ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 33 From Inside the DLSEF By D r . K a t h a r i n e M. S t o k e s College and University Library Specialist, Li­ brary Planning and Developm ent Branch, D i­ vision o f Library Services and Educational Facilities, U.S. Office of Education, Washing­ ton, D .C. 20202. Many o f you have b y now received a free copy o f Library Statistics: A Preliminary R e­ port on Academic Libraries, 1966-67. The thirty-eight-page report groups selected librar­ ies b y public and private control, further sub­ divided b y universities, other four-year in­ stitutions with graduate programs, four-year institutions without graduate programs, and two-year institutions. W ithin each o f these eight groups, institutions were listed by four geographic regions. The staff o f the National Center for Edu­ cational Statistics (N C E S ) o f the Office of Education selected 395 libraries which could b e considered representative o f all types o f academic libraries and manually edited the reports, prepared the tables for publication, and pressured the printer for priorities. These heroic efforts were in response to AC R L mem­ bers’ insistence that they need data on the past academic year by January in order to prepare and justify budget requests for the following fiscal year. On Decem ber 22 the NCES Statisticians were hard at work in spite o f Christmas coming on! The final report o f this survey will be issued later in the year. In addition to data for all of the individual libraries that have reported, it will contain summary statistical tables. In these, the OE hopes to represent all academic libraries b y including estimated data for those libraries not responding to the HEGIS ( Higher Education General Information Survey) ques­ tionnaire. In the meantime, the NCES has offered to supplement the library data on individual in­ stitutions not included in the preliminary re­ port if you request statistics on ten or fewer libraries and the request is accompanied by an explanation o f the need for these particular institutions’ data, so that the staff can develop a more responsive sample in the event that this type o f publication is issued next year. This offer was communicated to A LA and was publicized at the recent Midwinter meet­ ings. If your library has not already received a copy o f the Preliminary Report … ‚ it should be arriving shortly. Requests for statistics of libraries not included in it should be addressed to: Director Division o f Statistical Operations National Center for Educational Statistics U.S. Office o f Education Washington, D .C. 20202 Last year’s report, Library Statistics o f Col­ leges and Universities, 1965-66: Institutional Data, issued in March 1967, resulted from a grant to the Library Administration Division o f the American Library Association (A L A - L A D ) by OE’ s Bureau o f Research. Since the grant did not include funds for publications, A L A -L A D agreed to underwrite this phase o f the project on the basis that the printing costs would be recovered from sales o f the report, at $3.50 a copy. All this background may b e familiar to most o f you. However, the almost daily requests that we receive for last year’s report and refer to the A LA indicate that some o f you did not read the September 1966 A C R L N ews very carefully. ■ ■ LIBRARY STATISTICS (Continued from page 3 1 ) T h e secon d part o f the rep ort w o u ld b e the traditional com p reh en sive report w h ich w o u ld b e p u b lish ed in June o f 1968. D istribution o f the prelim inary rep ort at the A L A M id w in ter M eetin g w as restricted; h ow ev er, a m ailing to ev ery a ca d em ic in ­ stitution listed in the E d u ca tion D irecto ry w as co m p le te d b y January 23. It is ob v iou s, o f course, that the p re­ lim inary rep ort d oes n o t serve the n eeds o f all a ca d e m ic institutions. T h e institu­ tions w e re chosen in a cco rd a n ce w ith sam pling p rin cip les, b u t alternate returns h ad to b e inserted fo r reports w h ich w ere n ot available at the tim e o f com pilation. Results w ill b e tested fo r representativeness, an d the possib ility o f u sing this sam pling tech n iq u e fo r prelim inary national estimates w ill b e con sid ered fo r the future. A c a d e m ic librarians are u rg ed to w rite to the D ire c ­ tor, D ivision o f Statistical O perations, N a ­ tional C enter fo r E d u cation a l Statistics, U n ited States O ffice o f E d u ca tion , W a sh ­ ington, D .C . 