Department

Library Administration

Purpose

The purpose of these procedures is to describe how to update our entry in American Library Directory in such a way that it is not confusing to directory users. We must strive to keep the directory up to date because some vendors base their pricing on data reported in this source.

Overview

We are not obligated to answer all the questions from the ALD questionnaire, and to do so means that we would be reporting subsets of holdings. In the past, this has been confusing to outside users, who consequently add the various subsets to the reported total and inflate our data. Also, the questionnaire asks for financial data that we do not want to report in this venue.

Required Knowledge/Skills

Ability to work with MS Excel

Safety Issues/Precautions

n/a

Equipment/Supplies

PC with Internet connection. Access to the Library's shared drives S:\CCLS\Statistics\ and S:\CCLS2\Statistics Admin\.

Procedure

1. The ALD contact person will be notified in the fall. Data submitted after the deadline is accepted, but will not appear in the published directory. It will only appear in the online version.
2. Our listing ID number is 707733.
3. Read the instructions at the top of the ALD online form before starting.
4. Library Personnel: Include everyone. Use job titles as they appear on http://library.valpo.edu/personnel.html. Do not include subject specialists unless the librarian was hired for that subject. Exception: always note who is our “government information librarian” because having one required as part of our depository status.
5. Library information:
   1. For staffing, take data from S:\CCLS2\Statistics Admin\Annual data from Administration.
   2. For faculty and student counts, take data from: S:\CCLS\Statistics\University Data spreadsheets\Annual data from Institutional Effectiveness. For faculty, use “Total Fall FTE Faculty.” For students, use “Current year FTE Student Enrollment.” Do not list the DNP as a doctorate program. Do not include any library functions or restrictions.
6. Library income. Do not report any financials. (Too confusing.)
7. Library holdings:
   1. Take data for AV Materials, Microforms, and Book Volumes from S:\CCLS\Statistics\Metadata & Library Catalog\Annual data from Metadata Services. Interpret “book volumes” as our total print volume count. Do not report separately items that overlap with these categories. That has been a source of confusion in the past, and interpretation of these numbers has led to inflated collection counts being reported.
   2. Take data for e-journals from: S:\CCLS\Statistics\Electronic Services & Resources\Annual data from Electronic Services. Use Periodical Titles Rec'd – electronic.
   3. For ebooks, add number of ebooks in library catalog from S:\CCLS\Statistics\Metadata & Library Catalog\Annual data from Metadata Services with number of ebooks in subscription packages as reported in S:\CCLS\Statistics\Electronic Services & Resources\Annual data from Electronic Services. Do not report the book title count or the number of periodical subscriptions because the data is too easily misinterpreted.
8. Database access: We receive access through many databases via EBSCO or other aggregators. Even if we do not contract directly with the database “publisher,” include it in the list. However, do not include a publisher if we only subscribe to individual journals from them. Do include journal packages. Also, note that the American Library Directory list is out-of-date.