Online and other electronic information accounts for more than 65 percent of the materials budgets of corporate libraries, and more than 80 percent of the library content expenditures of companies with greater than US$5 billion in annual sales.
The median number of patron visitors to the physical location of the library was only 13.5.
The ratio of librarians to other service personnel was almost two to one.
Only one library in the sample outsourced research functions to researchers or librarians based in developing countries such as India, Russia or China.
Overall, more libraries lost FTE [full-time equivalent] positions over the past two years than gained FTE positions. More than 30 percent of the libraries in the sample lost full time equivalent positions over the past three years, while 11.63 percent gained positions.
In 2006, the libraries in the sample estimated that their budgets had increased a mean of 7.38 percent, and a median of 5 percent.
Close to 40 percent of the libraries in the sample believed that the library accounted for 80 percent or more of company spending on electronic information typically associated with the library, such as spending on journals, databases, newsletters, e-books and directories.
62.16 percent of the libraries in the sample keep a written log of the reference questions received from library patrons.
Competitor profiling was of dramatic importance to the librarians in the sample. It was a primary theme more in more than 15 percent of research assignments for about 53 percent of organizations in the sample, and it was a primary theme in more than 30 percent of assignments for more than 29 percent of survey participants. Competitor profiling was particularly important in heavy industry and finance.
The librarians in the sample spent a mean of 3.47 hours per week reading blogs or [electronic lists].
The librarians in the sample traveled more than 35 miles away on library business a mean of 5.52 times in the past year, and a median of three times.
In 2005, the libraries in the sample maintained a mean of 6.00 workstations primarily for librarian use, with companies in the information services or informatics sector maintaining the greatest number of workstations for librarians. This figure rose slightly to 6.1 in 2006.
More than 71 percent of the libraries that use subscription agents pay their agents in one lump sum, while 28.6 percent paid them in increments throughout the year. Incremental pay was somewhat more common among the smaller organizations, as it was among companies in industry and information services/informatics.
The study presents a broad range of data, broken out by size of parent organization, type of industry, and also between organizations that have decreased the physical size of their library in recent years vs. those that have maintained or increased it. The report includes data on salaries, budgets, spending for books, directories, magazines and newspapers, journals, online databases, CD-ROM and other information vehicles. The benchmarking report is based on data from 48 major corporate and other business libraries of organizations with mean revenues of approximately US$3.6 billion.
The 130-page report has more than 250 tables and charts. The cost of the report is US$189 and can be ordered at http://www.primaryresearch.com./publications-
Information-Science.html. It is available in either PDF or print format.
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