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Data Elements Definitions - FY2012

Page history last edited by Kim Miller 11 years, 7 months ago

PLS FY2012 Data Elements - Results

 

Census will begin changing the WebPLUS online submission tool for the FY2012 Public Libraries Survey to include the changed data element definition. Many of you are able to make the change to your FY2012 survey.  All states/territories will be asked to make the change for the FY2013 survey.

 

4 year process for 2012 data elements.docx

 

Wiki pages that were set up for discussion of FY2012 data elements:

2012 PLS Review:

http://plsc.pbworks.com/w/page/47699956/PLS%20FY2012%20Review 

 

Final Commenting Period:

FY2012 Proposed Data Elements for Change and Deletion - Final Commenting Period

 

The following data elements passed for FY2012.  The data element and new wording are included below.  The clarifications that were made after the ballot results are also below.  Some of the changed data elements were clarified.  FY2012PLS Data Elements changes deletions and clarifications.docx

 

Changes: 

 

1. #201 Legal Basis Code

The legal basis is the type of local government structure within which the entity functions. It reflects the state or local law, which authorizes the library.

 

Select one of the following:

CC—City/County. A multi-jurisdictional entity that is operated jointly by a county and a city.

 

CI—Municipal Government (city, town or village). A municipal government is an organized local government authorized in a state’s constitution and statutes and established to provide general government for a specific concentration of population in a defined area.

 

CO—County/Parish. An organized local government authorized in a state’s constitution and statutes and established to provide general government.

 

LD—Library District. A library district is a local entity other than a county, municipality, township, or school district that is authorized by state law to establish and operate a public library as defined by FSCS. It has sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as a separate government. Fiscal autonomy requires support from local taxation dedicated to library purposes (e.g., a library tax).

 

MJ—Multi-jurisdictional. An entity operated jointly by two or more units of local government under an intergovernmental agreement which creates a jointly appointed board or similar means of joint governance; to be distinguished from a library which contracts to serve other jurisdictions and from special library districts.

 

Note: Please put city/county combinations under ‘CC’, rather than under Multi-jurisdictional.

 

NL—Native American Tribal Government. An organized local government authorized and established to provide general government to residents of a Native American reservation.

 

Note: Include native Alaskan villages in this category.

 

NP— Non-profit Association or Agency. An entity privately controlled but meeting the statutory definition of a public library in a given state; includes association libraries and libraries with 501(c) designation.

 

SD—School District. An organized local entity providing public elementary, secondary, and/or higher education which, under state law, has sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as a separate government. Excludes "dependent public school systems" of county, municipal, township, or state governments.

 

OT—Other.

 

 

2. (#450-460) Library Collection (general definition)

This section of the survey (450-460) collects data on selected types of materials.  It does not cover all materials (i.e., microform, scores, maps, and pictures) for which expenditures are reported under Print Materials Expenditures, Electronic Materials Expenditures, and Other Material Expenditures (data elements #353, #354, and #355).  Under this category, report only items the library has acquired as part of the collection, whether purchased, leased, licensed, or donated as gifts.

 

Note to the SDCs:  The definition has changed, but the edits will remain the same: if data is flagged in the edit report and annotations are not provided, Census will follow up with the SDC.   

This is a clarifcation to the data element after the ballot voting.

 

3. #451 Electronic Books (E-Books)

E-books are digital documents (including those digitized by the library), licensed or not, where searchable text is prevalent, and which can be seen in analogy to a printed book (monograph). Include non-serial government documents. E-books are loaned to users on portable devices (e-book readers) or by transmitting the contents to the user’s personal computer for a limited time. Include e-books held locally and remote e-books for which permanent or temporary access rights have been acquired.  Report the number of physical or electronic units, including duplicates, for all outlets. For smaller libraries, if volume data are not available, the number of titles may be counted. E-books packaged together as a unit (e.g., multiple titles on a single ebook reader) and checked out as a unit are counted as one unit. 

 

Report the number of units. Report only items the library has selected as part of the collection (exclude public domain / uncopyrighted e-books that have unlimited access (e.g., Project Gutenberg)). 

 

Note to SDCs for FY2012 data submission:  With the definition change, this data element now also includes E-books in the library’s collection that are not catalogued or made accessible through the OPAC.

This is a clarifcation to the data element after the ballot voting. Note that the Note text was clarified.

 

4. #453 Audio – Downloadable Titles

These are downloadable electronic files on which sounds (only) are stored (recorded) and that can be reproduced (played back) electronically.

 

Report the number of titles. Report only items the library has selected as part of the collection.

 

Note to SDCs for FY2012 data submission:  With the definition change, this data element now also includes E-books in the library’s collection that are not catalogued or made accessible through the OPAC.

This is a clarifcation to the data element after the ballot voting. 

 

5. #455 Video – Downloadable Titles

These are downloadable electronic files on which moving pictures are recorded, with or without sound. Electronic playback reproduces pictures, with or without sound, using a television receiver, computer monitor or video-enabled mobile device.

 

Report the number of titles. Report only items the library has selected as part of the collection.

 

Note to SDCs for FY2012 data submission:  With the definition change, this data element now also includes downloadables in the library’s collection that are not catalogued or made accessible through the OPAC. 

This is a clarifcation to the data element after the ballot voting.

 

6. #456 - 458 (Licensed Databases) (general definition)

Report the number of licensed databases (including locally mounted or remote, full-text or not) for which temporary or permanent access rights have been acquired through payment by the library (directly or through a cooperative agreement within the state or region), or acquired by formal agreement with the State Library.  A database is a collection of electronically stored data or unit records (facts, bibliographic data, abstracts, texts) with a common user interface and software for the retrieval and manipulation of the data.

