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The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services
Book Code: LU8532
ISBN: 1-59158-532-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-59158-532-9
400 pages, figures; tables
Libraries Unlimited
Publication: 9/30/2007
List Price: $50.00 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Paperback
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Intended for library directos and managers in all types of libraries, this guide's ultimate goal is to help librarians evaluate library services in order to improve them....Josepth Matthews writes in a clear narrative style. This is for librarians who want to conduct a more thorough evaluation of their libraries, but it also makes a solid college textbook. Recommended.
    —Library Media Connection
    August/September 2008
  • [V]ery substantial treatment of the question of how to measure and evaluate library services....The book is impressive in its breadth of coverage of this topic, in particular its discussion of the variety of types of evaluation and measurement....[A]dministrators of academic or public libraries will find much to benefit from in this book....Matthews provides a well-organized, well-documented discussion of the design and execution of studies to measure and evaluate library services as well as numerous examples of pitfalls and mistakes that should be avoided as one seeks to conduct these evaluations.
    —Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research
    June 2008
  • This handbook on the evaluation and measurement of library services merits acclaim as the definitive work on the subject....[B]rims over with useful and detailed advice for library administrators seeking to measure the effectiveness of extant library policies and practices and to implement meaningful change when warranted. The book covers major areas of library evaluation and measurement strategies, along with providing invaluable bibliographical references and sample measurement instruments....The true strength of this book is the author's expansive knowledge of his subject. Not only does he raise significant questions, but he also provides valuable answers.
    —College & Research Libraries
    July 2008
  • After a thorough discussion of methodology, Matthews devotes several chapters to particular aspects of library service, such as reference and interlibrary loan. Finally, he tells us how to use all the information we've gathered to make our case about the library's value to patrons and stakeholders and answer the most important question of all--what difference do we make?
    —American Libraries
    March 2008
Description: Evaluations of libraries and the services they perform are seen as important tools for library managers and stakeholders. However, too many library evaluations simply focus on the routine process of gathering inputs and outputs within the context of traditional service measurements. Very few libraries actively pair these internal evaluations along with customer satisfaction outcomes to form a management tool that can drive service improvements across the library as a whole. In this book, Matthews outlines and argues for a broader and more robust adoption of evaluation techniques in order to help library managers combine traditional internal measurements (circulation, reference transactions, etc.) with more customer-centric metrics (how well was I served, how satisfied am I with my branch, etc.) to form a truer picture of the value of the library to its stakeholders and patrons. Matthews sets out to familiarize the reader with the wide array of existing tools that can be used to evaluate any library service, and introduces the reader to newer tools designed to measure customer and patron outcomes. Throughout the book, Matthews focuses on removing the mystery surrounding these processes and tools so that library managers are better able to use these tools to drive patron and stakeholder satisfaction.
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Evaluation: Process and Models
  • Chapter 1: Evaluation Issues
  • Chapter 2: Evaluation Models
  • Part II: Methodology Concerns
  • Chapter 3: The Right Tools for the Job
  • Chapter 4: Qualitative Tools
  • Chapter 5: Quantative Tools
  • Chapter 6: Analysis of Data
  • Part III: Evaluation of Library Services
  • Chapter 7: Library Users and Non-Users
  • Chapter 8: Evaluation of the Physical Collection
  • Chapter 9: Evaluation of the Electronic Resources
  • Chapter 10: Evaluation of the Reference Services
  • Chapter 11: Evaluation of the Technical Services
  • Chapter 12: Evaluation of Interlibrary Loan
  • Chapter 13: Evaluation of Online Systems
  • Chapter 14: Evaluation of Bibliography/Library Instruction and Information Literacy
  • Chapter 15: Evaluation of Customer Services
  • Part IV: Evaluation of the Library
  • Chapter 16: Models for Evaluating the Broader Perspective
  • Chapter 17: Accomplishments: The Key to Realizing Value
  • Chapter 18: Economic Impacts
  • Chapter 19: Evaluation of Social Impacts
  • Chapter 20: Communicating the Value of the Library
  • Appendix A: Raward Library Usability Analysis Tool
  • Name Index
  • Subject Index
LC Card Number: 2007017726
LCC Class: Z678
Dewey Class: 025
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