TFPL Survey of UK Special Library Statistics

“The term ‘special library’ has long been used to distinguish libraries and information centres which operate in the workplace, providing specific subject information with the purpose of furthering the goals of their institutions.” As such they are very varied and their interests range over the whole of academia, trade and industry, including the voluntary sector, central and local government. This broad definition of what a special library is, therefore, makes any compilation of data and comparison of figures difficult in the extreme. As the introduction also points out, it is a segment of the information industry about which the least...