Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2016-2019

Academic Libraries
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2016-17

This IPEDS Academic Libraries data collection instrument will be used
during the 2016-17 data collection. Proposed changes listed in the
Change Memo are included.

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IPEDS Help Desk
(877) 225-2568 or [email protected]

NCES National Center for Education Statistics

2016-17 Survey Materials > Form

date: 8/9/2016

Academic Libraries
Overview 
Academic Libraries Overview
Welcome to the IPEDS Academic Libraries (AL) survey component. The purpose of the AL component of IPEDS is to
collect information on library collections, library expenses, and library services for libraries in degree-granting
postsecondary institutions.
Recent changes
There are a few changes to the 2016-17 Academic Libraries component from the 2015-16 collection. Visit the
Academic Libraries Resource page for a list of the changes and additional reporting resources.
Data Reporting Reminders
Report all data for fiscal year (FY) 2016. Fiscal year 2016 is defined as the most recent 12-month period that ends
before October 1, 2016, that corresponds to the institution’s fiscal year.
Coverage:
Include data for the main or central academic library and all branch and independent libraries that were open all or
part of the fiscal year 2016. Branch and independent libraries are defined as auxiliary library service outlets with
quarters separate from the central library that houses the basic collection. The central library administers the
branches. Libraries on branch campuses that have separate IPEDS unit identification numbers are reported as
separate libraries.
Resources:
To download the survey materials for this component: Survey Materials
For more information about the previous survey: Academic Libraries Survey
If you have questions about completing this survey, please contact the IPEDS Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568.

Screening Questions 
Were your annual total library expenses for Fiscal Year 2016:
Less than $100,000

Greater than or equal to $100,000

Is the library collection entirely electronic?
No

Yes

Library Collections/Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Services 
Section I:
For all degree-granting institutions with
library expenses >0
NOTE - This section of the survey collects data on selected types of material. It does not cover all materials.
Report the total number of each category held at the END of Fiscal Year 2016.
Library Collections
Physical
Digital/Electronic
Total
Prior Year
Prior Year
Amount
Amount
Books
Databases
Media
Serials
Total
Library Circulation

Does your instituion have Interlibrary Loan Services ?
No
Yes
Interlibrary Loan Services
Total interlibrary loans and documents provided to other libraries

Number

Prior Year Amount

Total interlibrary loans and documents received

You may use the space below to provide context for the data you've reported above.This context box will not be
posted on the College Navigator Website.

Expenses  
Section II:
For degree-granting institutions with
library expenses >= $100,000
Library expenses should be reported for the most recent 12-month period that corresponds to your institution's
fiscal year that ends before October 1, 2016.
Prior Year Amount
Indicate the number of branch and independent
libraries
(exclude the main or central library).
Amount

Expenses
Total salaries and wages for the library staff

Are staff fringe benefits paid out of the library budget?
No
Yes

Total Fringe benefits

Materials/services expenses
One-time purchases of books, serial backfiles, and other
materials
Ongoing commitments to subscriptions
All other materials/service cost
Total materials/services expenses
Operations and maintenance expenses
Preservation services
All other operations and maintenance expenses
Total operations and maintenance expenses
Total Expenses
Total Expenses (minus Fringe Benefits)
You may use the space below to provide context for the data you've reported above.This context box will not be
posted on the College Navigator Website.

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IPEDS Help Desk
(877) 225-2568 or [email protected]

NCES National Center for Education Statistics

2016-17 Survey Materials > Instructions

date: 8/9/2016

Academic Libraries

Purpose of Component
Changes in Reporting for 2016-17
General Instructions
Reporting Period Covered
Context boxes

Coverage
Where to Get Help for Reporting
Where the Data Will Appear
Detailed Instructions
Section I: for degree granting institutions with library expenses >0
Section II: for degree granting institutions with library expenses >$100,000

Purpose of Component
The purpose of the Academic Libraries (AL) component of IPEDS is to collect information on library collections,
expenses, and services for degree-granting postsecondary institutions.
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Changes In Reporting
There are a few changes to the 2016-17 Academic Libraries component from the 2015-16 collection. Visit
the Academic Libraries Resource page for a list of the changes and additional reporting resources.
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General Instructions
Please respond to each item in this survey. If the appropriate answer for an item is zero or none, or if a material is
provided and counts are not measurable, use "0." If a material is not provided or not applicable, leave the item blank. 
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Reporting Period Covered
Report all data for fiscal year (FY) 2016. Fiscal year 2016 is defined as the most recent 12-month period that ends
before October 1, 2016, that corresponds to the institution’s fiscal year.
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Context Boxes
Context boxes are provided to allow institutions to provide more information regarding survey component items. Note
that some context boxes are posted on the College Navigator Website, which is the college search tool offered by
NCES. NCES will review entries in these context boxes for applicability and appropriateness before posting them on the
College Navigator Website; institutions should check grammar and spelling of their entries.
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Coverage
Include data for the main or central academic library and all branch and independent libraries that were open all or
part of the fiscal year 2016. Branch and independent libraries are defined as auxiliary library service outlets with
quarters separate from the central library that houses the basic collection. The central library administers the
branches. Libraries on branch campuses that have separate IPEDS unit identification numbers are reported as
separate libraries. 

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Where to Get Help with Reporting
IPEDS Help Desk
Phone: 1-877-225-2568
Email: [email protected]

Web Tutorials
You can also consult the IPEDS Website Trainings & Outreach page which contains several tutorials on IPEDS data
collection, a self-paced overview of IPEDS tools, and other valuable resources.

IPEDS Resource Page
The IPEDS Website Reporting Tools page contains frequently asked questions, a link to data tip sheets, tutorials,
taxonomies, information centers (e.g., academic libraries, average net price, human resources, race/ethnicity, etc.),
and other valuable information.
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Where the Reported Data Will Appear
Data collected through IPEDS will be accessible at the institution- and aggregate-levels.
At the institution-level, data will appear in the:

•
•
•
•

College Navigator Website
IPEDS Data Center
IPEDS Data Feedback Reports
College Affordability and Transparency Center Website

At the aggregate-level, data will appear in:

•
•
•
•
•

IPEDS First Looks
IPEDS Table Library
IPEDS Data Feedback Reports
The Digest of Education Statistics
The Condition of Education

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Detailed Instructions
Screening Questions:
Before entering any data, a screening question will need to be answered. 
Were your annual total library expenses for Fiscal Year 2016:
Indicate whether the annual total library expenses in Fiscal Year 2016 were less than $100,000 or equal to or greater
than $100,000. Fiscal Year 2016 is defined as the most recent 12-month period that ends before October 1, 2016, that
corresponds to the institution's fiscal year. Expenses include funds expended by the library (regardless of when
received) from its regular budget and from all other sources; e.g., research grants, special projects, gifts and
endowments, and fees for services. All expenses should be reported in whole dollars. Exclude expenses for new
buildings and building renovation. Include fringe benefits only IF paid from the library budget. Other library expenses
that should be included are:
•Salaries and wages (from the library budget and all other sources)
•One time purchases of books, serial back-files, and other materials
•Ongoing commitments to subscriptions
•Other materials/service costs
•Preservation services
•All other operations and maintenance expenses

If annual total library expenses are less than $100,000, the institution will submit Section I of the AL component. If
annual total library expenses are equal to or greater than $100,000, the institution will report Section I and additional
expenses and interlibrary services information in Section II of the AL component. 
Is the library collection entirely electronic
Select "Yes" if your library collection is comprised entirely of digital/electronic items. Select "No" if your library
collection is comprised of both physical and digital/electronic items. 

