Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Demographics

Since there were 19 questions in the survey, one essay question, and many questions that allowed “write-in’s”, I figured I’d break the results up into a few blog posts. Here is the list of the other posts in the series:

• Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Blog Demographics
• Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Attitudes and Behaviors
• Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Why we blog

Here I’m going to list the results to the personal demographic questions — as opposed to the blog demographic questions. Unless the answers were ranked in a particular chronological order (as in age-related questions), I will be ordering them by the number of responses.

1. What is your gender?

Female…. 96 (58.2%)
Male…. 69 (41.8%)

Considering that females greatly outnumber males in the profession, it’s no big surprise that there are more female library bloggers. However, the numbers were closer than I’d expected (considering that the 2002 U.S. Statistical Abstract found that 82% of librarians are female) leading me to assume that males in the profession are more likely to blog than females. What’s up with that?

2. What is your age?

24 to 30…. 54 (32.7%)
31 to 40…. 62 (37.6%)
41 to 50…. 27 (16.4%)
51 to 60…. 14 (8.5%)
Over 60…. 5 (3%)
Under 24…. 3 (1.8%)

Not a huge surprise that the majority of library bloggers are under 40, but I was thrilled to see that so many were over 40! 25.9% is certainly more than I’d expected and is a nice stereotype-busting figure.

3. Where do you live?
Midwestern United States…. 42 (25.2%)
Northeastern United States…. 34 (20.8%)
Southeastern United States…. 19 (11.7%)
Southwestern United States…. 14 (8.6%)
Northwestern United States…. 11 (6.7%)
Western Europe and UK…. 9 (5.5%)
Asia…. 8 (4.9%)
Western Canada…. 8 (4.9%)
Middle of Canada…. 7 (4.3%)
Australia and NZ…. 5 (3.1%)
Non-continental United States…. 2 (1.2%)
South America…. 2 (1.2%)
Eastern Canada…. 1 (0.6%)
Eastern Europe…. 1 (0.6%)
Mexico and Central America…. 0 (0%)
Africa…. 0 (0%)

Skipped question…. 2

I’m thrilled to see that the survey got out to people outside of North America, though I know for a fact that there are plenty more library blogs in Western Europe and South America. It’s kind of hard to get people to fill out an “international” survey in English based on word-of-mouth. As for the people who didn’t like my geographic designations, I’m sorry. Considering that I still got a bunch of responses in the “other” column that said “I live in _____ but I’m from _____” (I put them under where they actually live now) I don’t think I could have won. Heck, I started my blog in Florida, moved to Chicago for a while, and now live in Vermont! But since I sleep and work in Vermont, I put myself under “Northeast”. Besides, if I put every state in the United States, I’d probably then have to put every country in Europe, every province in Canada, etc. You can’t please them all!

But BTW, go Midwesterners! Considering the population density of the Northeast versus the Midwest (not to mention lame stereotypes about midwesterners) you all rock!

5. Do you have an MLS, MLIS, MSLIS, etc.?

Yes…. 127 (78.4%)
No…. 21 (13%)
Am in the process of earning it…. 14 (8.6%)

Skipped question…. 3

6. Do you have any other advanced degrees (check all that apply)?

No other advanced degrees…. 76 (57.6%)
Other Masters…. 9 (6.9%)
Masters in English…. 7 (5.3%)
Masters in Education…. 7 (5.3%)
Other Doctorate…. 4 (3%)
Masters in History…. 3 (2.3%)
MBA or MPA…. 3 (2.3%)
Doctorate in Library Science…. 3 (2.3%)
Graduate work, no degree…. 3 (2.3%)
Juris Doctorate…. 1 (0.8%)
Masters in Social Work/Counseling/Psych/etc….. 1 (0.8%)
In the process of earning degree…. 1 (0.8%)
Other…. 1 (0.8%)

Skipped Question…. 33

Although I had the option to enter “No other advanced degrees”, I still got a lot of people (n=33) who skipped the question. Should I assume that they all did not have other advanced degrees? Probably, but I’m not willing to take that leap

7. If you have or are getting an MLS, at what age did you (or will you) receive your degree in library science/librarianship/etc?

