Academic Libraries Resources Center
The purpose of the Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) is to collect information on library resources, services, and expenditures from academic libraries serving degree-granting, Title IV postsecondary institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the outlying areas. The ALS was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on a 3-year cycle between 1966 and 1988, within the framework of the Higher Education General Information System (HEGIS). Between 1988 and 1998, the ALS was a component of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and was collected on a 2-year cycle. Between 2000 and 2012, the Academic Libraries Survey was conducted independently of IPEDS but remained on a 2-year cycle. Since 2014, the ALS has been reintegrated back into the IPEDS collection as the Academic Libraries (AL) component and is collected annually. The resources available on this page provide guidance on the reintegration of the ALS back into IPEDS and supplementary instructions for completing the AL component.
Resources
In 2014, the ALS was reintegrated back into the IPEDS collection and the survey became a mandatory, annual survey for all degree-granting Title IV institutions. Only institutions with library expenses equal to or greater than $100,000 are now required to report additional details about their expenses to IPEDS. Questions related to library staff have been moved to the IPEDS Human Resources component. Many questions from the 2012 ALS collections and services sections were removed or revised. The following resources provide additional information about the reintegration of the ALS into IPEDS and differences between the ALS and AL:
- Comparing the ALS to IPEDS AL Component (PDF, 168 KB)
- Crosswalk of 2012 to 2014-15 Academic Libraries Variables (PDF, 594 KB)
- Technical Review Panel Summary for Reintegrating ALS into IPEDS (PDF, 165 KB)
Data Collection
The data submission process for the AL component differs from the process under the ALS. With the ALS, NCES collaborated with the Census Bureau to designate library respondents at postsecondary institutions to be responsible for data entry and submission. State-level library representatives were available to promote responses and assist with problem resolution. With the AL, NCES-designated keyholders at each postsecondary institution are responsible for data submission. During the AL registration process, keyholders are encouraged to reach out to library contacts at their institutions to request assistance with the AL component and to update the registration page with an active Academic Libraries contact and to designate those contacts as users in the data collection system. AL users can help with data entry but the keyholder is ultimately responsible for verifying data and locking the survey. The following resources provide information about the current AL component:
- Q&A guide for Library Directors and contacts (Word, 18 KB)
- Current AL survey screens, instructions, and glossary
- Establishing AL Reporting Relationships (PDF, 143 KB)
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 2021-22 AL Changes (Word, 32 KB)
- 2020-21 AL Changes (Word, 32 KB)
- 2019-20 AL Changes (Word, 25 KB)
- 2018-19 AL Changes (Word, 16 KB)
- 2017-18 AL Changes (Word, 16 KB)
- 2016-17 AL Changes (Word, 19 KB)
- 2015-16 AL Changes (Word, 17 KB)
Academic libraries data enable policy makers, institutions, and researchers to analyze programs, plan and develop library resources, and make key decisions about resource allocations. Academic Libraries data are available for the selected years through the following websites:
- Beginning with 2014: IPEDS Data Center
- 1996 to 2012: Library Statistics Program
- Prior to 1996: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan
Further questions about the Academic Libraries component can be addressed by the IPEDS Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568 or ipedshelp@rti.org.
