Purpose: While designing personally meaningful activities with data technologies can support the development of data literacies, this paper aims to focuses on the overlooked aspect of how learners navigate tensions between personal experiences and data trends. Design/methodology/approach: The authors report on an analysis of three student cases…

Public libraries serve an important role in the U.S. workforce development system by offering a wide range of free career services and job-seeking activities for job seekers and the general public (U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 2017). During the Great Recession, over 30 million people, roughly 10% of the total…

This paper examines the place of public libraries in supporting distance learners in Makerere University, exploring the factors which affect utilisation of their services. The study adopted a survey design with 300 B.Ed. students, collecting data through focus group discussions, structured questionnaires and individual interviews.

The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) is a voluntary survey conducted annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS collects these data under the mandate in the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 as stated in Section 210. The U.S. Census Bureau is the data collection agent for IMLS. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 survey is the…

This report provides preliminary findings and a summary of study activities for Stage I of a project that examined public library Internet services that could impact the Digital Divide. The first section discusses the E-rate program and the Digital Divide, including closing the gap in the Digital Divide and public library Internet connectivity and…

Results of this study evaluating library reference service indicate a statistically significant difference at the .05 level between obtrusive and unobtrusive evaluation methods. Library staff answer a greater proportion of questions correctly when they are aware of being evaluated. The 30 questions used, a report form, and references are included.…

Sixty-six public libraries selected by random sample, substitutions and participation requests, tested Rutgers University 1970 Performance Measures Manual to gather information on the evaluation and improvement of public libraries. Selection was based on geographic location and budget categories. Following instructions for manual's use at…

Explains a system designed by the Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries to develop objective data based on time costs to help make decisions regarding children's program resources. Budgets and library priorities are discussed, a form for gathering data on programs is provided, and suggestions for modifications for other libraries are…

This report reflects the results of an evaluation of the coverage in the annual Public Library Statistics program, a joint federal-state information collection project. It is the first phase of a broader project of the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to evaluate the overall statistics available from the annual…

This report describes a pilot project to develop a Cooperative System for Public Library Data Collection, which would enable the Center for Education Statistics (CES) of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement to issue national statistical reports on public libraries by using data collected by state library agencies in their annual…

This manual has been designed as a practical guide to quantifying and measuring the results, or outputs, of public library service to children. The basic output measures presented are tailored to reflect library services to children (defined as persons 14 years old and younger) and their care givers. Six categories of measures are presented: (1)…

Each year, from 1982 to 1986, the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois conducted a study called the Index of Quality of Public Library Service. For this study, unobtrusive tests of reference service and book availability were performed annually in Illinois Public Libraries. When the results from rural libraries were compared with…

This study was conducted to test measures of library service developed in a 1974 national performance measurement study, and to develop personnel training programs in data collection and analysis in New Jersey public libraries. The study was conducted in three phases: (1) revision of original procedures manual; (2) measurement implementation in 25…

A result of Australia's Community Information Sharing Service (CISS) study of community information services currently being provided by public libraries in New South Wales, this report (one of three) presents five general principles which can assist public libraries with decisions about their response to the issue of the provision of community…

Describes a procedure for identifying a group of potential users from among current nonusers in a sample of adults drawn from the library's community. This procedure was designed for use in conducting marketing surveys for public libraries. (Author/CHC)