Primary Research Group has published Law Library Benchmarks, 2012-13 Edition, ISBN 1-57440-199-8.

This 126-page report closely examines trends for law libraries in materials spending, technology purchases, personnel and space allocation, web use and other issues. The study presents detailed data on spending on journals, books, newspapers and magazines, print reporter, eBooks, online databases and other information vehicles, as well as data on salaries and overall budget, in aggregate, and as a percentage change from prior years. Data is presented on the extent of materials spending accounted for by print resources and plans for both print resource and digital resource spending for the future.

In addition to spending data the report examines law library plans in areas such as cloud computing, tablet computer and eBook readers, use of blogs and other social media, including extensive data on the extent of use of specific legal blogs by law librarians.

The study also covers policies on cost recovery of online database expenses, giving detailed information on charge backs and the extent to which clients pay for online searches, with data for both external and internal clients of the library, as well as data on how the policies governing these charge backs have changed in recent years, or may change in the future.

Just a few of the many findings from this report are:

• Law libraries spent an average of $468,751 on online databases in 2011, or roughly $3,462 per lawyer
• 24.05 percent of the libraries in the sample have a LinkedIn account, while 22.78 percent have a Twitter account
• Libraries in the United States spent a mean of $188,662 on print books in 2011
• The average library maintains 134 subscriptions to legal journals with both print and electronic access
• For libraries in the United States, an average of 29.45 percent of total online information costs are paid for through billing to clients, as opposed to just 11.31 percent of costs for Canadian libraries
• 15.91 percent of law firm libraries have purchased iPads for patron use
• Print resources account for a mean of 53.65 percent of the materials budget among libraries in the sample

The study is available in print and PDF format for $132.00. Site licenses are offered at $269.00. To view a table of contents, list of questions and participants, and sample data, or to order a copy of the report, please visit our website.