Under 25…. 33 (22.9%)
25 to 30…. 71 (49.3%)
31 to 40…. 34 (23.6%)
41 to 50…. 6 (4.2%)
51 to 60…. 1 (0.7%)
Over 60…. 0 (0%)

Since librarianship is often a second career for people, it wasn’t surprising that only 22.9% got the degree while under 25 years of age (ostensibly, right after they finished their undergraduate education). Kudos to those who got their degree after 40! I know there was a discussion about this on one of the listservs I read, and I truly believe that you’re never too old to make a positive change in your career. Why let age keep you doing someone that doesn’t satisfy you? We only get one chance at life (though some might disagree with that assertion).

8. What sort of library-type setting do you work in?

Large Academic Library (more than 15,000 students)…. 35 (21.3%)
Medium-sized Academic Library (3,001 to 15,000 students)…. 25 (15.2%)
Large Public Library (serving 100,000 and up)…. 15 (9.1%)
Small Academic Library(3,000 or fewer students)…. 12 (7.3%)
Small public library (serving 10,001 to 40,000)…. 10 (6.1%)
I’m not employed…. 10 (6.1%)
Corporate Library…. 6 (3.7%)
Government Library…. 6 (3.7%)
Library Consortium…. 6 (3.7%)
Medium-sized public library (serving 40,001 to 99,999)…. 5 (3%)
School Library…. 5 (3%)
Any other special library…. 5 (3%)
Medical/Health Sciences…. 4 (2.4%)
Non-profit, non-library, library-related…. 4 (2.4%)
Law Library…. 2 (1.2%)
Vendor…. 2 (1.2%)
Academic, but not in a library…. 2 (1.2%)
Other…. 2 (1.2%)
Consultant…. 2 (1.2%)
Very small public library (serving 10,000 or fewer)…. 1 (0.6%)
Not a library…. 1 (0.6%)
Work with libraries, not in one…. 1 (0.6%)
Website…. 1 (0.6%)
Museum/Archive…. 0 (0%)

Skipped this question: 1

Who says there are no voices of academic librarianship?

What sort of position are you in?

Reference/Public Services Librarian…. 38 (23.3%)
Administrator…. 18 (11%)
Systems/Access/Database/Electronic Resources Librarian…. 15 (9.2%)
Other tech-related librarian position…. 14 (8.6%)
Caraloger/Metadata/Tech Services…. 10 (6.1%)
Web Services Librarian/Web Designer…. 10 (6.1%)
Instructional Librarian…. 8 (4.9%)
Solo Librarian…. 6 (3.8%)
Distance Learning Librarian…. 5 (3.1%)
Consultant…. 5 (3.1%)
Unemployed…. 5 (3.1%)
Youth Services…. 4 (2.5%)
Combination of more than one…. 4 (2.5%)
Library Assistant/Associate…. 3 (1.8%)
Other…. 3 (1.8%)
Subject Librarian…. 2 (1.2%)
Acquisitions/Collection Development…. 2 (1.2%)
Archivist/Records Manager…. 2 (1.2%)
Outreach Librarian…. 2 (1.2%)
Information Specialist…. 2 (1.2%)
Research and Development…. 2 (1.2%)
Serials…. 1 (0.6%)
Projects Librarian…. 1 (0.6%)
Grad Assistant…. 1 (0.6%)
Professor…. 1 (0.6%)
Information Delivery/ILL…. 0 (0%)
Circulation Librarian…. 0 (0%)

Skipped this question: 2

I knew this question was going to be a tricky one, especially since people wear so many different hats at work these days. I’m the Distance Learning Librarian, but I’m in charge of the website, I work at the ref desk, and I do some instruction. But since my title is Distance Learning Librarian, that’s what I categorized myself under. Interesting to see that so many administrators (11%) have blogs, which rises to almost 15% when you include solo librarians.

10. What point are you at in your career?

Thinking about or applying to library school…. 4 (2.5%)
Library Student…. 13 (8%)
New grad looking for a job…. 3 (1.8%)
New grad (less than 1 year) with professional position…. 15 (9.2%)
Working in a library for 1-3 years…. 24 (14.7%)
Working in a library for 4-6 years…. 29 (17.8%)
Working in a library for 7-10 years…. 26 (16%)
Working in a library for 11-15 years…. 24 (14.7%)
Working in a library for 16-20 years…. 7 (4.3%)
Working in a library for more than 20 years…. 16 (9.8%)
Other…. 2

Skipped this question: 2

Great to see that all experience levels are represented in the biblioblogosphere.

Please continue to part 2 of the survey, Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Blog Demographics