The National Statistical Profile of Canadian Libraries contains 68 different data elements recording library usage and resource measures across public, academic, school, and national special libraries. Data was compiled from secondary sources including library agencies, associations, and Statistics Canada, with reporting years primarily centered on 2010. The dataset was created by Michael R. Brundin for the Canadian Library Association in November 2012.
Use Cases
- Compare library usage and resource allocation across public, academic, and school library sectors based on the 68 data elements.
- Analyze trends in library assets and investments over time based on compiled secondary data from multiple agencies.
- Support advocacy efforts for library funding based on national-level statistical profiles of library use and resources.
- Benchmark individual library performance against national sector averages using the compiled measures.
Strengths
- Contains 68 distinct data elements measuring library usage and resources.
- Covers four major library sectors: public, academic, school, and three national special libraries.
- Data was compiled from multiple authoritative secondary sources, including Statistics Canada.
- Available in multiple formats (Excel, PDF, CSV) for different use cases.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data is primarily from 2010, with reporting years varying across sources, limiting current applicability.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- Secondary sources including library agencies, associations, consortia, and Statistics Canada.
- Collection Method
- Compiled from existing statistical reports and data collections.
- Time Range
- Primarily 2010, with reporting years varying among sources.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-30 04:10:15; freshness should be verified as the underlying data is from around 2010.
- Geography
- Canada