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  • TEI TITE
  • Networked Environment for Music Analysis
  • Metadata Offer New Knowledge(MONK)
  • NORA—Web-based Text-mining Tools for the Humanities
• e-Science
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  • Towards Evidence-Based Discovery
  • Curation Profiles Project (CPP)
  • Biological Information Specialist (BIS)
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• Scholarly Communication & Libraries 
  • Overview
  • Disciplinary Research Practices
  • Intermediary Models for Institutional Repository Development (IMIRD)
  • ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey
  • PLDS Statistical Report
  • Access to Government Information
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Past Projects

The Book as the Gold Standard for Tenure and Promotion in the Humanistic Disciplines— An examination funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to determine the extent to which publication of a scholarly monograph is essential for faculty to receive tenure in the humanistic disciplines. 

Libraries and 9/11 and the U.S.A. Patriot Act - In November of 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Library Research Center (now CIRSS) mailed a questionnaire to 629 public libraries in Illinois. With funding from the Illinois State Library system, the survey sought to understand how public libraries were responding to new security measures and to the events of September 11, 2001. The questionnaire received 553 (87.9%) responses, providing insight into questions regarding security, staff attitudes, collection development, attitude toward users, and general knowledge of the USA PATRIOT Act. The results of this survey were published in the Winter 2002 issue of Illinois Libraries.

After reviewing the results of that poll, the Library Research Center undertook an additional survey, a sample weighted by size of population served of 1,503 of the 5,055 public libraries in the U.S. serving populations over 5,000. These libraries provide services to 96% of the U.S. population. The survey was conducted on December 4, 2001, with a follow-up to non-respondents on January 9, 2002. A total of 1,028 (68%) libraries responded, with many comments from librarians indicating their interest in the findings. The study covered a number of areas in public library service, including security measures, changes in attitude toward patrons, influences on collection development, knowledge of the USA PATRIOT Act, and information requests by government authorities.

It is important to remember that both the Illinois and national surveys were conducted only a few months after passage of the USA PATRIOT Act and before Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision on May 30, 2002, to extend the rights of the FBI to monitor activities such as Internet use and public meetings at libraries, churches, and other public gathering places.

A year after the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act of October 2001, the Library Research Center prepared a follow-up national survey exploring how librarian attitudes toward patrons' privacy had changed. The survey was mailed in October 2002 to directors of 1,505 of the 5,094 U.S. public libraries serving populations of over 5,000, with 906 responses (60.2% of those sampled).

An analysis of both national surveys will appear in the forthcoming Patriotic Information Systems: Privacy, Access, and Security Issues of Bush Information Policy published by Idea Group, Inc.

The FSCS Library Data Tool - The Library Research Center (now CIRSS) created an interactive online database for the library information collected annually by the Federal-State Cooperative System, a division of the National Center for Education Statistics.

Library rankings and trends for five years (2000–2004) were available at the national, regional, and state level. Library fact sheets and trends were available for all FSCS reporting libraries. State fact sheets were also available.

Users could also access all five years of FSCS library data via the interactive database, where they could run their own calculations, filter and group data based on their own criteria, and create charts and crosstabs. Users could also save their progress and continue where they left off at another time. All data was exportable into Excel file formats.
For FSCS data, contact the Federal-State Cooperative System.

This work was supported in part by a generous gift from H.W. Wilson Foundation.
 

Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois - Membership Survey and Focus Groups - In early 2007, the Library Research Center worked with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) to develop a service evaluation survey. Developed to be answered by any and all Illinois academic and research library staff who use CARLI products and services, the survey seeks to understand members' views toward CARLI and requests suggestions for enhancement of its services. Focus groups with CARLI members and staff were conducted in Spring 2007 to help inform CARLI strategic management decisions and provide greater insights into the survey results.

Learn more about the reports.
 

Library Community Surveys - The Library Research Center (now CIRSS) has a history of developing and implementing community surveys and other projects that examine the current topics and conditions found in library and school districts, academic communities, and neighborhoods. By analyzing issues at the local level, insights into how policies and programs affect communities can be very helpful in bringing about change and evaluating the needs and desires of community members. Because each community has a different composition, these types of projects are essential to determine ways to increase community involvement, better living conditions, raise community awareness, or determine if a library program will be successful.