Section I: For all degree-granting institutions with library expenses > $0
NOTE - This section of the survey collects data on selected types of material. It does not cover all materials. Report
the total number of each category held at the END OF Fiscal Year 2016.
Count only those materials that are considered part of your collection. Collections comprise of documents held locally
and remote resources for which permanent or temporary access rights have been acquired. Access rights may be
acquired by the library itself, by a consortium and/or through external funding. Acquisition is to be understood as
securing access rights and including it in the library catalog, other library databases or discovery systems. Interlibrary
lending and document delivery are excluded from the collection. Include government documents that are cataloged
and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system.

Library Collections/Circulation
Physical Books (include government documents) - Report physical book titles owned or leased by the library if
individual titles are catalogued and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system. Exclude serials,
microfilms, maps, nonprint materials, and uncatalogued items. Include music scores if searchable by title through the
library catalog or discovery system. Include government documents that are accessible through the library's catalogs
regardless of whether they are separately classified and/or shelved. "Cataloged" includes documents for which records
are provided by the library or downloaded from other sources into the library's card or online catalogs.
Physical Media – Report the number of titles of media materials. Include audiovisual materials, cartographic, and
graphic materials and three-dimensional artefacts realia.
Physical Serials – Report the number of physical serial titles that are accessible through the library’s catalog or
discovery system. A serial is a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological
designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. This definition includes, in any physical format, periodicals,
newspapers, and annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of
societies; and numbered monographic series. Report serial titles, not subscriptions. If possible, report the count of
only those de-duplicated or otherwise unique serial titles searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery system.
If possible, do not include earlier title changes; however, do not worry about removing them if it is not
possible/feasible.
Total Physical Collection – This line will automatically be calculated for you.
Total Physical Circulation - Report the total number of times physical items are checked out from the general and
reserve collections. Include only initial checkouts (circulation), not renewals. Exclude interlibrary loan lending and
borrowing. Include transactions of books, media, and serials. Do not include transactions of equipment or computers.
However, circulation of electronic reading devices (e.g., Kindles) can be included if the device is pre-loaded with ebooks. For example, if a customer checks out a Kindle that is pre-loaded with 20 e-books, then that transaction counts
as 1 physical circulation, not 20 electronic/digital circulation.  
Digital/Electronic Books, (include government documents) – Report e-book titles owned or leased by the library
if individual titles are cataloged and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system. Examples of
discovery systems can be found at  http://librarytechnology.org/discovery/.  E-books are digital documents (including
those digitized by the library), licensed or not, where searchable text is prevalent, and which can be seen in analogy to
a printed book (monograph). Include e-book titles in aggregated sets in which the library selected the aggregator even
if not each individual e-book title. Report the number at the administrative entity level; do not duplicate unit count for
each branch. Include government documents, locally digitized electronic books and electronic theses and dissertations.
Include digital music scores if searchable by title through the library catalog or discovery system. Include open access
(OA) titles if the individual titles are searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery system, except do not count
e-book titles from HathiTrust, Center for Research Libraries, Internet Archive, and similar collections unless the library
owns the digitized item and it is accessible under current copyright law. Do not include titles in Demand-Driven
Acquisition (DDA) or Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) collections until they have been purchased by the library.
Digital/Electronic Databases -Report the total number of licensed digital/electronic databases in your collection if
there is bibliographic or discovery access at the database level. Each database is counted individually even if access to
several databases is supported through the same vendor interface. 
A database is collection of electronically stored data or unit records (facts, bibliographic data, and texts) with a
common user interface and software for the retrieval and manipulation of the data. The data or records are usually
collected with a particular intent and relate to a defined topic.
Do not include discovery systems in the count of databases. Do not include "individual releases" such as annual
updates of content or the migration of the user interface to the next vendor-release (i.e., interface version 3.0
replaces version 2.0) as separate databases.
Digital/Electronic Media - Report titles of e-media materials owned or leased by the library if the individual titles
are cataloged and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system. E-media materials are media
materials that are in digital format and are available for download or streaming. For example, titles from Films on
Demand or Alexander Street Press should be reported. Include digital graphic materials and cartographic materials.
Include e-media titles in aggregated sets in which the library selected the aggregator even if not each individual
title. Report the number at the administrative entity level; do not duplicate unit count for each branch. Do not count
image databases (ARTStor, AP Photo Archives) in this category--count as databases. Do not include titles in DemandDriven Acquisition (DDA) or Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) collections until they have been purchased or leased by
the library. 

Digital/Electronic Serials – Report the number of e-serial titles that are accessible through the library’s catalog or
discovery system. An e-serial is a periodical publication that is published in digital form to be displayed on a computer
screen. Include open access (OA) titles if the individual titles are searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery
system, except do not count e-serial titles from HathiTrust, Center for Research Libraries, Internet Archive, and similar
collections unless the library owns the digitized item and it is accessible under current copyright law. If possible, report
the count of only those de-duplicated or otherwise unique serial titles searchable through the library’s catalog or
discovery system. If possible include ceased titles. If possible, do not count earlier title changes; however, do not
worry about removing them if it is not possible/feasible. A source for counting e-serials may be a library- or vendordeveloped A-Z title list of e-journals.
Total Digital/Electronic Collection - This line will automatically be calculated for you.
Total Digital/Electronic Circulation or Usage – Report usage of digital/electronic titles whether viewed,
downloaded, or streamed. Do not include e-serials and institutional repository documents.  
Include usage for e-books and e-media titles only, even if the title was purchased as part of a database. Do not
include usage of titles in Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) or Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) collections until they
have been purchased or leased by the library. Do not include transactions of VHS, CDs, or DVDs, as the transactions of
these materials are reported under "physical circulation".  
Many vendors will provide usage statistics in COUNTER reports. Project COUNTER Code of Practice is available here.
Relevant COUNTER reports for e-books are: BR1-Number of Successful Title Requests by Month and Title; and BR2Number of Successful Section Requests by Month and Title. For media, the report MR1-Number of Successful
Multimedia Full Content Unit Requests by Month and Collection, is most relevant. 
If COUNTER reports are available, IPEDS suggest that libraries report counts from BR1 and MR1. If BR1 and MR1
statistics are not available, BR2 and MR2 statistics can be used. In cases where vendors do not provide COUNTER
reports, libraries may report using other means for monitoring digital/electronic circulation/usage (downloads, session
views, transaction logs, etc.).

Interlibrary Loan Services
Does your institution have Interlibrary Loan Services: Indicate whether your institution has interlibrary loan
services.
Total interlibrary loans and documents provided to other libraries – Report the number of filled requests for
material provided to other libraries. Include all returnable and non-returnable interlibrary loans and documents. Do not
include transactions between the main or central library and branches, or transactions between branches.
Total interlibrary loans and documents received – Report the number of filled requests for material received from
other libraries. Include all returnable and non-returnable interlibrary loans and documents received from commercial
services. Documents delivered from commercial services are all transactions for which the library pays even if library
staff is not involved in the transaction. This includes documents received by regular or express mail, by fax, or in
electronic form. Exclude transactions between the main or central library and branches and transactions between
branches.

