Glossary

Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Representing the 120 principal research libraries that serve major North American (Canada and the U.S.) research institutions and based in Washington, DC, ARL's mission is to identify and influence forces affecting the future of research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. ARL articulates the concerns of research libraries and their institutions and promotes equitable access to recorded knowledge in support of teaching, research, and scholarship through coalitions for action, information policy development, and innovation in research library programs.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) A standard code designed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to facilitate information interchange between unstandardized data processing and communications equipment. The code, consisting of eight bits including a parity bit, can represent a character set of 128 alphabetic, numeric, and special symbols.

Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Formed by ARL, CAUSE, and EDUCOM in March 1990 to "advance scholarship and intellectual productivity" by promoting the provision of information resources on existing and future telecommunications networks and the linkage of research libraries to these networks and their respective constituencies.

Council on Library Resources (CLR) A private operating foundation based in Washington, DC, which aims to assist libraries, especially academic and research libraries, to take advantage of emerging technologies to improve operational efficiencies and services for library users.

Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA) A non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 for the purpose of fostering development and supporting systematic and purposeful collaboration in order to ensure the preservation of the public and documentary universe in all formats and to provide equitable access to that information.

Educational and General Expenditures (E&G) The sum of total institutional expenditures for instruction, research, public service, academic support, student services, institutional support, operation and maintenance of plant, scholarships and fellowships, mandatory transfers, and (in recent years) non-mandatory transfers.

EDUCOM A non-profit consortium, based in Washington, DC, of colleges and universities concerned with computing and communications issues. It focuses extensively on networking and integrating computing into the curriculum.

GNP Deflator An updated version of the general price index used to adjust the U.S. gross national product (GNP) for inflation.

Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) The predecessor of the IPEDS surveys of post-secondary education institutions by the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) This system surveys all postsecondary institutions, including universities and colleges, as well as institutions offering technical and vocational education beyond the high school level. Administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS began in 1986, replacing and supplementing HEGIS.

Instruction and Departmental Research (I&DR) Expenditures of colleges, schools, departments, and other instructional divisions of the institution. Expenditures for departmental research and public service that are not separately budgeted are included in this classification. The instruction category includes general academic instruction, occupational and vocational instruction, special session instruction, community education, preparatory and adult basic education, and remedial and tutorial instruction conducted by teaching faculty for the institution's students.

Materials and Binding Materials are expenditures for items purchased in a given time period, usually a fiscal year, to be added to a library's collections, including books (monographs), periodicals and other serials, microforms, audiovisual materials, and other library materials; also sometimes includes expenditures for electronic searching and other modes of access to information that is not added to library collections in traditional ways. Binding is expenditures for contract binding, usually by commercial binders.

MARC Derived from "machine-readable cataloging," U.S. MARC is a standard for representation and communication of bibliographical and related information in machine-readable form.

Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) A not-for-profit organization serving over 15,000 member libraries worldwide, OCLC provides services such as cataloging copy, interlibrary loan transactions, and retrospective conversion of bibliographic records. It has a bibliographic database currently in excess of 24 million unique bibliographic titles and 500 million items. It has expanded its services into reference, public services, and publishing.

Other Operating Expenditures Any expenditures other than those for materials, binding, and salaries and wages, from a library's budget during a given time period.

Research Libraries Group (RLG) A not-for-profit membership corporation of over 120 libraries, archives, historical societies, museums and other institutions devoted to improving access to information that supports research and learning.

Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) Owned and operated by RLG, RLIN serves the information access and management needs of its member institutions as well as individuals worldwide. It contains over 55 million bibliographic records.

Retrospective Conversion The process of converting bibliographic records from print to a machine-readable format.

Salaries and Wages All monies paid in salaries and wages from the library's budget during a given period of time before deductions for all staff paid.

Total Library Expenditures (TLE) The sum of expenditures for materials, binding, salaries and wages, and other operating expenditures during a given period of time.

Volume A physical unit of any printed, typewritten, handwritten, mimeographed, or processed work, contained in one binding or portfolio, hardbound or paperbound, which has been cataloged, classified, and made ready for use. (The study follows the definition used by ARL.)

Volumes Added Gross The volumes cataloged by a library during a given period, usually a fiscal year. Not to be confused with acquisitions, although sometimes considered a surrogate for them.