 

Note: The data or records are usually collected with a particular intent and relate to a defined topic. A database may be issued on CD-ROM, diskette, or other direct access method, or as a computer file accessed via dial-up methods or via the Internet. Each database is counted individually even if access to several databases is supported through the same vendor interface.

 

Report the number of licensed databases acquired through payment or formal agreement, by source of access:   

 

 

7. #456 Local/Other cooperative agreements 

 

#457 State (stays the same)

 

DELETE

8. #458 Other cooperative agreements: add into 456 and is no longer to be collected separately.

 

 

9. #459 458 Total Licensed Databases

This is the sum of Local/Other cooperative agreements, and State licensed databases (data elements #456 and #457).

 

 

10. #503 Number of Registered Users

A registered user is a library user who has applied for and received an identification number or card from the public library that has established conditions under which the user may borrow library materials or gain access to other library resources.

 

Note: Files should have been purged within the past three (3) years.

 

Note to SDCs for FY2012 data submission:  Due to the definition change, please provide annotations if there is a significant difference in your numbers from the prior year. 

This is a clarifcation to the data element after the ballot voting.

 

   

Deletions:

 

  1. #156 ZIP+4 (of street address)

This is the four-digit postal ZIP code extension for the street address of the administrative entity.

 

  1. #160 ZIP+4 (of mailing address)

This is the four-digit postal ZIP code extension for the mailing address of the administrative entity.

 

  1. #163 Web Address

This is the Web address of the administrative entity.

http://_________________________________________

 

Note: If the Administrative Entity has no web address, enter “–3” (for Not Applicable).

 

  1. #706 ZIP+4

This is the four-digit postal ZIP code extension for the street address of the outlet.

 

These four items will no longer collected on the federal PLS.

 

Clarifcations (Please note that clarifications to items 450-460, 451, 453, 455, & 503 are listed above)

 

354 Electronic Materials Expenditures

Report all operating expenditures for electronic (digital) materials. Types of electronic materials include e-books, audio and video downloadables, eserials (including journals), government documents, databases (including locally mounted, full text or not), electronic files, reference tools, scores, maps, or pictures in electronic or digital format, including materials digitized by the library. Electronic materials can be distributed on magnetic tape, diskettes, computer software, CD-ROM, or other portable digital carrier, and can be accessed via a computer, via access to the Internet, or by using an e-book reader. Include expenditures for materials held locally and for remote materials for which permanent or temporary access rights have been acquired. Include expenditures for database licenses. [Note: Based on ISO 2789 definition.]

 

Note: Expenditures for computer software used to support library operations or to link to external networks, including the Internet, are reported under Other Operating Expenditures (data element #357).

 

355 Other Materials Expenditures

Report all operating expenditures for other materials, such as microform, audio and video physical units, DVD, and materials in new formats.

 

INTER-LIBRARY LOANS

552 Provided To

These are library materials, or copies of the materials, provided by one autonomous library to another upon request. The libraries involved in interlibrary loans are not under the same library administration. These data are reported as annual figures.

 

553 Received From

These are library materials, or copies of the materials, received by one autonomous library from another upon request. The libraries involved in interlibrary loans are not under the same library administration. These data are reported as annual figures.

 

Reminder: “library administration” means Administrative Entity (not anything broader).  Do not include items loaned between outlets within the same library administrative entity.

 

651 Number of Uses (Sessions) of Public Internet Computers Per Year

 

Report the total number of uses (sessions) of the library’s for Internet computers in the library during the last year.  If the computer is used for multiple purposes (Internet access, word-processing, OPAC, etc.) and Internet uses (sessions) cannot be isolated, report all usage.  A typical week or other reliable estimate may be used to determine the annual number.  Sign-up forms or Web-log tracking software also may provide a reliable count of uses (sessions).

 

Note: The number of uses (sessions) may be counted manually, using registration logs.  Count each use (session) for public internet computers, regardless of the amount of time spent on the computer.  A use (session) on the library’s public internet computer(s)three times a year would count as three uses (sessions). Software such as “Historian” can also be used to track the number of uses (sessions) at each public internet computer.  If the data element is collected as a weekly figure, multiply that figure by 52 to annualize it.

 

Reminder:  This count includes only the library’s Internet computers. Do not include wifi access using non-library computers.

 

Comments (4)

rob.geiszler@state.vt.us said

at 8:36 pm on Sep 17, 2012

In Element 201, Legal Basis Code, there's still an "and/or" that needs to be removed and replaced with "or." : SD—School District. An organized local entity providing public elementary, secondary, and/or higher education which, under state law, has sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as a separate government. Excludes "dependent public school systems" of county, municipal, township, or state governments.
Should read SD—School District. An organized local entity providing public elementary, secondary, or higher education which, under state law, has sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as a separate government. Excludes "dependent public school systems" of county, municipal, township, or state governments.

Kim Miller said

at 10:45 pm on Sep 20, 2012

Rob - can you give a reason for your request for change to this definition? The SD (School District) definition has been this way since FY2003.

rob.geiszler@state.vt.us said

at 1:14 am on Sep 21, 2012

Hi Kim,

"And/or" is absolute nonsense. It's grammatically incorrect and logically worthless. "Or" is always read in the conjunctive - in plain English, as well as a logical operator. If "or" is meant to be disjunctive, it must be followed by "but not not both," as in ,"you may choose ice cream or cake, but not both." Without the disclaimer, you would be able to have both ice cream and cake. Any use of "and/or" is just an indication of very sloppy thinking. No one should ever use this construction in either speech or in writing. We certainly don't ever want to see this construction anywhere in any document we ever produce. In addition to being incorrect, it labels us as ignorant.

Kim Miller said

at 2:39 am on Sep 21, 2012

Thank you, Rob. Appreciate the reason for the change/edit.

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