Notes for Library Consortia
A library consortium is any local, statewide, regional, or interstate cooperative association of libraries that provides for
the systematic and effective coordination of the resources of schools, public, academic, and special libraries and
information centers, for improving services to the clientele of such libraries. (U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Sect.
54.500)
The purpose of library consortia can include:
•
•
•
•
•

Cost reduction through group purchasing
Professional development for library staff
Resource sharing (content, technology, expertise, and funding)
Networking, information sharing, mass communication
Building shared integrated library management and cataloging systems.

For IPEDS purposes, academic libraries that share an administrative unit are NOT considered a consortium (see
definition of branch and independent libraries ). There are two cases of consortium: one in which members share ALL
library resources or one in which they share PARTIAL resources. Refer below for specific instructions in each case.

Consortium Members Sharing ALL Resources
In the case of consortia where individual library members share ALL the same library resources and library budget, a
parent/child relationship for reporting Academic Libraries data may be established if certain criteria are met.
Parent/child relationships can be established for institutions if: (1) the child institution is in the same
institutional control as the parent, and (2) the child institution is not set up to report its own academic libraries
expenses or collections data. Once a parent/child relationship has been established, the parent institution will report all
data for the child institution. Shared resources are to be reported at the system level. For example, if 20,000 e-book
titles were purchased by two institutions in a parent/child relationship to be shared, the parent institution will report
20,000 e-book titles and not 40,000 e-book titles. Institutions wishing to establish a parent/child relationship must
contact the Help Desk. See the resource guide for more details on parent/child reporting. 

Consortium Members Sharing PARTIAL Resources
In the case where individual library members of the consortia share PARTIAL resources and/or set up to report their
own academic libraries expenses or collections data, they must do so for their individual institution. Please note the
instructions below.

Reporting digital/electronic collection
If your library is part of a consortium of independent libraries and shares a common e-service (e.g., Overdrive), then
your library should report the number of digital/electronic titles it has access to as part of its collection. For example, if
your library pays a set annual fee, as part of a consortium, for access rights to 1200 e-books that are shared across all
members of the consortium, then your library should count the 1200 titles as part of its e-book collection.

Reporting digital/electronic circulation or usage

If your library is part of a consortium of independent libraries and shares a common e-service (e.g., Overdrive), then
count the number of digital/electronic usage for your library’s e-books and e-media collection only. If the usage count
for only your institution is not available from the e-service provider, you may allocate the total usage based on
characteristics of the institutions in the consortia (e.g, based on percentage Full Time Equivalent students, based on
percentage of consortial fees, etc.). Do not include counts from other members of the consortium.

Reporting ongoing expenses for electronic/digital materials or database purchased through a set
annual consortium fee
Report them under ‘All other operations and maintenance expenses’. Do not include under ‘Ongoing commitments to
subscriptions.'
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Section II: For degree-granting institutions with library expenses >= $100,000
Level of library expenses that determines applicability of Section II is based on the institution's response to the
screening question.

Branch and Independent Libraries
Branch and independent libraries - Report the number of branch and independent libraries at your institution that
were open all or part of fiscal year 2016. EXCLUDE THE MAIN OR CENTRAL LIBRARY. Branch and independent libraries
are defined as auxiliary library service outlets with quarters separate from the central library of an institution, which
have a basic collection of books and other materials, a regular staffing level, and an established schedule. Include
virtual/digital-based branch and independent libraries.
Branch and independent libraries are administered either by the central library, or as in the case of some libraries
(such as law, medical, etc.), through the administrative structure of the other units within the university.
Departmental study/reading rooms are not included. Please note that data for libraries on branch campuses (i.e.,
located in another community) are included if those campuses are registered under the same NCES Unit ID number as
the main campus.
NOTE- For schools in parent/child relationships, do not report the child institutions as branch libraries. However, if the
child institutions have branches, the parent institution should report the combined branch libraries for itself and child
institutions.

Expenses
NOTE – expenses should be reported for the most recent 12-month period that corresponds to your institution's fiscal
year that ends before October 1, 2016. Report funds expended by the library (regardless of when received) from its
regular budget and from all other sources; e.g., research grants, special projects, gifts and endowments, and fees for
services. If items in this section are not paid from the library budget but can be easily identified in other parts of the
institution's budget, report them here. The exception is fringe benefits -- report fringe benefits only IF it's paid from
the library budget. All expenses should be reported in whole dollars in the most appropriate category to provide an
unduplicated count of expenses. Exclude expenses for new buildings and building renovation.
Total salaries and wages from the library budget – Report salaries and wages before deductions for all full-time
and part-time library staff, including student assistant wage and Federal Work-Study students' wage, from the library
budget or all other institutional sources that are identifiable. 
Staff fringe benefits– If benefits are paid from the library budget, select ‘yes’ and report the amount. If benefits are
not paid from the library budget, select ‘no’ and report ‘0’ for the amount.
Total amount of fringe benefits (if paid by library budget) – If fringe benefits are paid by the library budget,
report all cash contributions in the form of supplementary or deferred compensation other than salary. Do not include
the employee's contribution. Employee fringe benefits include retirement plans, social security taxes, medical/dental
plans, unemployment compensation plans, group life insurance plans, worker's compensation plans, and other benefits
in-kind with cash options. Exclude employee fringe benefits if not paid from the library budget. 

Materials/Service Cost
One-time purchases of books, serial back-files, and other materials - Provide the cost of one-time purchases of
books, serial backfiles, and other materials. Report expenses for published materials in all formats including archives
and special collections. Include one-time acquisitions of access rights for digital/electronic materials held locally and
for remote materials for which permanent access rights have been acquired. Include expenses for database licenses
only if it’s not a subscription or part of an annual consortium fee. Do not include expenses for computer software used
to support library operations or to link external networks, including the Internet. This is reported under other
operations and maintenance expenses.
Ongoing commitments to subscriptions - Report expenses for ongoing subscriptions to serials in all formats,
including duplicates, for all outlets. These are publications issued in successive parts, usually at regular intervals, and,
as a rule, intended to be continued indefinitely. Serial subscriptions include periodicals, newspapers, annuals (reports,
yearbooks, etc.), memoirs, proceedings, and transactions of societies. Include the costs of electronic serials bought in
aggregations and serial packages. Include abstracting and indexing services and any database that requires an annual
subscription fee. Do not include subscription fees if they are part of an annual consortium fee. Government documents
received serially are included if they are accessible through the library's catalog.
Other materials/service cost – Report additional materials/service costs that have not already been reported in this
section. Other materials may include:
•

Document delivery/interlibrary loan services. Include fees paid for photocopies, costs of facsimile transmission,
royalties and access fees paid to provide document delivery or interlibrary loan. Include the interlibrary loan
fees paid to bibliographic utilities if the interlibrary loan costs paid can be separated out from the expenses
paid to the bibliographic utility. Do not count expenses related to transactions between the main or central
library and branches, transactions between branches, or expenses for an on campus delivery. Include costs
associated with pay-per-view journal article transactions. Include fees expended for short-term loans as part
of a patron-driven acquisition or demand-driven acquisition program.

•

Other expenses for information resources. Include copyright fees and fees for database searches, e.g.
(DIALOG, Lexis-Nexis)

Total materials/services cost calculated – This line will automatically be calculated for you.

