philip Payne
Librarian
Birkbeck, University of London,
Malet Street
London, WC1E 7HX
020 7631 6250
p.payne@bbk.ac.uk