Characteristics of Corporate Libraries.

This paper reports on a study conducted to collect the data pertaining to corporate libraries in the United States in order to provide a statistical profile of these special libraries. A review of the literature was performed. The researcher used the online "1996 Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers," which lists 21,380 special libraries. Of these, 1,417 company libraries were analyzed to provide statistics for a comparison of founding date; gender of library supervisor; periodical subscriptions; computer automation; online network participation; and distribution of libraries by state. When possible this information was compared to available historical data. It was found that over 50% of the libraries were established after World War II. Since that time, collection size has evolved. Although monographs and company generated reports remain important, periodical subscriptions have risen slightly since the 1960s. At this time, computer automation and online databases are available at less than half of the libraries analyzed. Over seventy percent of library supervisors are female. Data are presented in 10 tables. Two appendices contain coding for profiles of corporate libraries; and five tables compiled by Anthony Kruzas. (Author/DLS)