100 years of advertising in Library Journal : 1876–1976, A brief survey.

by Joyner, Deborah W.

This study describes the use of paid advertisements in the periodical, Library Journal. The survey was conducted to determine the quantity of ads over time, identify categories of advertisers, and note changes in presentation of ads in order to provide an a historical perspective on advertisements for the library market.

Covering a century, advertisements were taken from two issues of Library Journal per year in five-year increments. Over the 100 year period, the amount of advertising space tended to increase, nearing a 50:50 ratio of advertising pages to content pages. The advertising also changed, increasingly featuring more publishers’ advertisements and more classified advertising.