Facing budget and personnel cuts, special librarians increasingly need to justify the cost of library operations--often even the library's existence. Expert Joseph Matthews illustrates how to evaluate library services and successfully communicate the library's value to upper management. Describing how value is added and how it can best be measured, Matthews explains different types of evaluations (models, implications, and methods) and a variety of measures (input, process, and output). He shows how a cost-benefit analysis and a library balanced scorecard, along with effective communication,...
Facing budget and personnel cuts, special librarians increasingly need to justify the cost of library operations--often even the library's existence. ...
Librarians have historically relied on the perceived value or goodness of the public library as a means to garner financial support. Yet it is now becoming apparent that public libraries must demonstrate, using an acceptable methodology, the economic value of the library and its services. A compendium of valuable information about the research and literature surrounding this issue of demonstration, this book reviews the various approaches that have been used in assessing the public library's value.
Matthews suggests methods for a library to develop better means of...
Librarians have historically relied on the perceived value or goodness of the public library as a means to garner financial support. Yet it is now ...
Baseball fans have long appreciated the value of keeping a scorecard, both as a record of the game and a predictor of future outcomes. What if we told you the same principle works for libraries?
The Balanced Scorecard is a performance measurement tool first popularized by Robert Kaplan and David Norton (who also penned the foreword to this book) in a 1993 "Harvard Business Review" article. It involves matching a variety of measures with one or more expected values--from each of four perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, and organizational readiness)--tracking results, and...
Baseball fans have long appreciated the value of keeping a scorecard, both as a record of the game and a predictor of future outcomes. What if we t...
What is the future of the public library? How can libraries embrace the forces of change and provide the resources--and the resource-gathering environment--today's patrons want? "The Customer-Focused Library: Re-Inventing the Library From the Outside-In" answers these questions by proposing a transformative alternative, a reimagined library in which the collections, the services--even the building itself--are designed and built from the customer's perspective.
Written by one of the country's foremost library consultants, "The Customer-Focused Library" shows how perceived threats to the...
What is the future of the public library? How can libraries embrace the forces of change and provide the resources--and the resource-gathering envi...
A modern library is much like a business in that it must provide a set of products and services to meet the changing needs and expectations of its customers in order to succeed and survive. With libraries now focusing more on their "customers," "Listening to the Customer" is a critical resource that provides effective strategies for gathering information from the client perspective in order to meet library patrons' expectations and specific information needs.
The voice-of-the-customer program described by Hernon and Matthews involves not only listening to customers, but also maintaining...
A modern library is much like a business in that it must provide a set of products and services to meet the changing needs and expectations of its ...
"Research-Based Planning for Public Libraries: Increasing Relevance in the Digital Age" takes readers through a logical and effective process for developing a plan and implementing it within the various functions of the library. Grounded in research and best practices, the book offers practical, easy-to-implement advice and direction for today's public library administrators, managers, and board members.
Covering everything from goal-setting, policy-making, and budgeting, to collections, promotions, and access and evaluation, the book details how to better provide and promote access,...
"Research-Based Planning for Public Libraries: Increasing Relevance in the Digital Age" takes readers through a logical and effective process for ...
Academic and public libraries are much different today than they were even 15 years ago. And with even bigger changes on the horizon, what lies in store? In this systematic attempt to speak to academic and public librarians about the future of library services, Hernon and Matthews invite a raft of contributors to step back and envision the type of future library that will generate excitement and enthusiasm among users and stakeholders. Anyone interested in the future of libraries, especially library managers, will be engaged and stimulated as the contributors *Examinw the current state of the...
Academic and public libraries are much different today than they were even 15 years ago. And with even bigger changes on the horizon, what lies in sto...
Everyone agrees that evaluation of library services is essential, but without a background in research it can be a challenge to apply abstract concepts such as strategic planning, evidence-based decision making, and accountability to real-world situations. Finally library managers have a workbook to help them master key concepts of service quality assessment, offering directed exercises and worksheets to guide them. Firmly rooted in practical application, this book *Presents an overview of evaluation and the types of metrics, linking them to strategic planning and infrastructure *Examines...
Everyone agrees that evaluation of library services is essential, but without a background in research it can be a challenge to apply abstract concept...
Academic libraries are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their value as one of many units on campus, but determining the outcomes of an academic library within the context of its collegiate setting is challenging. This book explains and clarifies the practice of assessment in academic institutions, enabling library managers to better understand and explain the impact of the library on student learning outcomes, teaching effectiveness, and research productivity.
Providing essential information for all college and university librarians, this volume discusses and summarizes...
Academic libraries are increasingly being asked to demonstrate their value as one of many units on campus, but determining the outcomes of an acade...
Value is at the core of every organization's purpose. Without value, organizations die. Libraries as well as museums, archives, and galleries have traditionally added value to their communities through their collections and services, but yesterday's collections and services are no longer enough. In order to remain sustainable, today's libraries, archives, museums, and galleries must explore new ways to add value that resonate in the lives of their customers.
This unique book explains how addressing the "5 C's" of adding value content, context, connection, collaboration, and...
Value is at the core of every organization's purpose. Without value, organizations die. Libraries as well as museums, archives, and galleries have ...
