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Library Evaluation: An Art or a Science?

Library Evaluation: An Art or a Science?. Wuhan University Library System 30 March 2005 Sarah Aerni, University of Pittsburgh. Goals of Library Evaluation. The utility of something is measured by determining how well it satisfies its purpose. Use and user studies are important tools

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Library Evaluation: An Art or a Science?

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  1. Library Evaluation: An Art or a Science? Wuhan University Library System 30 March 2005 Sarah Aerni, University of Pittsburgh

  2. Goals of Library Evaluation • The utility of something is measured by determining how well it satisfies its purpose. • Use and user studies are important tools for systematically gathering information about user expectations, a user’s approach to the collections and what materials library users prefer to use. • Library administrators are also interested in aggregate information about user behavior.

  3. Broad Questions that motivate the library evaluation process • Are the library's collections adequate? • Are the library's materials organized effectively? • Is the staff large enough and sufficiently well trained to provide a high level of library service? • Do the library's services facilitate effective use of the Library? • Is the library building adequate to meet the service needs? • What types of materials do the users prefer to use? • Are there appropriate cooperative activities with other libraries? • Source: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/027-137e.htm

  4. Methods for doing library evaluation - 1 • Quantitative Analysis: • Counts and comparisons of values • Surveys • Cost Studies • Use Studies • Rational, scientific exploration of library phenomena • This kind of analysis is deductive; it looks at general phenomena and uses this to predict what will happen in the future.

  5. Methods for doing library evaluation – 2 • Qualitative Analysis • Historical Analysis • User Observation • Individual Interviews • Group Interviews • Public Forums • Content Analysis • This kind of analysis is inductive rather than deductive; the analysis flows from the particular to the general.

  6. The difference between qualitative and quantitative research • Qualitative research relies more on the users to give definition to reality and to identify factors of greater and lesser importance in understanding their own behavior. • Quantitative research may use the scientific method to draw conclusions. It attempts to control the circumstances of data gathering and assumes that the researchers understand the behavior and environment they are studying.

  7. Counts and comparisons of values • These studies count library activities and compare these values with those from previous years and with those from other libraries (i.e., circulation) • Sometimes sampling is done. This means that counts are done for a short period of time. • Not always scientific! Many things have been counted for years, without considering whether they are still important.

  8. Surveys • Surveys are a controlled method for answering a specific group of questions. • Must decide time period, population to sample, method of gathering participants, response rates, wording of the questions and methods for analyzing the results. • Response rates for library surveys are often very low (10-30%).

  9. Cost Studies • Analyze costs for all activities across the library system. • This includes prices for materials, and also non-material costs such as labor, space costs and infrastructure costs. • To do this, you must ask individuals about the time spent on various activities and translate the time into a monetary amount.

  10. Use Studies • A type of library survey that measures use of a library service. • Critical incident is an effective way to gauge use. This method asks people about their last use of a particular material. For example, you can ask questions about the last article read from a scholarly journal. By asking many people this question, you get a sense of how often the different materials are used.

  11. Historical Analysis • Use of historical information to determine policies for the present and to plan for the future. • This method is often used in collection development. Decisions that were made in the past about collections directly affect which materials are there today.

  12. Observation of Library Practice • Observation involves the systematic recording of observable behaviors in a natural context. • In order to make observation work, build it into the planning process. Structured observation of library interactions should be incorporated into assessment. • Changes prompted by casual or unsystematic evaluation can become problematic. It is easy to gain false impressions from such work.

  13. Interviews • Verbal input and interaction is another valuable way of eliciting information from users. • Individual interviews can provide in-depth information. • Focus groups, or group interviews, can provide a balanced discussion of issues. The dynamics of the group process will determine how much useful information is provided. • More on focus groups in a later session!

  14. Content Analysis • Content analysis allows for ongoing monitoring of written comments from library staff or users. • Tracking written comments and complaints over time makes it possible to determine which issues are currently of intense concern.

  15. Conclusion – 1 • Material collected through qualitative methods is often more unstructured and unwieldy. It is up to the researcher to provide coherence and structure to the data collected. • This type of evaluation is both art and science!

  16. Conclusion – 2 • Quantitative methods provide numerical data, but analyzing and interpreting these data to get usable information may be difficult and imprecise. • This method also requires one to be both an artist and a scientist!

  17. Time for Questions • Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I will be talking more in-depth about some of these topics at a later time. • I am also available to talk with you further about this at my desk in the Information Center.

  18. The End

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