2 0 2 0 2 , g ivin g their reaction to this pu blica tion . It is im portant that the 34 NEW POWER IN MAGNETIC BOOK SUPPORTS! H ere’s the F-3 W e y ll B ook Support, with magnetic p ow er so strong it w ill support fo lio s either upside dow n from the shelf above or right side up on the shelf sur­ face! Then there’s the 0 -2 , w h ich w ill support quartos and heavy octavos. Fit­ ting com panions indeed to the original 0 -1 , n o w proven in use in over 60 A m erican libraries. Choose the ones best suited to your needs … and find out h o w m uch easier they make your day! For inform ation, w rite: W eyll Corporation, P.O. Box 62, Glen Cove, N ew York 11542 (Also a v a ila b le th ro u g h y o u r loca l ESTEY CORP. re p re s e n ta tiv e ) com m en ts b e sp ecific, that is, w h y it is u sefu l or n ot useful, w h a t is missing, w hat is in correct, etc. It is fair to say that the N C E S staff m em bers have b e e n m ost anxious to re­ solve the prob lem s that have p la g u e d them in rega rd to the collection , analysis, and dissem ination o f library statistics. B ased on their experiences these last tw o years in trying to c o lle c t library statistics in three separate form s in the H E G IS p a ck a g e, it has been d e c id e d that fo r next year a single library form w ill b e used. T h e d e a d ­ line fo r this fo rm w ill m ake it p ossib le fo r N C E S to p u b lish the com p reh en sive rep ort fo r a ca d e m ic library statistics b y the en d o f January 1969. This estimate, h o w ­ ever, is b a sed o n the assum ption that funds fo r U S O E in the area o f data p rocessin g and p u b lica tion w ill n o t b e c u t and on an assignm ent o f a h igh priority b y the O ffice o f E d u ca tion to library statistics. A c a d e m ic librarians ou gh t to express their con cern fo r the n e e d fo r com p rehen sive library statistics b e in g p u b lish e d annually b y January. W it h all the d ifferent e d u ca ­ tion groups asking fo r statistics, it b e ­ h ooves the A m erica n L ib ra ry A ssociation to clearly in d icate to the U .S. O ffice o f E d u ca tion that library statistics are a m ajor adm inistrative and pla nn in g to o l as w e ll as an im portan t d e v ic e fo r m easuring the effectiveness o f fed era l legislation on library program s. D u rin g the A L A M id w in ter M e e tin g the B oard o f D irectors o f the L ib ra ry A d m in ­ istration D ivision and the A L A E x ecu tive B oard con cu rred in a resolu tion to the U S O E expressing their ap p recia tion fo r the p u b lica tion o f the prelim inary rep ort and fo r the inform ation that the com p reh en sive report on a ca d em ic libraries fo r 19 6 6 -6 7 w ill b e p u b lish e d in June o f 19 68 and that b y the fall o f 19 68 the lon g-a w a ited a ca ­ d e m ic library statistics fo r 1 9 6 4 -6 5 and 1 9 6 5 -6 6 w ill b e p u blish ed . T h e boa rd s also expressed their satisfaction w ith the d e ­ cision to co lle c t in form ation o n a ca d em ic libraries in a single library statistical form . T h e con tin u in g p ro b le m o f a ca d em ic library statistics h a d b e e n a m atter o f grave con cern to all. It n o w appears that w e have “ turned the c o m e r ” and that a lon g-ran ge solution to the p rogra m is at hand.— A l­ p h o n se F . T rezza , A sso cia te E x e c u tiv e D i­ recto r, A L A (fo rm erly E x e c u tiv e S ecretary, L A D ). ■ ■ 35 B r o - D a r t : Books S u p p lie s • F U R N I T U R E • C hargin g S ystem s • Book Processing • C o lorprints New … The "OOps Tray from (I B t won r ’ t o brea - k D if you a drop r i t t.) . Behind this Traditional solid birch front— to match your present cabinets — are aluminum’s super impact qualities: strength, lightness, durability. And remarkable economy! Shatter-proof, these aluminum trays will never jam, stick or warp. We can also offer aluminum in Traditional, Contemporary and Brodura Sectional Card Catalog Cabinets. Easily expanded by adding tray units as need arises. Removable cornice top gives cabinet complete, solid appearance at any stage of development. Light or dark finish Standard; Custom finishes available. And Bro-Dart offers you the choice of these new aluminum trays or the standard wooden ones! TH E COM PLETE L IB R A R Y SOURCE New ark •W illiam sport* Los An geles* B rantford, Ontario F o r fu rth e r in fo rm a t io n , D e p t. C R L -2 • P .O . B o x 9 2 3 • W illia m s p o r t , Pa. 1770 4