UK Higher Education library statistics The role of SCONUL

Montreal August UK HE library statistics  About SCONUL  Development of the statistical return  Uses of the data  Publications  Database  Analyses

Montreal August About SCONUL  1950 SCONUL founded  1987 started collecting statistics  1994 merged with COPOL  1995 LISU started compiling data  2001 merged with HCLRG  All UK universities and all but a handful of HE colleges now members

Montreal August Development of the return  Developed by librarians for librarians  Aim:  “…Sound information on which policy decisions can be based…”

Montreal August Management  WGPI  Oversees data collection and production of reports  Sub-group to consider detail of return  SCONUL Office  Issues passwords  Controls access to return and statistics  Chases late respondents

Montreal August Processing  LISU  Monitors response  Answers enquiries  Compiles data and prepares reports  Maintains internal and web databases  Prepares commissioned reports  ILRT  Hosts & maintains main web site  Updates return form each year  Notifies LISU when returns are made

Montreal August Development  Last major revision of form was more than ten years ago  Small changes made annually  Revising/clarifying definitions  Adapting to changes in library operations  Evolution not revolution  Data now collected only through web form

Montreal August The current return  Organisational structure  Accommodation  Library space, seating & workstations  Provision of stock  Print & electronic, stock & acquisitions, disposals  Clientele  Use  Visits, circulation, ILL, enquiries, e-use  Staff numbers  Expenditure  Staff, information provision, equipment, other  Income

Montreal August Using the data  Statistics are becoming more reliable each year  Most areas have ten or more years data for analysis  Valuable for all sorts of uses  Internal management  Benchmarking  Advocacy – local and national

Montreal August Statistics products  SCONUL Annual Statistics  HELMS  Trend analysis  Web database

Montreal August SCONUL Annual Statistics  Reproduce data as submitted  Including all notes  Derived statistics  Sector & overall summary figures  Mean, median, quartiles, sum  Brief commentary

Montreal August SCONUL Annual Statistics

Montreal August Higher Education Library Management Statistics  Supplementary to main report  Small set of management statistics  Library specific from SCONUL  Relevant notes reproduced  Institution wide from HESA  Aimed at senior institution management  HESA format  Country totals  Brief commentary

Montreal August HELMS

Montreal August The SCONUL database  Data from  Aim  Comparison of institutions  Sector-wide totals  Edited for  Completeness  Consistency

Montreal August Trend analysis  Key set of management statistics  Contextual information  Service provision  Library use  Staff  Financial data  Based on edited data  10-year trends  By sector  Tables and graphical presentation  Extensive commentary

Montreal August Trend analysis

Montreal August Statistics on the Web  Edited data  Selected fields  Most institutions  Sector totals  Analyses  Institutional Data  Ranked Lists  Multiple Institutions Time Series  Multiple Variables Time Series  Download

Montreal August Institutional data

Montreal August Ranked lists

Montreal August Time series

Montreal August Service evaluation  Individual libraries  Monitoring overall trends  Identifying areas of service growth and decline.  Internal planning and decision-making.

Montreal August Benchmarking  Ten year trends  Baseline for statistical benchmarking  Inform selection of comparator institutions  Background for process benchmarking  Comparison against averages

Montreal August Advocacy  Within institutions  Didn’t we do well?  Performance  Aren’t we doing badly?  Funding  Supporting business cases for additional funding.  Demonstration of value to our stakeholders.  Nationally  Informing government  Sector-wide negotiation  Strategic planning  Service providers

Montreal August SCONUL statistics  “SCONUL’s statistics are hard work to produce and they are worked hard once they are published.”