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A*CENSUS, the first truly comprehensive nationwide survey of the archives profession, was fielded in early May 2004. Provided below are links to the full final report (published in part in the Fall/Winter 2006 issue of The American Archivist) as well as background information on the survey design and questionnaire, presentations on the findings, a state-by-state breakdown of some of the data, and two preliminary reports. Please contact the SAA office if you have questions about A*CENSUS.

A*CENSUS: The American Archivist, vol. 69, no. 2, 2006 (PDF, 237 pages; 1.96 mb)
This is the version of the full report published in The American Archivist. The narrative contains references to supplemental tables that may be found on this webpage in the A*CENSUS Full Report and in the Special Analyses.

A*CENSUS: Full Report (PDF, 328 pages; 3.16 mb)
This is the final report on the survey prepared for publication. This version includes all of the analysis tables referred to in the version published in The American Archivist.

A*CENSUS: A Closer Look (PDF, 130 pages; 670 kb)
This report is an expanded version of Part 3 in the A*CENSUS Full Report. Principal Research Consultant Victoria Irons Walch provides highlights of the general data analysis with supplemental data not included in The American Archivist.

A*CENSUS Special Analyses 
The Full Report includes special analyses in five key areas. Below are links to these individual reports that were also published in abridged form in The American Archivist.

Background on the Design of the A*CENSUS

  • A*CENSUS Survey Questionnaire is provided as a reference for users of the data.
  • A*CENSUS Background and Technical Notes provides information that is important to understanding the survey process and interpreting the data. It describes who participated in the process, the project timetable, the development of the mailing list, the response rate, and details on how results are being calculated for specific questions.
  • Data Collection Methodology Report was prepared by MSI Research, the survey research firm that developed and delivered both the online and the paper survey instruments.
  • Responses from Archival Association Members provides, for most of the archival associations in the United States, the number of members on the mailing lists supplied to the A*CENSUS project, the number of individuals who indicated that they were members of the associations, and a response rate calculated from these figures.
  • Fully formatted versions of a privacy-protected version of the A*CENSUS data set are deposited in the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, MI. ICPSR members may download the dataset (#4565) from the ICPSR website. Non-members of ICPSR have full access to the data codebook and other documentation.  

A*CENSUS Data Tabulated by State

The reports in this section provide supplemental analyses of the overall A*CENSUS responses not reported fully in the main reports. Included are tables that show the average salary and respondent age, detailed responses most questions on the survey by state, and spreadsheet tables with data on employment, education, and career paths, each organized by state.

Presentations from "A Sense of A*CENSUS" Session
SAA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, August 19, 2005 

Preliminary Reports
Principal Research Consultant Victoria Irons Walch prepared these preliminary reports on the A*CENSUS findings. Report # 1 is findings on gender, age, and position type. Report #2 includes tables on the regional distribution of respondents and detailed tables on reported salaries.


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