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Data & Analytics


ARL gathers and disseminates data and analytics on research library practices, effectiveness, and impact.

Our Research and Analytics program pursues a research agenda for the Association. We collect and analyze data on all aspects of research libraries’ roles in scholarly and scientific production, learning facilitation and learner success, and knowledge access and sustainability.

The program supports an active community for librarians interested in library assessment, evaluation, and improvement. This community shares approaches and solutions to problems through two activities:

  • ARL maintains an online email community, ARL-Assess, that is open to all who are interested in joining. Sign up for the list on the Google Groups subscription page.
  • The Library Assessment Conference, co-sponsored by ARL and the University of Washington, is a biennial event that gathers practitioners and researchers. The conference provides a mix of invited speakers, contributed papers and posters, and workshops.

Contact Kevin Borden (kborden@arl.org) with questions.


LibQUAL+ Revision Summary

In 2020, ARL committed to revising the LibQUAL+ survey instrument to enhance the user experience, decrease response time and burden, and address longstanding feedback about elements of the survey that...

Research Library Impact Framework Initiative and Pilots

ARL’s Research Library Impact Framework initiative was established in 2019 with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and extends the recommendations developed by the Assessment...

ARL Salary Survey Statistical Trends

The following papers, reports, and presentations highlight demographic shifts in the ARL workforce over time based on analyses of demographic data collected as part of the annual ARL Salary Survey....

ARL Statistics Survey Statistical Trends

These graphs highlight trends emerging from data collected as part of the annual ARL Statistics survey. Click on the links below to download the graph or data table....

  • 2021 Changes to Naming Convention for Annual Surveys

    2021 Changes to Naming Convention for Annual Surveys

    ARL will modify the naming convention used to refer to the survey cycle and associated publications. Rather than use a date range for the ARL Statistics and ARL Salary Survey,...

  • Additional RLIF Training Materials & Poster Sessions

    Additional RLIF Training Materials & Poster Sessions

    RLIF project team members from the University of Florida and Iowa State University  developed workshops based on their projects. The workshops were made possible with funds from the IMLS RLIF...

  • ARL Annual Salary Survey

    ARL Annual Salary Survey

    This survey gathers data on salaries for more than 14,000 professional positions in ARL member libraries and tracks minority representation in ARL US libraries. The data collected include the average,...

  • ARL Statistics® Survey

    ARL Statistics® Survey

    This survey collects data that describe the collections, overall library expenditures, materials expenditures, staffing, and operational and service activities of member libraries. This data series began in 1908 and represents...

  • ASU Library Tool Helps COVID-19 Researchers Sift, Analyze New Research Results

    ASU Library Tool Helps COVID-19 Researchers Sift, Analyze New Research Results

    The Arizona State University (ASU) Library’s Data Science and Analytics unit has developed a tool to accelerate COVID-19 research by helping researchers efficiently browse and understand the vast amount of...

  • Changes to Dimension Names

    Changes to Dimension Names

    Dimensions were renamed to be more descriptive and aligned with how customers think about them. Affect of Service changed to Service Quality Library as Place changed to Library Spaces Information...

  • Changes to Response Scales

    Changes to Response Scales

    Response scales were changed from three to two by removing the Minimum Service Level scale. The Desired Service Level was changed to Importance by asking How important is this to...

  • Changes to Survey Questions

    Changes to Survey Questions

    The comparison tables below show the current questions and the revised questions to be included in the revised instrument. The questions are organized by dimension and category. Library Use LibQUAL+...

  • DataBridge Prepares Students for Careers in Data Science

    DataBridge Prepares Students for Careers in Data Science

    The University Libraries at Virginia Tech is helping students develop skills to succeed in the fast-growing field of data science. DataBridge, an undergraduate research program offered by the libraries, provides...

  • Framework Background Materials

    Framework Background Materials

    For more information about the Research Library Impact Framework Pilots, see this document with FAQs, the five research topics, and a brief version of the framework. The full Research Library...


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