Operations and Maintenance Expenses
Preservation services - Report expenses associated with maintaining library and archival materials for use either in
their original physical form or in some other usable way. This includes but is not limited to binding and rebinding,
materials conservation, de-acidification, lamination, and restoration. Also, include preservation-related contracts for
services (e.g. digitization). Do not include staff salaries and wages.
All other operations and maintenance expenses - Report any other maintenance expenses that have not already
been reported in this section. Include:
•

•
•
•

Computer hardware and software expenses. Report expenses from the library budget for computer hardware
and software used to support library operations, whether purchased or leased, local or remote. Include the
expenses for equipment used to run information service products when that expense can be separated from
the price of the product.
National, regional, and local bibliographic utilities, networks and consortia.
If interlibrary loan fees paid to bibliographic utilities cannot be separated out, include the interlibrary loan
costs here with the library’s expenses of the bibliographic utilities.
All other operating expenses. Report all other expenses from the library budget not already reported. Exclude
expenses for new buildings and building renovations. Include all expenses for furniture and equipment. Include
any related maintenance costs.

Total operations and maintenance expenses - This line will automatically be calculated for you.
Total Expenses – This amount will be calculated for you. It is the sum of salaries and wages, fringe benefits, total
materials/services, and total operations and maintenance. 
Total Expenses (minus Fringe Benefits) – This amount will be calculated for you. It is total expenses minus fringe
benefits. If fringe benefits was not paid out of the library budget, this line should be equal to Total Expenses.
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date: 8/9/2016

Glossary
Term

Definition

Academic Library

An entity in a postsecondary institution that provides an organized collection of printed or other materials, or a
combination thereof; a staff trained to provide and interpret such materials as required to meet the informational,
cultural, recreational, or educational needs of the clientele; an established schedule in which services of the staff are
available to the clientele; an established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the clientele; and the
physical facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule. This definition includes libraries that are
part of learning resource centers.

Access rights

Access rights may be acquired by the library itself, by a consortium and/or through external funding. Acquisition is to
be understood as deliberately selecting a document, securing access rights and including it in the OPAC (online public
access catalog) or other databases of the library. Interlibrary lending and document delivery are excluded.

Audiovisual Materials

Materials that are displayed by visual projection or magnification, or through sound reproduction, or both, including
sound recordings, motion pictures and video recordings, and graphic materials. Also included in this category are
special visual materials such as three-dimensional artifacts and realia, and web-based audiovisual resources. This
includes audio documents such as records, tapes, cassettes, audio compact discs, files of digital audio recordings;
visual documents such as slides, transparencies, and combined audiovisual documents such as motion pictures, video
recordings, etc. Microforms are excluded.

Bibliographic utilities,
networks and consortia

Services provided by national, regional, and local bibliographic utilities networks, and consortia.

Books

Books are non-serial printed publications (including music) that are hard or soft covers, or in loose-leaf format. 

Branch and independent
libraries

Auxiliary library service outlets with quarters separate from the central library that houses the basic collection. The
central library administers the branches. Libraries on branch campuses that have separate NCES identification
numbers are reported as separate libraries.

Cartographic Material

Materials representing in whole or in part the earth or any celestial body at any scale (e.g., maps and charts)

Computer hardware and
software operating expenses

These include expenses from the library budget for computer hardware and software used to support library
operations, whether purchased or leased, mainframe or microcomputer. Expenses for maintenance and the expense
to run information services when it cannot be separated from the price of the product are also included in this
category.

Database

Collection of electronically stored data or unit records (facts, bibliographic data, and texts) with a common user
interface and software for the retrieval and manipulation of the data. The data or records are usually collected with a
particular intent and relate to a defined topic. Each database is counted individually even if access to several
databases is supported through the same vendor interface.

Discovery system

A discovery system product consists of an interface directed toward the users of a library to find materials in its
collections and subsequently to gain access to items of interest through the appropriate mechanisms. Discovery
systems tend to be independent from the specific applications that libraries implement to manage resources, such as
integrated library systems, library services platforms, repository platforms, or electronic resource management
systems. In most cases they provide access to multiple types of materials, independently of the management
platform involved. Discovery systems provide an interface with search and retrieval capabilities, often with features
such as relevancy-based ordering of search results, facets presented that can be selected to narrow results according
to specific categories, contributors, or date ranges, and tools to identify related materials or to refine search queries.
Examples of discovery systems can be found at http://librarytechnology.org/discovery/.

E-books

E-books are digital documents (including those digitized by the library), licensed or not, where searchable text is
prevalent, and which can be seen in analogy to a printed book (monograph). E-books are loaned to users on portable
devices (e-book readers) or by transmitting the contents to the user's personal computer for a limited time.

E-media

E-media materials are media materials that are in digital format and are available for download or streaming. Include
digital graphic materials.

E-serial

An e-serial is a periodical publication that is published in digital form to be displayed on a computer screen.

Fringe benefits

Cash contributions in the form of supplementary or deferred compensation other than salary. Excludes the
employee's contribution. Employee fringe benefits include retirement plans, social security taxes, medical/dental
plans, guaranteed disability income protection plans, tuition plans, housing plans, unemployment compensation
plans, group life insurance plans, worker's compensation plans, and other benefits in-kind with cash options.

Graphic materials

Opaque (e.g., two-dimensional) art originals and reproductions, charts, photographs or materials intended to be
projected or viewed without sound, e.g., filmstrips, transparencies, photographs, posters, pictures, radiographs,
slides, and collections of such materials.†[NISO Z39.7-2013, section 4.6]  

Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System
(IPEDS)

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), conducted by the NCES, began in 1986 and involves
annual institution-level data collections. All postsecondary institutions that have a Program Participation Agreement
with the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), U.S. Department of Education (throughout IPEDS referred to as
"Title IV") are required to report data using a web-based data collection system. IPEDS currently consists of the
following components: Institutional Characteristics (IC); 12-month Enrollment (E12);Completions (C); Admissions
(ADM); Student Financial Aid (SFA); Human Resources (HR) composed of Employees by Assigned Position, Fall Staff,
and Salaries; Fall Enrollment (EF); Graduation Rates (GR); Outcome Measures (OM); Finance (F); and Academic
Libraries (AL).

Interlibrary loan services

Interlibrary loan is the process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library"
where "'material' includes books, audiovisual materials, and other returnable items as well as copies of journal
articles, book chapters, excerpts, and other non-returnable items.

Library collections

Comprise of documents held locally and remote resources for which permanent or temporary access rights have been
acquired. Access rights may be acquired by the library itself, by a consortium and/or through external funding.
Acquisition is to be understood as securing access rights and including it in the library catalog, other library
databases or discovery systems.

Library Consortia

A library consortium is any local, statewide, regional, or interstate cooperative association of libraries that provides
for the systematic and effective coordination of the resources of schools, public, academic, and special libraries and
information centers, for improving services to the clientele of such libraries. (U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Sect.
54.500)
Library expenses

Funds expended by the library (regardless of when received) from its regular budget and from all other sources; e.g.,
research grants, special projects, gifts and endowments, and fees for services.

Media materials

Titles of all library materials that include audio visual materials, cartographic materials, graphic materials, and threedimensional artefacts and realia.

Microform

Microforms are photographic reproduction of textual, tabular, or graphic material reduced in size so that they can be
used only with magnification. Examples of microforms are roll microfilm, aperture cards, microfiche, ultrafiche, and
reproductions on opaque material.

