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PubLib / RSS Survey
56%Public –Single
Building
44%Public-Multi Branch
Library Type
Public Library (s-ingle building)- 56%Public Library (part of a mult- branch system)- 44%
For Public Libraries How large is the population your library serves?
Response Percent Response Count
Under 5,000 people.5.8% 8
5,000-10,000 people.8.6% 12
10,000-50,000 people.39.6% 55
50,000-100,000. people20.1% 28
100,000-250,000. people15.1% 21
Over 250,000 people.11.5% 16
answered question 139
The survey question was:How has your budget for purchasing reference materials changed over the last 5 years?
Answer Options Response Percent
Response Count
It has not changed. 16.3% 22It has increased by more than 10 percent. 4.4% 6
It has increased by less than 10 percent. 11.9% 16
It has decreased by more than 10 percent. 53.3% 72
It has decreased by less than 10 percent. 8.9% 12
I do not know. 5.2% 7
Other (please specify) 15
answered question 135
skipped question 4
Reference Materials Budget Last 5 years
16.3%No Change
4.4%Increased more
than 10%
11.9%Increased less
than 10%
53.3%Decreased more than
10%
8.9%Decreased less than 10%
5.2%Don’t Know
Our Reference Budgets
•“It has decreased, but so have all of our other book-buying budgets. I don't think it has decreased in a greater proportion than the other budgets (for fiction, YA, etc.)”.
• “. . . the budget for online reference databases has increased, but those funds do not come out of the reference budget”
•“We weeded our reference. We are moving to online products”
What we are buying:
2% 38%Purchase
Fre-quently
48%Purchase
Infre-quently
11%Do Not
Purchase/ NA
Databases
Purchase ExclusivelyPurchase FrequentlyPurchase In-frequentlyDo Not Purchase / NA
59% purchasing databases infrequently or not at all.“Our databases are mostly provided by the state library. The one's we pay for are not part of the reference budget, but are part of our IT budget”.
“Databases are paid through another fund or are free (state library)”.
What we are buying:
5%
38%Purchase
Infre-quently57%
Do Not Purchase /
NA
Reference Ebooks
Purchase ExclusivelyPurchase FrequentlyPurchase In-frequentlyDo Not Purchase / NA
95% Purchase Infrequently or not at all.Though:“Databases and Ebooks are a separate budget item”.
“Databases & e-book purchases are made before I get the budget”.
“We buy Ebooks, but not for reference.”
What we are buying:
1% Purchase Exclusively
46%Purchase
Fre-quently51%
Purchase Infre-
quently
2% Do Not Purchase/ NA
Print Reference
Purchase ExclusivelyPurchase FrequentlyPurchase In-frequentlyDo Not Purchase
48% yea to 52% nay on printIs Print dead or just badly wounded for reference?Is it just the economy?Is it a reference question if it is asked of your database without your help?
What our patrons are using:
50%Used Fre-
quently
46%Used Infre-
quently
4%Not Known
Databases
Used FrequentlyUsed InrequentlyNot Used or NAUsage Not Known
What our patrons are using:
5%Used Fre-
quently
37%Used In-
frequently
42%Not Used
or NA
16%Unknown
Reference Ebooks
Used FrequentlyUsed InfrequentlyNot Used or NAUnknown
What our patrons are (still) using:
30%Used Fre-
quently
66%Used In-
frequently
1%Not Used or NA
4%Usage
Unknown
Print Reference
Used FrequentlyUsed InfrequentlyNot Used or NAUsage Unknown
Percentages
•Databases—Holding steady, increasing.
•Ebooks –Maybe the wave of the future, but smaller libraries are not buying now.
•Print– Its death has been foretold for many years now.
How we determine what our patrons want?•Patron Survey
▫SurveyMonkey-Free to cheap, great for quick, short surveys.
▫Zoomerang.▫Counting Opinions-Library specific, great
control, on the expensive side.▫Wufoo.com.▫Google Docs survey tool.
But ask them.
Ask them what they like to use.Ask them what questions we are not able to help them answer.Ask them if they would like to check out what was formerly reference material.
Other methods libraries use:
•Vendor counts – tells you something, but maybe not what you want to know.
•In house use-scanning print materials-or shelvers keep a log of what goes back without being scanned.
•Reference staff keeps track of questions they have difficulty answering-shops for item to fill the hole in the collection
The future of reference purchasing, the vendor reps:•“I think that the purchase of print
reference will continue to decline and electronic will continue to rise”.-vendor rep
•“They [Libraries] are purchasing both formats, but print still predominates. . . there seems to be more talk about ebooks than purchasing”.-A different vendor rep.
•We purchase as part of a cooperative system for e-books and databases, in-house for print materials, print is in response to patron needs.
•I think we do better with the print materials than we do with the databases - after all, so many people use the databases remotely that it's hard to tell whether they are satisfied.
Where do you find it (once you know what form it is in)? Outstanding Reference Sources list from RUSA CODES-on the RUSA Awards page (along with the previous nine years of lists) and in RUSQ.
RUSA CODES Outstanding Reference Sources• The Selections for 2010• Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press), Francis P.
McManamon• Encyclopedia of African American History: 1896 to the Present (Oxford
University Press), Paul Finkelman• Encyclopedia of Modern China (Charles Scribner’s Sons), David Pong• The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars
(ABC-CLIO), Spencer Tucker• Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (Gale Cengage), J.
Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman• Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Oxford), David Forsythe• Social Explorer, an online reference resource• Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts (McFarland &
Company Publishers), Thomas S. Hischak• American Countercultures (Sharp), Gina Misiroglu• Encyclopedia of Gender and Society (Sage), Jodi O’Brien• Encyclopedia of Marine Science (Facts on File), C. Reid Nichols and Robert G.
Williams
What do we think?
How would you describe the relationship between the reference materials you purchase and the reference needs of your patrons?
Answers Response Percent Response Count
Our reference purchases are totally in sync with our patrons' reference needs.
9.6% 13
Our reference purchases reflect what we believe our patrons want, but we have no way of knowing whether or not this is true.
46.3% 63
We purchase the best material we can and hope for the best.
36.0% 49
Other (please specify) 19.1% 26
answered question 136
skipped question 3