Primary Research Group has published The Survey of Library Database Licensing Practices, 2012 Edition, ISBN 1-57440-206-4.

This 116-page report studies the database licensing practices of 60 academic, public, corporate, and law libraries from across the globe, representing more than a dozen countries and regions including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and continental Europe, as well as a handful of participants from developing countries. With more than 200 tables, the report covers issues such as the importance of mobile computing, the use of library consortia, the use of open access and electronic resources, and the indexing of blogs, wikis, and listservs. Statistics are given citing library content spending, overall licensing volume, renewal and cancellation rates, contract terms, content licensing pricing, and general library usage. How has database usage at the library changed over the past year? How do these libraries rate their most frequently used database vendors and what problems have they encountered? What subjects of database content are expected to benefit from an increase in spending? These questions and more are answered in this detailed study on the database licensing practices of a wide array of libraries.

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

• In 2011, US libraries in the sample maintained a mean of 220 independent licenses for electronic content; libraries in other developed countries maintained a mean of 158 such licenses, and those in developing countries a mean of just 17
• Prices for electronic and electronic/print combination journals have increased by a mean of 5.88 percent in the past year for libraries in the sample
• College libraries dedicate a mean of 1,641 staff hours annually to database maintenance, while public libraries spend a mean of 865 hours on this work each year
• Over the next year, libraries in the sample will renew a mean of 89.36 percent of content licensing contracts set to expire
• Just 3.13 percent of US libraries in the sample track patron use of open access journals, compared to 27.27 percent of those libraries in other developed countries
• Libraries in the sample spend a mean of $332,913 annually on electronic and electronic/print licenses for newspaper and magazine databases

The study is available in print and PDF format for $89.50. Site licenses cost $249.00. 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 at PrimaryResearch.com.