Metrics Comparison Table

Statistical Data Organizations for Academic Libraries

ARL: Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
ACRL: Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)
IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS); U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

What	ARL	ACRL	NCES	COUNTER
Volume Count of Library	Total number of volumes held at end of fiscal year Includes electronic books (that are also reported separately)	Volumes added, volumes in library (Gross)	There is not a place for total volume count, just for separate categories For each category, there are two counts: Added during fiscal year Held at end of fiscal year
Monographs	Number of monographs purchased during fiscal year, including electronic manifestations of physical entities	Monographs purchased	Word 'monograph' is not used, but expenditures of books and other paper documents are counted
Electronic books	Number of books held Expenditures (annual access & service fees; FY purchase cost) Also included in Volumes & Titles section	Number Expenditures Number of log-ins	Added during current year Total held at FYE	COUNTER only counts usage statistics for "online information products and services". All books and reference works counted are available online but are not referred to as E-books. They are single files, however. Books are counted by number of successful title requests. There are also counts for searches and sessions by title. Turnaway sessions are counted.

NOTE: ARL does not include usage statistics for ebooks in their supplemental statistics. ARL does include number of ebooks held and expenditures for ebooks. COUNTER COUNTER does provide a code of practice for online books and reference works: Release 1 of the COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works (published in March 2006)

What

ARL

ACRL

NCES

Serials

Number of unique serial titles (Electronic & Print)

Usage statistics reported: number of searches, and number of successful full-text searches are reported

Serials purchased

Report subscription expenditures to serials in all formats

What	ARL	ACRL	NCES
Microform	Number of physical units Includes all microfilm, microcards, microprint, microfiche sheets Includes Government Documents in microform format	Volume count	Added during current year Total held at end of fiscal year
Government Documents	Volume count, when not counted elsewhere Government Documents may be counted under serials Exclude microforms and non-print formats Include serials and monographs	Volume count	Included in book count Added during current year Total held at end of fiscal year
Computer Files	Number of machine-readable files that are locally held Include disks, tapes, CD-ROMs, library software	Volume count	(Doesn't list computer files; has a category for "Electronic reference sources and aggregation services") -Does not include subscription services; this is for one-time purchases. Electronic serials have their own separate category.
Manuscripts and Archives	Measured in linear feet	Volume count	Reported under Other Expenditures

What	ARL	ACRL	NCES
Cartographic	Number of pieces that are both two and three dimensional Include images, aerial and satellite photgraphs	Volume count	Reported under Other Expenditures
Audio	Number of pieces Include phonographic discs, reel-to-reel tapes, and other sound recordings	Volume count	Called Audiovisual Materials category -Added during current year Total held at end of fiscal year
Graphic	Number of pieces Include postcards, slides, and transparencies	Volume count	Included under Audiovisual reporting category
Film/Video	Number of pieces Include laser discs, video cassettes, and motion pictures	Volume count	Included under Audiovisual reporting category