The definitions vary somewhat in each country report as to scope and interpretation. The tables in this summary are therefore only indicative and should be treated as such. We refer the reader to the country reports for a more complete picture of the situation in the countries concerned. The survey covers the whole library sector, that is, research libraries, public libraries and school libraries. The definitions of research libraries vary from country to country, and again, the reader is referred to the individual country reports for further elaboration and explanation of these issues.
School libraries represent a special problem when it comes to data collection.
Statistics on school libraries are not collected regularly and systematically in all the five countries, and information gathering through questionnaires is not feasible due to the large number of schools. In most cases the information on school libraries is based on earlier surveys, apart from Iceland, where an additional telephone interview was carried out in selected regions. In some cases, all libraries in the target group were surveyed, in others again only a select sample. In some cases, additional telephone interviews were carried out with the libraries in order to clarify the replies. Considering the length and complexity of the questionnaire, the response rates can be considered satisfactory.