As the information field changes, so do the roles and work settings of information professionals. According to the 1999 SLA Annual Salary Survey, as many as 13% of all Canadian and U.S. SLA members do not work in a library or information center. What are they doing? Where do they work? The survey found:

• 13% (N=316) of respondents indicated they do not, and 87% (N=2099) indicated they do, work in a library or information resource center.

When Examined by Detailed Industry:

• 9.8% of those not working in libraries are in the Publishing: Database & Directory, Software industry, compared to 0.2% of those that do work in libraries.


• 3.5% of those not working in libraries are in the Computer Systems Design industry, compared to 0.9% of those that do work in libraries.
• 4.1% of those not working in libraries are in the Other Information Services (Brokers) industry, compared to 0.4% of those that do work in libraries.
• 3.5% of those not working in libraries are in the Consortiums, Cooperative Libraries industry, compared to 0.3% of those that do work in libraries.

When examined by Primary Responsibility:

• 6.0% of those not working in libraries do Analysis as their primary responsibility, compared 1.1% of those that do work in libraries.
• 3.5% of those not working in libraries do Information Product/Database Development as their primary responsibility, compared 0.5% of those that do work in libraries.
• 6.0% of those not working in libraries do Knowledge Management as their primary responsibility, compared 1.3% of those that do work in libraries.
• 4.1% of those not working in libraries do Training/User Instruction as their primary responsibility, compared 0.7% of those that do work in libraries.

Special Librarians' Salaries Increase

Analysis of the salary data collected for the 1999 SLA Salary Survey among Canadian and U.S. members also indicates a healthy increase in earnings since 1998. Among Canadian respondents in the same positions between April 1, 1998 and April 1, 1999, the mean percent change in earnings was 4.0. The mean percent change for similar U.S. respondents was 5.1. In comparison, wages and salaries for white-collar workers in all industries in the United States increased only 3.3% for the year ending March 1999, according to the Employment Cost Index figures calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The specialized training of SLA members has proved rewarding, as the 1998 median salaries of SLA U.S. members, $47,000, outperformed the 1998 U.S. median of $34,580 for librarians nationwide by 36%, based on data from the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For Canadian SLA members, the median basic annual earnings for full-time information professionals as of April 1, 1999 was $52,000; the average, or mean, was $55,206. The U.S. median pay for full-time information professionals was $49,116, and the mean was $52,826.

Please note: Although these data are in U.S. and Canadian dollars, this positive salary outlook for special librarians and information professionals/specialists could apply to the information industry in the U.K.! As of April 1, 1999, 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.6214 British Pound Sterling, which indicates a median U.K. salary of £30,521 and a mean salary of £32,826 based on U.S. figures.

Survey administration and Ordering Information

During April 1999, the questionnaire was mailed first-class to SLA members living and working in the United States and Canada. The survey was sent to a random sample of the U.S. regular and associate members (N=5000) and to all Canadian regular and associate members (N=1003), a total of 6,003 members. The number of responses received by the deadline of May 15, 1999 was 2,515, representing a 42% return rate. For the 1999 Annual Salary Survey, members were asked to return their surveys directly to Association Research, Inc. (ARI).

The SLA Annual Salary Survey 1999, due to be published in late November 1999, features 102 tables and 21 figures that present salary distributions for a number of different characteristics, including industry, geographic region, budget size, size of organization, administrative responsibility, job title, number of employees supervised, and work experience. Tables featured in the SLA Annual Salary Survey 1999 report figures for the 10th and 90th percentiles, in addition to reporting the first quartile (25th percentile), the median (50th percentile), the third quartile (75th percentile), and the mean (average).

Orders are now being taken for SLA Annual Salary Survey 1999 ($45.00 for SLA members and $54.00 for nonmembers). To order a copy of the SLA Annual Salary Survey 1999 visit the Virtual Bookstore, or contact Helen Ortega at 1-202-939-3660 or via e-mail at Helen@sla.org. For questions about the survey content, contact John Latham at 1-202-939-3639, John@sla.org, or Douglas Newcomb, at 1-202-939-3676,doug@sla.org.