University Futures, Library Futures: Aligning Library Strategies with Institutional Directions, United States, 2017-2018 (ICPSR 37862)

Version Date: Sep 29, 2020

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Principal Investigator(s):
Constance Malpas, OCLC; Roger C. Schonfeld, Ithaka S + R; Rona Stein, OCLC; Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC; Deanna B. Marcum, Ithaka S + R

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37862.v1

Version V1

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Summary

"University Futures, Library Futures: Aligning library strategies with institutional directions" establishes a new framework for understanding the fit between emerging library service paradigms and university types. Researchers examined the impact of increased institutional differentiation in universities on the organization of academic libraries and the services they provide.

As libraries move away from a collections model in which libraries measure their success by how large their collections are, this report puts a framework around library services, explores emerging patterns in different institutional settings, and gauges the importance of these services areas--now and for the future--according to surveyed library directors. The work has three main components:

  • a working model of United States higher education institutions that is characterized by educational activity (Research, Liberal Education, Career-directed) and mode of provision (traditional-residential and new-traditional-flexible)
  • a library services framework that covers nine key areas comparison of the above two to test the hypothesis that the services portfolio of libraries map onto the institutional priorities of their host university.

Demographic variables include the basic Carnegie class of the participants' universities and the job titles of participants.

Citation

Malpas, Constance, Schonfeld, Roger C., Stein, Rona, Dempsey, Lorcan, and Marcum, Deanna B. University Futures, Library Futures: Aligning Library Strategies with Institutional Directions, United States, 2017-2018. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-09-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37862.v1

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Funding

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

None

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2017-11-20 -- 2018-05-03

Date of Collection

2017-11-20 -- 2018-02-02

Data Collection Notes

  1. Questionnaire: Coded values are in parentheses (i.e. "(10)"). For matrix and multi-select questions, the variable names are below each item/statement in parentheses (i.e. "(Q3_1)").

  2. Public report of findings is available on the OCLC website.
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Study Purpose

This study examines the impact of increased institutional differentiation in universities on the organization of academic libraries and the services they provide.

As libraries move away from a collections model in which libraries measure their success by how large their collections are, this report puts a framework around library services, explores emerging patterns in different institutional settings, and gauges the importance of these services areas--now and for the future--according to surveyed library directors.

Study Design

A survey questionnaire was developed for library directors to address how they perceived their institution to fit into the typology developed and how they allocated resources, and expected to do so, relative to the key services areas. After being drafted and refined by the project team, the survey instrument was tested in a series of cognitive interviews with members of the survey population.

The survey sample was carefully prepared to target the 1,506 institutions profiled in the typology plus others that would have been included in the typology had they not been missing IPEDS data. Researchers excluded the several cases where a library was known to provide services on a shared basis to multiple higher education institutions.

Sample

The survey sample was carefully prepared to target the 1,506 institutions profiled in the typology plus others that would have been included in the typology had they not been missing IPEDS data. Researchers excluded the several cases where a library was known to provide services on a shared basis to multiple higher education institutions. For every other institution, researchers attempted to collect name and email address for the directors of the principal campus library (i.e., not the medical, law, or other library if it is part of a separate reporting line). In a small number of cases, it was impossible to locate contact information. Researchers sent invitation messages to 1,477 individuals. These included library directors and library Dean's from four-year institutions within the United States that grant a Bachelor's degree or higher, based upon Carnegie Classification.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

This study covers library directors/deans at institutions in the United States that grant a bachelor's degree or higher, based on Carnegie Classification.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

Variables cover participants' institutional library budgets, how their libraries allocate their resources, and what kind of services their libraries provide.

Response Rates

The response rate for this survey was 39.3 percent.

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Original Release Date

2020-09-29

Version History

2020-09-29 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.

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Notes