Discussion of the ability of library staff to completely and correctly answer reference questions focuses on a training program developed by Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) to increase the accuracy of reference staff performance. Technical feedback skills and peer coaching are discussed, and the need for administrative support is…

Examines correctness of answers received to reference questions in Maryland public libraries and investigates three categories of variables that might affect that correctness: resources (number of volumes, subscriptions, staff, setting); demand (contact, busyness); and behaviors (negotiation of inquiry, interest in question, comfort with question,…

New Zealand librarians, using 95 indicators of performance, rated their libraries highest on service indicators and lowest on local government relations. Factor analysis was used to derive 13 dimensions of effectiveness. The indicators ranked highest in a prior survey of stakeholders are spread across nine of the dimensions, which fit four models…

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…

Study of New Zealand public library effectiveness duplicates research by Childers and Van House which examined the multiple constituencies model of organizational effectiveness. Librarians, users, and councillors rated performance indicators identified from the literature, and similarities and differences between the two studies are reported. A…

This manual identifies a series of performance measurements which, when assessed in their totality, can effectively measure a public library's level of service to its users. The measures have been developed at two levels. On one level, the measures can broadly evaluate the overall performance of library systems on the national level; on a second,…

The purpose of the Public Library Effectiveness Study was to define effectiveness for the public library institution. The research was designed not to measure effectiveness or evaluate particular libraries or groups of libraries, but rather to identify the feature or features of a public library that most directly attest to its effectiveness. The…