This research brief describes recent methodological initiatives with the Public Libraries Survey. It describes how starting with the 2022 data, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) updated geographic identifiers to better align Census Bureau geography types with the library's legal service area, with the goal of enabling data users to…

The best kind of learning is that which never ends--and a culture of training means that staff will be more flexible and responsive to new ideas and strategies, imperative in today's libraries. In this practical resource, leading workplace trainers Reed and Signorelli offer guidance on improving the effectiveness of training programs. Their book…

Describes a library staff inservice day developed at the Oak Lawn (Illinois) Public Library to meet the needs of a staff with diverse ages, interests, and duties. Recommends offering a variety of sessions that staff may choose from, provides examples, and includes a summary of evaluation results. (LRW)

Discusses methods for the performance evaluation of supervisors and describes how an instrument for upward appraisal by the supervisor's subordinates was developed at the Dayton-Montgomery County (Ohio) Public Library. Employee focus group meetings, evaluation statements for rating by staff, and preparation of draft and final evaluation…

Summarizes issues emerging from an institute on strategies and techniques for evaluating children's services in public libraries, including observation as a research method, the importance of statistics on children's services, and the adaptation of traditional evaluation strategies for children's services. (Seven references) (MES)

Offers a methodological critique of Thomas Hennen's American Public Library Rating Index as well as a response by Hennen. Discusses statistics; indexes; correlations; variables; weighting; and how public libraries should be assessed, and Hennen defends his work and suggests it should be called a scorecard rather than an index. (LRW)

This article tells the story of Grayhead Public Library and the results of a new evaluation process developed by the state library that asked staff to critique their bosses' management capabilities and the library's services anonymously. Galloway, the director, was shocked when she received the results. She read the responses in disbelief,…

Includes six articles focusing on the purpose of digital public libraries; encoding electronic documents through compression techniques; a distributed finding aid server; digital archiving practices in the framework of information life cycle management; converting metadata into MARC format and Dublin Core formats; and evaluating Web sites through…

Describes both a dichotomy between library managers and library staff involved in direct service and a supervisory development instrument intended for use by employees to rate supervisors. This instrument, which is included, is designed to encourage an organizational climate characterized by mutual trust and shared values among supervisors and…

Provides the background and outline of a one-day workshop on reference evaluation which integrates the elements of goals, objectives, and mission statements with output measurements from the point of view of reference service. Practical exercises to accompany such a workshop are suggested. (five references) (MES)

Describes a field study of four public libraries that examined the extent to which differences in local implementation of the Public Library Association's long-range planning process produced differences in planning outcomes. Reasons for deciding to plan, participant evaluation of the process, and specific outcomes are highlighted. (LRW)

explains the work by the Maryland Association of Public Library Administrators Birth to Five Task Force that has helped public libraries get involved in community programs for preschoolers. Topics include national resources and initiatives; brain research; reading research; Early Childhood Longitudinal Study; systems reform for solving community…

This description of the Vigo County Public Library's implementation of planning, programming, and budgeting focuses on its output measurement system, Complete Service Statistics. Measures of five service categories are developed--lending, facilities, information, production, and staff--to gather statistics for library management. (RAA)

Describes a statewide demonstration project at the University of Illinois at Chicago to provide consumer health information to public libraries and clinics using InfoTrac's Health Reference Center CD-ROM database. Highlights include system specifications for the client-server network, planned enhancements, and preliminary evaluation results. (LRW)

Describes the planning, organization, and implementation of a reference workshop offered as a continuing education option for reference librarians at the Queens Borough Public Library (New York, NY). Participant evaluations are analyzed, recommendations for future learning activities are presented, and assignments and the evaluation form are…