Academic Libraries Survey
September 2006 – September 2008
OMB Submission
April 2006
Table of Contents
B. Collection of information employing statistical methods Error! Bookmark not defined.
2. Statistical Procedures for Collecting Information 3
3. Procedures for Collection of Information 3
4. Methods for Maximizing Response Rates 3
5. Tests of Procedures and Methods 4
C. Justifications for Questionnaire Content 6
1. Survey Eligibility Change in Question Wording 6
2. Part C – Library Expenditures, Fiscal Year 2006 6
3. Part D – Library Collections, Fiscal Year 2006 7
4. Part E – Library Services, Fiscal Year 2006 8
5. Part G - Electronic Services, Fiscal year 2006 9
6. Part H – Information Literacy, Fiscal year 2006 9
D. 2006 Academic library Survey (ALS) Questionnaire and Instructions 10
E. Certificate of confidentiality training 32
B. Collection of information employing statistical methods
The respondent universe for the 2006 and 2008 ALS will be taken from the 2005 IPEDS database of postsecondary, degree granting institutions that are eligible for Title IV funding, and have libraries.
Table 1. Postsecondary, degree granting institutions that are eligible for Title IV funding, and have libraries, by sector: 2004.
|
2-year institutions |
4-year institutions |
Total |
Public |
900 |
579 |
1,479 |
Private |
|
|
|
Private non-profit |
74 |
1,232 |
1,306 |
Private for-profit |
251 |
200 |
451 |
Total |
1,225 |
2,011 |
3,236 |
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Academic Libraries Survey, 2004.
ALS is a census of academic libraries, and no sampling conducted.
For the 2006 and 2008 rounds of ALS, NCES will continue to use a web-based collection. Opening and closing dates of the survey will be broadcast over the ALS web site. For respondents that are unable to report via the web, ALS staff will enter the data for the respondent, produce an edit report and resolve potential errors. When an institution submits the data, responses will be reviewed for consistency and validity. The data will be edited for internal consistency and prior-year comparisons will be performed, based on detailed standards provided by NCES. Respondents will be contacted to resolve potential errors. Pre-tabulation data checks will be performed, based on detailed specifications provided by NCES, to ensure data quality prior to tabulation.
As indicated previously, ALS is an electronic survey that was redesigned in FY 2000 to collect data over the Internet via a web-based reporting system. Respondents enter their data into the web survey and edit the data, assisted by interactive error warnings and error reports built into the web application. When they have completed the survey, they lock the data to indicate it is final and ready for access by NCES. The web application is designed as a user friendly and efficient tool for reporting data on a timely basis and with as few errors as possible. The web reporting system includes a User Guide and a Help function that explain the use of the web application, the survey instructions and definitions and a directory of library representatives and contact persons as a resource in responding to the survey. As the survey due date approaches, the Census Bureau will contact nonresponding institutions to encourage their participation in the survey.
NCES also attempts to maximize response by reducing response burden. The survey universe is limited to only postsecondary, degree granting institutions that are eligible for Title IV funding, and have libraries. NCES also coordinates library professionals within the states who assist in the nonresponse follow-up process by contacting the institutions within their state that have not responded to the ALS questionnaire.
The ALS survey is recognized and supported by the National Commission for Library and Information Science (NCLIS) and the American Library Association (ALA). As part of the biennial data collection process, a letter from the NCES Commissioner is mailed to the chief academic officers of the institutions and the library directors describing the survey and requesting their participation in the survey.
The data collection procedures and data items described in this submission have been thoroughly tested. Most of the data elements requested have already been collected in previous IPEDS surveys since 1988. Other items have been successfully used in surveys conducted by library associations.
Data quality is a constant concern and NCES continues to assess and evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the ALS questionnaire items. One approach NCES uses is to assess relevant data from the Academic Libraries Survey from different years to evaluate the consistency and reliability of reported data. The interrelationships among surveys and the relationship of items over time were used, during the most recent administration of IPEDS, to develop the automated tests for editing each data submission. Edit checks currently help to identify potential problems and provide opportunities to correct them early in the data collection process. As the number of institutions that automate their responses increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to fully validate their responses. By implementing a web-based data collection effort that requires error resolution and correction prior to data submission, NCES anticipates producing improved data quality in a more timely fashion.
The ALS survey data are analyzed by NCES. The evaluation includes a review of the data for reliability and validity; a review of the data items, definitions, and instructions; the comparability of data from state to state, and recommendations for improvements to the survey. The ALS Technical Working Group is actively involved in survey design and content, and makes recommendations for improvements to the survey.
The ALS survey system is maintained and updated by an NCES contractor. The contractor is responsible for testing the product, with assistance from Census and NCES staff. The web-based data collection method was tested in a successful pilot collection of the 1999 IPEDS data and in the full-scale collection of the 2000 ALS.
The ALS survey is conducted by NCES. The U.S. Census Bureau is the data collection and processing agent for the survey, through an interagency agreement with NCES. At NCES, Marilyn McMillen Seastrom, Chief Statistician, and Neil Russell, Mathematical Statistician, are consulted on technical aspects of the data collection. Carma Hogue, Mathematical Statistician at the Census Bureau, is consulted on issues concerning imputation and data editing.
Jeff Williams of NCES (202) 502-7476 for further information on survey design or data collection.
The ALS questionnaire is being revised for the 2006 survey. Five item responses will be dropped and one item response will be added to the questionnaire. Some labels, instructions, or item locations have been changed to improve clarity. and to discontinue the identification of specific commercial vendors in the instructions. The revised questionnaire will require approximately one hour and 40 minutes to complete.
