Work sampling is an effective device for testing efficiency in the use of library materials and personnel. An administrator can determine whether circulation or reference librarians are effectively using their time and whether the work flow should be reorganized. Key operations of a sampling should include definition of a problem, identification…

Seventy-seven of ninety library evaluators of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) responded to a 1973 questionnaire to determine: (1) if evaluative criteria used are based with an authority other than SACS; and (2) if certain methods, procedures, and techniques employed by evaluators could be used to construct an ideal…

Reports findings of a Statistics Task Force investigation at New York University's Bobst Library, which reviewed the collection and publication of statistics and data related to library reference and information services and use of resources, and developed a framework for inclusions, definitions, procedures, and policies for data collection and…

This manual is designed to help bibliographers, librarians, and other materials selectors plan and conduct systematic collection evaluations using both collection centered and client centered techniques. Topics covered in five chapters are: (1) planning the assessment; (2) collection-centered techniques, comprising the compilation of statistics,…

Western Kentucky University Libraries developed a survey similar to its Web-based library satisfaction survey, with identical content for library Web and exit patrons to compare these groups' responses. Focuses on the collection of Web and exit survey responses in a two-week period, transformation of response data for analysis, comparison of the…

This document outlines the methodology to be used for analyzing and reporting data collected through questionnaires at the various libraries of the University of California in April and May of 1982, as the second phase of an online public access catalog (OPAC) evaluation project. It is noted that the project was designed to enable systems…

This report presents a systematic review of the literacy services of the Vancouver Public Library (British Columbia), both to determine if those activities met the needs and expectations of local adult learners and to see if those activities compared favorably with general standards and with other libraries' literacy services. Data was collected…

Libraries devote serious resources to user-education programs and need to measure their effectiveness with hard data. This guide was designed to simplify the evaluation planning process and the making of evaluation instruments. The material was developed from hundreds of survey instruments used by librarians around the country. The handbook…

An evaluation was conducted to study the fiscal section of the State Library Agencies Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), examining Parts K, L, and M. The evaluation was designed to check for duplication of data collection between the survey and the compliance materials of the Office of Library Programs (OLP), a former…

Discusses associations between levels of service point use, population information and library inputs, based on data from two London boroughs in respect of individual static service points. Outlines methods of deriving catchment area data using membership information or postcode data from a user survey. Describes a method for librarians seeking to…

A document retrieval study conducted before and again after the building of a more centralized library at Syracuse University is used as an example of the kind of data gathering which can lead to improved decision making and evaluation of library services by library administrators. The study is discussed in detail to facilitate replication and to…

Academic library members of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) responded to a computer library network effectiveness questionnaire to determine the extent to which actual network performance, as perceived by users, is consistent with expected performance. The study evaluated the technological system in terms of outputs and implications for…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to document how ARL member libraries are collecting, using, and modifying their data on reference service transactions. A total of 74 of 124 ARL member libraries responded to the survey. A…

This report presents data, describing mostly on-site institutional resources, from the 118 U.S. and Canadian research libraries that were members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) during the 1986-87 fiscal year. The following information is included in the document: (1) ARL library data tables reflecting data on collections,…

Discussion of public library roles examines roles from the Public Library Association's planning and measurement tools for their usefulness in evaluating public library effectiveness, based on data from the Public Library Effectiveness Study. Indicators of library effectiveness are discussed, and a cluster analysis of libraries with similar role…