The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has announced the availability of the ARL Statistics Interactive Analytics. The subscription-based service is meant for non-member libraries, vendors and commercial parties interested in accessing the final, verified ARL Statistics data through an interactive interface.
The new service is designed to analyse ARL Statistics data so that subscribers can review the library data collected by ARL; generate rankings of institutions by selected criteria; create graphs from the data; generate summary statistics for all ARL libraries; download the data by year in spreadsheet format; and review financial and investment level analysis.
The data can be used to chart trends, to support strategic planning and advocacy efforts, to facilitate peer group benchmarking, and to support budget justification. The analytics capabilities are projected to integrate strategy, planning and assessment, enabling organisations to demonstrate their relationship to the academic enterprise in a few simple clicks.
After logging into the secure server, subscribers will have 24x7 access to 46 years' worth of verified data. Currently, the dataset captures vital library statistics from 1963 to 2009, and there are plans underway to augment the data series to include data from 1908 onward. The data are downloadable for sharing and publishing in other report formats.
ARL Statistics is a series of annual data collection activities that describe the collections, expenditures, staffing and service activities for ARL's member libraries. Statistics have been collected and published annually for the members since 1961–62. These data cover the years 1907–08 through 1961–62 and are now called the Gerould statistics. The whole data series from 1908 to the present is said to represent the oldest and most comprehensive continuing library statistical series in North America. Print copies may be ordered from:
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