As our society moves increasingly from an era of affluence to one of scarcity, the evaluation and assessment of publicly supported services will become even more crucial and necessary to ensure that public resources are being expended in the most effective manner. Evaluation of library service effectiveness is defined in this paper in terms of…

Measurements of materials and library operations were carried out in five public libraries and an observation study of staff work was conducted in the Hawaii State Library. The goals of this phase of the larger state study included testing and modification of measures to ensure their applicability to public libraries in the state, and the…

Discusses the relationship between effective organizational communication and specific library contexts and reviews the historical development of communication audits as a means of studying communication effectiveness. The generic structure of such audits is described and two models are presented in detail, including techniques for gathering and…

This general summary of the results of a library study conducted in Hawaii presents the major findings from the survey of residents, the library staff survey, the government agency survey, and the measurements conducted in five Hawaii libraries. Major recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of library performance are…

Ryan Information Management conducted a return on investment (ROI) study of the economic value of the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) and identified potential additional sources of operating revenue. HSPLS economic value was examined from four viewpoints, HSPLS: direct economic impact, market value, peer comparison and value to library…