College Guide Surveys and the Information Revolution: Issues and Consequences. AIR 1994 Annual Forum Paper.

In response to rapidly escalating survey response requests from publishers of college guides and magazine rating features, institutional researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) developed a standard response form. In fact, the extensive research and level of detail that many surveys request require significant effort on the part of the institution. That effort, it is argued, actually subsidizes the college guide publication industry as much of the information is sold commercially in database format and not used in guidebooks. The UC Berkeley prototype response consists of two documents: A "Fact Sheet" and a "Publication List." The Fact Sheet provides basic information on the campus such as enrollment, faculty size, admissions policies, library holdings, and includes only items, that are common to several surveys and published in guidebooks; and of actual value to parents and students looking for colleges. The Publications List outlines a set of standard campus publication and national data collection reports that provide more detailed information on various programs and issues. This basic set of information is provided to all guide publishers on request. (Includes a copy of the standard response form and a list of variables for the response form.) (Author/JB)