SCONUL Resource Database

The Challenge

SCONUL collects rich annual data on library usage, student and staff FTE, loans, downloads, expenditure, and research support across UK higher education institutions. That resource data had to be reworked into something administrators could update from existing CSV structures - and members could explore through clear graphs, exports, and print-ready views - without drowning in spreadsheets or brittle one-off reports. As a public-sector education tool, charts, tables, and multi-step report builders also needed to meet accessibility and compliance expectations so library staff can use the service with keyboard and assistive technologies.

Our Approach

• Built a dedicated reporting engine that ingests institutional CSV datasets, maps hundreds of field definitions (FTE, loans, downloads, expenditure, open-access metrics, and more), and adapts as yearly column sets evolve.
• Designed customisable report construction so staff choose the metrics, institutions, and groupings that matter - then see totals and averages presented in interactive charts and structured tables.
• Delivered practical outputs for real library work: CSV and Excel downloads aligned to report headers, print-optimised views, and result tables that stay usable at sector scale.
• Optimised admin update paths so data officers feed in familiar file structures; Pendulum's field mapping and normalisation handle UTF-8, year alignment, and schema drift without rewriting the product each cycle.
• Treated accessibility as part of the reporting UX: keyboard-operable steppers and filters, semantic tables alongside charts, clear focus states, and WCAG-oriented patterns appropriate under the Accessibility Regulations.
• Layered reporting into the Access custom platform with role-aware access, institution context, and ongoing refinement based on how members actually query and export sector statistics.

The Outcome

SCONUL members can explore library and student-habit metrics through customisable graphs, downloadable datasets, and print views instead of wrestling with raw sector files - via a reporting UX built for keyboard use, structured tables alongside charts, and public-sector accessibility expectations. Administrators update from existing CSV structures while Pendulum's mapping keeps the tool aligned year to year. The resource database turns a large, evolving data programme into a practical, compliance-aware decision-support product for UK academic libraries.

Key Takeaways

• Large sector datasets only become useful when administrators can keep feeding familiar structures and members get charts, downloads, and print views they trust.
• Field maps that tolerate yearly schema change protect the product from annual rewrites.
• Data-driven membership tools succeed when exploration, export, and accessibility compliance are designed together - not bolted on after the warehouse exists.