Non-Returnables

Materials that the library does not expect to have returned. Examples of non-returnables include photocopies or
facsimiles, fiche-to-fiche copies, print copies from microfilm, electronic full-text documents, and gratis print copies of
unpublished reports and/or departmental working papers.

Ongoing commitments to
subscriptions

Ongoing commitments in all formats, including duplicates, for all outlets. This includes serials and any other items
committed to annually, as well as annual e-platform or access fees. Serials are publications issued in successive
parts, usually at regular intervals, and, as a rule, intended to be continued indefinitely. Print-based serial
subscriptions include periodicals, newspapers, annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.), memoirs, proceedings, and
transactions of societies. Include the costs of electronic serials bought in aggregations and serial packages. Include
abstracting and indexing services and any database that requires an annual subscription fee. Do not include
subscription fees if they are part of an annual consortium fee. Government documents received serially are included
if they are accessible through the library's catalog.

Preservation

Activities associated with maintain library and archival materials for use in their original form or some other usable
way. Examples include rebinding, de-acidification, restoration, lamination, materials conservation and digitization.

Returnables

Materials that the library expects to have returned. Examples of returnables include books, dissertations and theses,
microfilm reels, sound recordings, and audiovisual material.

Salaries and wages

Amounts paid as compensation for services to all employees - faculty, staff, part-time, full-time, regular employees,
and student employees. This includes regular or periodic payment to a person for the regular or periodic performance
of work or a service and payment to a person for more sporadic performance of work or a service (overtime, extra
compensation, summer compensation, bonuses, sick or annual leave, etc.).

Serial

A serial is a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and
intended to be continued indefinitely. This definition includes periodicals, newspapers, and annuals (reports,
yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of societies; and numbered monographic
series.

Serial back-files

Previous issues of serial titles that libraries buy back (such as back issues of magazines).

Serial subscriptions

Publications issued in successive parts, usually at regular intervals, and, as a rule, intended to be continued
indefinitely. Serial subscriptions include periodicals, newspapers, annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.), memoirs,
proceedings, and transactions of societies.

Serial titles

Titles of serials collected.

Title

Use the ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2004 definition for title as follows: The designation of a separate bibliographic whole,
whether issued in one or several parts. A book or serial title may be distinguished from other such titles by its unique
International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). This definition applies
equally to print, electronic, audiovisual, and other library materials. For unpublished works, the term is used to
designate a manuscript collection or an archival record series. Two subscriptions to Science magazine, for example,
are counted as one title.

Title IV institution

An institution that has a written agreement with the Secretary of Education that allows the institution to participate
in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance programs (other than the State Student Incentive Grant
(SSIG) and the National Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) programs).

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2016-17 Survey Materials > FAQ

date: 8/9/2016

Academic Libraries
Click one of the following questions to view the answer.
General Questions
1)
What is a reporting relationship and what are the different reporting relationships available for the Academic Library
component? 
2)
How should items missing from the library’s collection be counted?
3)
Why does the survey ask for title count for reporting physical book collection and no longer asking for volume?
4)
What is the difference between a database and a discovery system?
5)
Do we count unlicensed databases such as library-created databases?
6)
What is a physical serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and circulation?
7)
How do we report reserves and renewals?
8)
Where are print photographs reported?
9)
Are music sheets collected?
10)
How are physical circulations reported?
11)
Does circulation include both check-outs and check-ins?
12)
In-house circulation may include items that library personnel pick up from tables and carrels and are scanned as to
being used. Do we include in-house use as circulation? 
Reporting Branch and Independent Libraries
1)
When reporting the count of digital/electronic materials, do we count the total number available at the system level or
at the branch level?
Reporting as a Consortium Member
1)
How do we report digital/electronic circulation if access to the material is provided for all members as part of a
consortium?
2)
If we are asking libraries in consortia to report their collection, but part of that collection is shared, are we overstating
the collection and double counting?
Reporting Digital/Electronic Collections
1)
Where should VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media be counted, with "digital/electronic" or
"physical"? 
2)
How are purchased electronic journals counted?
3)
How do we count electronic books available via e-book services such as the Ebook Library (EBL), Freading, or
Overdrive?
4)
How do we count media offered through online streaming services such as Films on Demand, VAST, Swank? 
5)
If a digital/electronic unit can be downloaded as many formats, is each format counted as a separate title?
6)
For collections, do we count downloadables (e-books, e-serials, and e-media) that do not have records in our catalog
but that we have access to?
7)
How are electronic theses and dissertations counted? 
8)
Can I report open access (OA) titles as part of my collection?
9)
What is a digital/electronic serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and circulation?
Reporting Digital/Electronic Circulation
1)
How do we count serial or journal circulation/usage in databases?
2)
Where are institutional repositories reported?
3)
What are some suggestions for obtaining title counts for digital/electronic circulation?
4)
What are the basic steps for obtaining COUNTER Reports for Digital/Electronic Circulation?
Reporting Expenses
1)
Where do we report expenses for electronic journals and electronic indexing/abstracting services available on the
Internet?
2)
Where do we report consortial fees?

Answers:
General Questions
1)
What is a reporting relationship and what are the different reporting relationships available for the
Academic Library component?

Reporting relationships allow one institution to report data for other institutions in IPEDS. For the Academic Libraries
component, institutions can establish either a "parent & child" relationship or a "main & branch" relationship. To
determine which type of reporting relationship fits with your institution, please visit the resource
page http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/download/AL_Reporting_Relationships.pdf. 
Back to top
2)
How should items missing from the library’s collection be counted?

Missing items are part of the collection.
Back to top

3)

4)

Why does the survey ask for title count for reporting physical book collection and no longer asking for
volume?
For the 2016-17 collection, NCES asks that you now report physical book collections by counting titles, not volumes.
This will ensure that the definition for physical books aligns with the definitions of other collection counts (i.e. media,
serials) collected for IPEDS.
Back to top
What is the difference between a database and a discovery system?

A database is a collection of electronically stored data or unit records (facts, bibliographic data, and
texts) with a common user interface and software for the retrieval and manipulation of the data. The
data or records are usually collected with a particular intent and relate to a defined topic.
A discovery system consists of an interface directed toward the users of a library to find materials in
its collections and subsequently to gain access to items of interest through the appropriate
mechanisms. Discovery systems tend to be independent from the specific applications that libraries
implement to manage resources, such as integrated library systems, library services platforms,
repository platforms, or electronic resource management systems. In most cases they provide access
to multiple types of materials, independently of the management platform involved. Discovery
systems provide an interface with search and retrieval capabilities, often with features such as
relevancy-based ordering of search results, facets presented that can be selected to narrow results
according to specific categories, contributors, or date ranges, and tools to identify related materials
or to refine search queries. Examples of discovery systems can be found at
http://librarytechnology.org/discovery/.
Back to top

5)

6)

Do we count unlicensed databases such as library-created databases?
No, only count licensed databases.
Back to top
What is a physical serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and circulation?
A serial is a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and
intended to be continued indefinitely. This definition includes, in any physical format, periodicals, newspapers, and
annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of societies; and numbered
monographic series.
In physical serials collection, report the number of physical serial titles that are accessible through the library’s catalog
or discovery system. Report serial titles, not subscriptions. If possible, report the count of only those de-duplicated or
otherwise unique serial titles searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery system. If possible, do not include
earlier title changes; however, do not worry about removing them if it is not possible/feasible.
Also, include physical serials when reporting circulation counts.
Back to top

7)

How do we report reserves and renewals?

