Comparative Analysis on the Statistics of Academic Libraries of Major Universities in South Korea and North America

Choi,, J. , & Lee,, J. (2020). Comparative Analysis on the Statistics of Academic Libraries of Major Universities in South Korea and North America. Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society, 51(3), 197-221, https://doi.org/10.16981/kliss.51.3.202009.197

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Abstract

This study aims to compare the statistical indicators of libraries of 57 Korean universities and 116 North American universities using Rinfo and ARL statistics respectively. The authors compared twelve similar statistical indicators and found that North American academic libraries were superior in 'volumes in library', 'electronic books', 'total staff', 'total library materials expenditures', 'total items borrowed', 'total items loaned', 'library presentations to groups', and 'participants in group presentations', compared to Korean academic libraries. Although Korean academic libraries showed higher numbers in 'annual gate count', 'reference transactions', 'initial circulations', and 'full-text article requests', there exist some differences in definitions and scopes of these indicators between Rinfo and ARL, needing cautious interpretation of results. The findings of the study imply the needs of expanding support for academic libraries that play pivotal roles in increasing competitiveness of teaching and research of universities. It was also found that systematic management and improvement for statistical indicators of Rinfo are necessary.

keywords: 대학도서관, 통계지표, 북미 대학, 국내 대학, 비교분석

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Article Contents

Vol.51 No.3

Comparative Analysis on the Statistics of Academic Libraries of Major Universities in South Korea and North America

Abstract

Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society