.PLINIUS DATA

Plinius Data is a small collection of international library statistics.

This data bank contains spreadsheets of data derived from official statistics and from various library projects. In many cases I have processed the data to make it easier for others to interpret and reuse the information. The countries, including NORWAY, are listed in the right-hand margin on this web page.

Resources

OCLC

• Global Library Statistics. Competes de facto with IFLA World Report 2010, below.

IFLA

• IFLA World Report 2010. Gives the number of libraries in many countries.
  • Note that the data are reproduced «as reported».
  • See my blog post How many libraries? for a brief discussion of data quality.
• IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section(2009-)
  • Old web site (-2009)
• Bibliography «Impact and outcome of libraries».
  • Compiled by Roswitha Poll. – 35 pp.
  • Last revised December 2007
• Useful links related to statistics and evaluation.
  • Last revised January 2008. Includes links to national library statistics.

• Teresa Hackett. Global Library Statistics 1990 – 2000. IFLA: The Hague, 2003

Other

• Plinius on statistics. Index to posts on library statistics in English
• Plinius om statistikk. Index to posts on library statistics in Norwegian

• Library statistics & measures. Produced by Joe Ryan. Not updated, but very comprehensive for older sources.
• Configuration of data curation infrastructure. From Lorcan Dempsey’s blog.

Plinius: publications on library statistics

English

1. Count The Traffic. A new approach to user behavior. Revised version (2011) of paper for IFLA in Quebec 2008.
2. Private lives and public libraries.
   • Paper on traffic based indicators – for Northumbria conference in Florence, August 2009
3. How to win friends and influence decisions.
   • Paper on KOSTRA based indicators – for Northumbria conference in Florence, August 2009
4. How much is much? Developing and interpreting national library visitor statistics.
   • Paper for IFLA in Quebec 2008.
   • PPT version.
5. The proper use of public money. An improved measure of productivity in public libraries based on Norwegian statistics(Word).
   • Paper for the 7th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services, Spier Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa, August 13-16, 2007.
6. Comparing libraries. From official statistics to effective strategies.
   • In Management, marketing and promotion of library services based on statistics, analyses and evaluation / edited by Trine Kolderup Flaten. Munchen : Saur, 2006. (= IFLA publications).
7. Why do you ask? Reference statistics for library planning,
   • Paper for IFLA Statistics section, Glasgow, 2002. – 55 p.
   • First half published in Performance measurement and metrics, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 28-37.

Norwegian

1. Hva gjør folk når de besøker biblioteket? Rapport fra en undersøkelse ved det nye Drammensbiblioteket.
   • In: Hvem er de og hvor går de? Brukeratferd i norske storbybibliotek.. Oslo: ABM-utvikling 2008, s. 58-68. (= ABM-skrift 46). PDF.
2. Statistikk og styring i norske folkebibliotek: KOSTRA-systemets rolle i kommunal planlegging.
   • Dansk Biblioteksforskning: Tidsskrift for informations- og kulturformidling, årg. 2 (2006), nr. 3, s. 41-51