8)

Where are print photographs reported?
Print photographs are reported as graphic materials within physical media.

9)

Are music sheets collected?

For the 2016-17 collection, NCES asks that you report in circulation of physical items the physicalprint reserve circulation. This way the initial circulation count will reflect all physical-print circulation
of content whether it is part of the regular print collection or the reserve print collection. However,
this will NOT include renewals or equipment circulation counts because the practice of lending
equipment varies from library to library considerably in terms of what the equipment (ranging from
bicycles to cords) is, making any comparison difficult.
Back to top

Back to top

10)

Include physical and digital/electronic music scores if searchable by title through the library catalog
or discovery system.
Back to top
How are physical circulations reported?
Report the total number of times physical ITEMS (e.g. volumes) are checked out from the general and reserve
collections. Include only initial checkouts (circulation), not renewals. Exclude interlibrary loan lending and borrowing.
Include transactions of books, media, and serials. Do not include transactions of equipment or computers. However,
circulation of electronic reading devices (e.g., Kindles) can be included if the device is pre-loaded with e-books. For
example, if a customer checks out a Kindle that is pre-loaded with 20 e-books, then that transaction counts as 1
physical circulation, not 20 electronic/digital circulation. 
Back to top

11)

Does circulation include both check-outs and check-ins?
Circulation only includes initial check-outs, but not renewals or check-ins.

Back to top
12)
In-house circulation may include items that library personnel pick up from tables and carrels and are
scanned as to being used. Do we include in-house use as circulation?

Do not include these types of in-house circulation with circulation or interlibrary lending. 
Back to top
Reporting Branch and Independent Libraries
1)
When reporting the count of digital/electronic materials, do we count the total number available at the
system level or at the branch level?

Report at the system or administrative entity level. For example, if the library system has 3 branch libraries and
access to 2,038 downloadable audio units at the system level, then it would report 2,038 and not 6,114 units.
Back to top
Reporting as a Consortium Member
1)
How do we report digital/electronic circulation if access to the material is provided for all members as
part of a consortium?

If the circulation count for only your institution is not available from the e-service provider, report using whichever
method you use locally to monitor circulation for your library. Do not include counts from other members of the
consortium. A method for estimating usage for just your institution is to use the percentage of your institution's
contribution to the total consortial fee. Another method is to use the percentage of institution's Full-Time Equivalent
(FTE) student count to the consortia's total FTE student count.
Back to top
2)
If we are asking libraries in consortia to report their collection, but part of that collection is shared, are
we overstating the collection and double counting?

The Academic Libraries component of IPEDS was integrated from the previous Academic Libraries Survey (ALS). The
ALS Advisory Committee, which comprised of practitioners and academics, agreed with this method for reporting
collections from consortia because it is more important to get accurate total access counts than total collection counts.
Back to top
Reporting Digital/Electronic Collections
1)
Where should VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media be counted, with
"digital/electronic" or "physical"?

VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media should be counted under "physical media". 
Back to top
2)
How are purchased electronic journals counted?

Electronic journals will not be included in the collection count. However, expenses for electronic journal subscriptions
should be reported under ‘Ongoing commitments to subscriptions’.
Back to top
3)
How do we count electronic books available via e-book services such as the Ebook Library (EBL),
Freading, or Overdrive?

Report each title owned or leased by the library if individual titles are cataloged and/or searchable through the library
catalog or discovery system.
Back to top
4)
How do we count media offered through online streaming services such as Films on Demand, VAST,
Swank?

Report titles of the media if it is owned or leased by the library if the titles are cataloged and/or searchable through
the library catalog or discovery system. 
Back to top
5)
If a digital/electronic unit can be downloaded as many formats, is each format counted as a separate
title?

Count all formats as one title. For example, count an e-book title that is available via epub, PDF, or Kindle formats as
one title.
Back to top
6)
For collections, do we count downloadables (e-books, e-serials, and e-media) that do not have records in
our catalog but that we have access to?

Count only downloadables that you have access to that are in your library’s catalog or discovery system.
Back to top
7)
How are electronic theses and dissertations counted?

Theses and dissertations in electronic format can be included under "digital/electronic books", providing it is part of
the library's collection (see definition of collection). Report the titles.
Back to top
8)
Can I report open access (OA) titles as part of my collection?

OA titles may be included if the individual titles are searchable through the library's catalog or

discovery system. Do NOT count titles from HathiTrust, Center for Research Libraries, Internet
Archive, and similar collections unless the library owns the digitized item and it is accessible under
current copyright law.
9)

Back to top
What is a digital/electronic serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and circulation?

An e-serial is a periodical publication that is published in digital form to be displayed on a computer
screen.
Report the number of e-serial titles that are accessible through the library’s catalog or discovery
system. Include open access (OA) titles if the individual titles are searchable through the library’s
catalog or discovery system, except do not count e-serial titles from HathiTrust, Center for Research
Libraries, Internet Archive, and similar collections unless the library owns the digitized item and it is
accessible under current copyright law. If possible, report the count of only those de-duplicated or
otherwise unique serial titles searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery system. If possible
include ceased titles. If possible, do not count earlier title changes; however, do not worry about
removing them if it is not possible/feasible. A source for counting e-serials may be a library- or
vendor-developed A-Z title list of e-journals.
Do NOT report digital/electronic serials in digital and electronic usage/circulation counts.
Back to top

Reporting Digital/Electronic Circulation
1)
How do we count serial or journal circulation/usage in databases?

IPEDS does not collect the circulation/usage of electronic journals or serials. Please do not include.
Back to top
2)

3)

4)

Where are institutional repositories reported?
IPEDS asks that you do NOT report data on institutional repositories in the AL survey.
Back to top
What are some suggestions for obtaining title counts for digital/electronic circulation?
If you have titles in your knowledge base in your link resolver integrated into your discovery tool, this can be an easy
way to get title counts for the digital/electronic collections (e-books, e-serials, and e-media) of the AL survey. If your
link resolver is not complete for e-books or e-multimedia, it might be better to rely on getting the title counts through
catalog records or other means.
Back to top
What are the basic steps for obtaining COUNTER Reports for Digital/Electronic Circulation?
First, identify where you should collect your electronic and digital circulation data. Some options are:
• Publishers that host their own content (e.g., Elsevier on ScienceDirect)
• Publishers that use a third-party platform to host content (e.g., Royal Society on Highwire)
• Aggregators that license content from a wide variety of publishers and offer it through a database (e.g., Academic
Search Complete on EBSCOhost)
Second, obtain a list of providers and identify how to obtain reports from each provider. An example of basic steps for
this process are as follows:
• Compile spreadsheet of providers.
• Identify administrative URLs and login information needed to collect statistics.
• Identify formats and reports to collect under each provider:
     • Serials - JR 1 (not necessary for IPEDS 2016-2017)
     • Books - BR 1
     • Books - BR 2
     • Multimedia - MR 1
• Identify providers where you need to contact vendor or where statistics are unavailable.
• Work your way through the list, recording the Reporting Period Total in your spreadsheet.
• Provide IPEDS with one total sum of all digital/electronic Reporting Period Totals obtained through all providers.
Note: In cases where vendors do not provide COUNTER reports, libraries may report using other means for monitoring
digital/electronic circulation/usage (downloads, session views, transaction logs, etc.).