The revisions discussed below will appear in the 2006 ALS questionnaire and instructions.
Change “Does you provide financial support to another library?” to “Does your institution provide financial support to another library?”
Line 10
Books, serial backfiles, and Change in Label and Instruction
other materials (one-time purchases) Change label to One time purchase books, serial backfiles, and other materials. The definition will change the words “…except current serial subscriptions” to “…except current subscriptions to serials.”
Line 11 Change in Instruction
Electronic Change instructions “Report expenditures that are not current serials…” and “Examples include periodical backfiles, literature collections, and one-time costs for JSTOR membership, etc.” to “Report expenditures that are not current subscriptions to serials…” and “Examples include serial backfiles, literature collections, and one-time costs for electronic backfiles, etc.”
Line 13
Current serial subscriptions Change in Label and Instruction
(ongoing commitments) Change label to Serial subscriptions (ongoing commitments) and it will appear under the heading in Line 10. Change instructions from “Report expenditures for current subscriptions…” to “Report expenditures for ongoing subscriptions…”
Electronic serials This line will appear under the heading in Line 10. Change instruction from “…annual access fees for resources purchased on a ‘one-time’ basis, such as literature collections, JSTOR membership, etc.” to “annual access fees.”
Operating expenditures
Line 18 Change in Instruction
Computer hardware and software Change instruction from “Report expenditures from the library budget for computer hardware and software used to support library operations, whether purchased or leased, mainframe or microcomputer.” to “Report expenditures from the library operating budget for computer hardware and software used to support library operations, whether purchased or leased, local or remote.”
Line 19
Bibliographic utilities, Change in Instruction
networks, and consortia Change instruction “Report expenditures for services …” to “Report expenditures from the library operating budget for services…”
Line 20 Change in Instruction
All other operating expenditures Change instruction “Report all other expenditures not already reported on line 09 through 19 except employee fringe benefits that are reported on line 08b. Exclude expenditures for new building and building renovations.” to “Report all other expenditures from the library’s operating budget not already reported on lines 09 through 19 except employees fringe benefits that are reported on line 08b. Exclude capital expenditures for new buildings and building renovations.”
Line 23 Change in Instruction
E-Books Change instruction “Report the number of electronic monographs that have been purchased by your library and are accessible through the library’s catalog. Include e-books you have purchased individually or collaboratively” to “Report the number of electronic monographs that have been cataloged by your library and are accessible through the library’s catalog.”
Line 26 Change in Label and Instruction
Current serial subscriptions Change label to Current serial titles. Change instructions “Report the total number of subscriptions in all formats. If the subscription comes in both paper and electronic form, count it twice. Count electronic subscriptions if they are received as part of the subscription to a print serial, if they are managed as independent, individual subscriptions, and if they are received as part of the publisher’s package (e.g. Project MUSE, Academic IDEAL). Do not count the titles included in full-text article databases such as Lexis-Nexis, ABI/INFORM. Include paper and microfilm government documents issued serially if they are accessible through the library’s catalog.” to “Report the number of titles in all formats. If the title comes in both paper and electronic form, count it twice. Count each individual title if it is received as part of a publisher’s package. Include paper and microfilm government documents issued serially if they are accessible through the library’s catalog. Report indexing and abstracting services that may contain full-text in line 27.”
Line 27
and aggregation services Change instruction “This includes citation indexes and abstracts; full-text reference sources (e.g., encyclopedias, almanacs, biographical and statistical sources and other quick fact-finding sources); full-text journal and periodical article collections services (e.g. EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Acadmic Universe, and INFOTRAC Onefile), dissertation and conference proceedings databases. Licensed electronic resources also include those databases that institutions mount locally.” to “Report the total number of citation indexes and abstracts; full-text article databases; full-text reference sources (e.g., encyclopedias, almanacs, biographical and statistical sources and other quick fact-finding sources); dissertation and conference proceedings databases. Licensed electronic resources also include those databases that institutions mount locally. [Aggregation service are defined by NISO z39.7-2004 as “4.10.3.2 Aggregated Full Text DatabasesCollection of both bibliographic references and full text articles from periodical and/or other titles presented on a continuous basis that may relate to a common discipline or may provide multi-disciplinary coverage. This includes electronic reference and indexing tools which, if existed in print form, would be counted as periodicals. The content of aggregated full text databases consists predominately of full text articles rather than bibliographic references without associated full text, although both may be represented in the database.”]”
Interlibrary loans provided to Change in Subheading Label
other libraries Subheading is changed from interlibrary loans provided to other libraries to Interlibrary loans and documents provided to other libraries
Interlibrary loans received Change in Subheading Label
from other libraries Subheading is changed from Interlibrary loans and documents received from other libraries to Interlibrary loans and documents received
Line 37
Documents delivered from Change in Location
commercial services Line 37 will be moved to follow Line 31 and be included in Subheading Interlibrary loans received from other libraries
Circulation Addition of Subheading
Subheading is inserted before lines 34a and 34b
Lines 44-48 Section Deleted
Consortial Services These five questions will be deleted from the survey.
The wording of this item is unchanged, but is now a follow-up question for respondents that answer “yes” to Line 46.
A follow-up question is added that asks if the, “strategic plan formally recognizes the library’s role in information literacy instruction.”
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Schools and Staffing Survey |
| Author | Barbara Holton |
| Last Modified By | DoED |
| File Modified | 2006-07-27 |
| File Created | 2006-07-27 |