Back to top
Reporting Expenses
1)
Where do we report expenses for electronic journals and electronic indexing/abstracting services
available on the Internet?

Report electronic journal and indexing/abstracting service expenses  with ‘Ongoing commitments to subscriptions’ if
they require an annual fee. If not, report electronic journal expenses under 'One-time purchases of books, serial
backfiles, and other materials' and electronic indexing/abstracting services under ‘Other materials/service costs’.
Back to top
2)
Where do we report consortial fees?

Report this amount under "All other operations and maintenance expenses". Include expenses for database licenses,
serial subscription fees, and other annual electronic platform or access fees, if they were part of an annual consortium
fee. Do not report these under "Ongoing commitment to subscriptions" or "One-time purchases" expenses. 
Back to top

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IPEDS Survey Material: View F.A.Q

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(877) 225­2568 or [email protected]

NCES National Center for Education Statistics

2016­17 Survey Materials > FAQ

Print 

Back to Results

Academic Libraries
Click one of the following questions to view the answer.
General Questions
1)

What is a reporting relationship and what are the different reporting
relationships available for the Academic Library component? 

2)

How should items missing from the library’s collection be counted?

3)

Why does the survey ask for title count for reporting physical book collection and no
longer asking for volume?

4)

What is the difference between a database and a discovery system?

5)

Do we count unlicensed databases such as library­created databases?

6)

What is a physical serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and
circulation?

7)

How do we report reserves and renewals?

8)

Where are print photographs reported?

9)

Are music sheets collected?

10)

How are physical circulations reported?

11)

Does circulation include both check­outs and check­ins?

12)

In­house circulation may include items that library personnel pick up from tables and
carrels and are scanned as to being used. Do we include in­house use as circulation? 

Reporting Branch and Independent Libraries
1)

When reporting the count of digital/electronic materials, do we count the total number
available at the system level or at the branch level?

Reporting as a Consortium Member
1)

How do we report digital/electronic circulation if access to the material is provided for
all members as part of a consortium?

2)

If we are asking libraries in consortia to report their collection, but part of that
collection is shared, are we overstating the collection and double counting?

Reporting Digital/Electronic Collections
1)

Where should VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media be counted, with
"digital/electronic" or "physical"? 

2)

How are purchased electronic journals counted?

3)

How do we count electronic books available via e­book services such as the Ebook
Library (EBL), Freading, or Overdrive?

4)

How do we count media offered through online streaming services such as Films on
Demand, VAST, Swank? 

5)

If a digital/electronic unit can be downloaded as many formats, is each format counted
as a separate title?

6)

For collections, do we count downloadables (e­books, e­serials, and e­media) that do
not have records in our catalog but that we have access to?

7)

How are electronic theses and dissertations counted? 

8)

Can I report open access (OA) titles as part of my collection?

9)

What is a digital/electronic serial and how do I report physical serials in collection and
circulation?

Reporting Digital/Electronic Circulation
1)

How do we count serial or journal circulation/usage in databases?

2)

Where are institutional repositories reported?

3)

What are some suggestions for obtaining title counts for digital/electronic circulation?

https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/VisFaqView.aspx?mode=reg&id=17&show=all

1/6

8/16/2016

4)

IPEDS Survey Material: View F.A.Q

What are the basic steps for obtaining COUNTER Reports for Digital/Electronic
Circulation?

Reporting Expenses
1)

Where do we report expenses for electronic journals and electronic
indexing/abstracting services available on the Internet?

2)

Where do we report consortial fees?

Answers:
General Questions
1)

What is a reporting relationship and what are the different reporting
relationships available for the Academic Library component? 

Reporting relationships allow one institution to report data for other institutions in
IPEDS. For the Academic Libraries component, institutions can establish either a
"parent & child" relationship or a "main & branch" relationship. To determine which
type of reporting relationship fits with your institution, please visit the resource
page http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/download/AL_Reporting_Relationships.pdf. 

2)

How should items missing from the library’s collection be counted?

Missing items are part of the collection.

3)

Why does the survey ask for title count for reporting physical book collection
and no longer asking for volume?

For the 2016­17 collection, NCES asks that you now report physical book collections
by counting titles, not volumes. This will ensure that the definition for physical books
aligns with the definitions of other collection counts (i.e. media, serials) collected for
IPEDS.

Back to top

Back to top

Back to top
4)

What is the difference between a database and a discovery system?

A database is a collecꬅon of electronically stored data or unit records
(facts, bibliographic data, and texts) with a common user interface and
so唀猄ware for the retrieval and manipulaꬅon of the data. The data or
records are usually collected with a parꬅcular intent and relate to a
defined topic.
A discovery system consists of an interface directed toward the users of a
library to find materials in its collecꬅons and subsequently to gain access
to items of interest through the appropriate mechanisms. Discovery
systems tend to be independent from the specific applicaꬅons that
libraries implement to manage resources, such as integrated library
systems, library services plaꬅorms, repository plaꬅorms, or electronic
resource management systems. In most cases they provide access to
mulꬅple types of materials, independently of the management plaꬅorm
involved. Discovery systems provide an interface with search and retrieval
capabiliꬅes, o唀猄en with features such as relevancy‐based ordering of
search results, facets presented that can be selected to narrow results
according to specific categories, contributors, or date ranges, and tools to
idenꬅfy related materials or to refine search queries. Examples of
discovery systems can be found at
h縂ꬅp://librarytechnology.org/discovery/.
Back to top

5)

Do we count unlicensed databases such as library­created databases?

No, only count licensed databases.

6)

What is a physical serial and how do I report physical serials in collection
and circulation?

Back to top

https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/VisFaqView.aspx?mode=reg&id=17&show=all

2/6

8/16/2016

IPEDS Survey Material: View F.A.Q

A serial is a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical
or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. This
definition includes, in any physical format, periodicals, newspapers, and annuals
(reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of
societies; and numbered monographic series.
In physical serials collection, report the number of physical serial titles that are
accessible through the library’s catalog or discovery system. Report serial titles, not
subscriptions. If possible, report the count of only those de­duplicated or otherwise
unique serial titles searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery system. If
possible, do not include earlier title changes; however, do not worry about
removing them if it is not possible/feasible.
Also, include physical serials when reporting circulation counts. 
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7)

How do we report reserves and renewals?

For the 2016‐17 collecꬅon, NCES asks that you report in circulaꬅon of
physical items the physical‐print reserve circulaꬅon. This way the iniꬅal
circulaꬅon count will reflect all physical‐print circulaꬅon of content
whether it is part of the regular print collecꬅon or the reserve print
collecꬅon. However, this will NOT include renewals or equipment
circulaꬅon counts because the pracꬅce of lending equipment varies from
library to library considerably in terms of what the equipment (ranging
from bicycles to cords) is, making any comparison difficult.

8)

Where are print photographs reported?

Print photographs are reported as graphic materials within physical media.

9)

Are music sheets collected?

Include physical and digital/electronic music scores if searchable by ꬅtle
through the library catalog or discovery system.

10)

How are physical circulations reported?

Report the total number of times physical ITEMS (e.g. volumes) are checked out
from the general and reserve collections. Include only initial checkouts (circulation),
not renewals. Exclude interlibrary loan lending and borrowing. Include transactions
of books, media, and serials. Do not include transactions of equipment or
computers. However, circulation of electronic reading devices (e.g., Kindles) can be
included if the device is pre­loaded with e­books. For example, if a customer checks
out a Kindle that is pre­loaded with 20 e­books, then that transaction counts as 1
physical circulation, not 20 electronic/digital circulation. 

11)

Does circulation include both check­outs and check­ins?

Circulation only includes initial check­outs, but not renewals or check­ins.

12)

In­house circulation may include items that library personnel pick up from
tables and carrels and are scanned as to being used. Do we include in­house
use as circulation? 

Do not include these types of in­house circulation with circulation or interlibrary
lending. 

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Reporting Branch and Independent Libraries
1)

When reporting the count of digital/electronic materials, do we count the
total number available at the system level or at the branch level?

Report at the system or administrative entity level. For example, if the library
system has 3 branch libraries and access to 2,038 downloadable audio units at the
system level, then it would report 2,038 and not 6,114 units.
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Reporting as a Consortium Member
1)

How do we report digital/electronic circulation if access to the material is

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provided for all members as part of a consortium?

If the circulation count for only your institution is not available from the e­service
provider, report using whichever method you use locally to monitor circulation for
your library. Do not include counts from other members of the consortium. A
method for estimating usage for just your institution is to use the percentage of
your institution's contribution to the total consortial fee. Another method is to use
the percentage of institution's Full­Time Equivalent (FTE) student count to the
consortia's total FTE student count.

2)

If we are asking libraries in consortia to report their collection, but part of
that collection is shared, are we overstating the collection and double
counting?

The Academic Libraries component of IPEDS was integrated from the previous
Academic Libraries Survey (ALS). The ALS Advisory Committee, which comprised of
practitioners and academics, agreed with this method for reporting collections from
consortia because it is more important to get accurate total access counts than total
collection counts.

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Reporting Digital/Electronic Collections
1)

Where should VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media be
counted, with "digital/electronic" or "physical"? 

VHS, CDs and DVDs of digital/electronic books or media should be counted under
"physical media". 

2)

How are purchased electronic journals counted?

Electronic journals will not be included in the collection count. However, expenses
for electronic journal subscriptions should be reported under ‘Ongoing commitments
to subscriptions’.

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3)

How do we count electronic books available via e­book services such as the
Ebook Library (EBL), Freading, or Overdrive?

Report each title owned or leased by the library if individual titles are cataloged
and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system.

4)

How do we count media offered through online streaming services such as
Films on Demand, VAST, Swank? 

Report titles of the media if it is owned or leased by the library if the titles are
cataloged and/or searchable through the library catalog or discovery system. 

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5)

If a digital/electronic unit can be downloaded as many formats, is each
format counted as a separate title?

Count all formats as one title. For example, count an e­book title that is available
via epub, PDF, or Kindle formats as one title.

6)

For collections, do we count downloadables (e­books, e­serials, and e­
media) that do not have records in our catalog but that we have access to?

Count only downloadables that you have access to that are in your library’s catalog
or discovery system.

7)

How are electronic theses and dissertations counted? 

Theses and dissertations in electronic format can be included under
"digital/electronic books", providing it is part of the library's collection (see definition
of collection). Report the titles.

8)

Can I report open access (OA) titles as part of my collection?

OA ꬅtles may be included if the individual ꬅtles are searchable through
the library's catalog or discovery system. Do NOT count ꬅtles from
HathiTrust, Center for Research Libraries, Internet Archive, and similar
collecꬅons unless the library owns the digiꬅzed item and it is accessible
under current copyright law.

9)

What is a digital/electronic serial and how do I report physical serials in

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collection and circulation?

An e‐serial is a periodical publicaꬅon that is published in digital form to be
displayed on a computer screen.

Report the number of e‐serial ꬅtles that are accessible through the
library’s catalog or discovery system. Include open access (OA) ꬅtles if the
individual ꬅtles are searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery
system, except do not count e‐serial ꬅtles from HathiTrust, Center for
Research Libraries, Internet Archive, and similar collecꬅons unless the
library owns the digiꬅzed item and it is accessible under current copyright
law. If possible, report the count of only those de‐duplicated or otherwise
unique serial ꬅtles searchable through the library’s catalog or discovery
system. If possible include ceased ꬅtles. If possible, do not count earlier
ꬅtle changes; however, do not worry about removing them if it is not
possible/feasible. A source for counꬅng e‐serials may be a library‐ or
vendor‐developed A‐Z ꬅtle list of e‐journals.

Do NOT report digital/electronic serials in digital and electronic
usage/circulaꬅon counts.
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Reporting Digital/Electronic Circulation
1)

How do we count serial or journal circulation/usage in databases?

IPEDS does not collect the circulation/usage of electronic journals or serials. Please
do not include.
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2)

Where are institutional repositories reported?

IPEDS asks that you do NOT report data on institutional repositories in the AL
survey.
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3)

What are some suggestions for obtaining title counts for digital/electronic
circulation?

If you have titles in your knowledge base in your link resolver integrated into your
discovery tool, this can be an easy way to get title counts for the digital/electronic
collections (e­books, e­serials, and e­media) of the AL survey. If your link resolver
is not complete for e­books or e­multimedia, it might be better to rely on getting the
title counts through catalog records or other means.

4)

What are the basic steps for obtaining COUNTER Reports for
Digital/Electronic Circulation?

First, identify where you should collect your electronic and digital circulation data.
Some options are:
• Publishers that host their own content (e.g., Elsevier on ScienceDirect)
• Publishers that use a third­party platform to host content (e.g., Royal Society on
Highwire)
• Aggregators that license content from a wide variety of publishers and offer it
through a database (e.g., Academic Search Complete on EBSCOhost)

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Second, obtain a list of providers and identify how to obtain reports from each
provider. An example of basic steps for this process are as follows:
• Compile spreadsheet of providers.
• Identify administrative URLs and login information needed to collect statistics.
• Identify formats and reports to collect under each provider:
     • Serials ­ JR 1 (not necessary for IPEDS 2016­2017)
     • Books ­ BR 1
     • Books ­ BR 2
     • Multimedia ­ MR 1
• Identify providers where you need to contact vendor or where statistics are
unavailable.
• Work your way through the list, recording the Reporting Period Total in your
spreadsheet.

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• Provide IPEDS with one total sum of all digital/electronic Reporting Period Totals
obtained through all providers.
Note: In cases where vendors do not provide COUNTER reports, libraries may
report using other means for monitoring digital/electronic circulation/usage
(downloads, session views, transaction logs, etc.).

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Reporting Expenses
1)

Where do we report expenses for electronic journals and electronic
indexing/abstracting services available on the Internet?

Report electronic journal and indexing/abstracting service expenses  with ‘Ongoing
commitments to subscriptions’ if they require an annual fee. If not, report electronic
journal expenses under 'One­time purchases of books, serial backfiles, and other
materials' and electronic indexing/abstracting services under ‘Other
materials/service costs’.

2)

Where do we report consortial fees?

Report this amount under "All other operations and maintenance expenses". Include
expenses for database licenses, serial subscription fees, and other annual electronic
platform or access fees, if they were part of an annual consortium fee. Do not
report these under "Ongoing commitment to subscriptions" or "One­time purchases"
expenses. 

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