New Frontiers in Public Library Research
New Frontiers in Public Library Research

Author: Carl Gustav Johannsen

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780810850392

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Pulls together research results from Scandinavian public library researchers on current public library issues, including how public libraries are facing and dealing with the various professional challenges of modern society. Contributors tackle topics as wide ranging as the challenges of serving a multi-cultural society, new library media and services, internet services and new trends in library management. This collection of articles also includes library history works focusing on the relationship between public library ideas and practices in the USA and the Scandinavian countries.

New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research
New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research

Author: Alex Nicholls

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-09-18

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1137506806

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This book is open access under a CC BY license. Interest in social innovation continues to rise, from governments setting up social innovation 'labs' to large corporations developing social innovation strategies. Yet theory lags behind practice, and this hampers our ability to understand social innovation and make the most of its potential. This collection brings together work by leading social innovation researchers globally, exploring the practice and process of researching social innovation, its nature and effects. Combining theoretical chapters and empirical studies, it shows how social innovation is blurring traditional boundaries between the market, the state and civil society, thereby developing new forms of services, relationships and collaborations. It takes a critical perspective, analyzing potential downsides of social innovation that often remain unexplored or are glossed over, yet concludes with a powerful vision of the potential for social innovation to transform society. It aims to be a valuable resource for students and researchers, as well as policymakers and others supporting and leading social innovation.

Research-Based Planning for Public Libraries
Research-Based Planning for Public Libraries

Author: Joseph R. Matthews

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2013-10-24

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13:

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This book will help public library administrators, managers, and board members to better plan, strategize, and understand their communities, enabling public libraries to become dynamic, proactive institutions. 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, convey its value to customers, and make the library a more integral part of the community. The author inspires library staff and administrators to reinvent themselves to meet—and overcome—the current challenges they face. The information is specifically tailored towards public librarians, particularly those in management or administration, as well as to LIS faculty and students of public librarianship and library management.

The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services
The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services

Author: Joseph R. Matthews

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2017-10-27

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13:

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This guide provides library directors, managers, and administrators in all types of libraries with complete and up-to-date instructions on how to evaluate library services in order to improve them. It's a fact: today's libraries must evaluate their services in order to find ways to better serve patrons and prove their value to their communities. In this greatly updated and expanded edition of Matthews' seminal text, you'll discover a breadth of tools that can be used to evaluate any library service, including newer tools designed to measure customer and patron outcomes. The book offers practical advice backed by solid research on virtually every aspect of evaluation, including quantitative and qualitative tools, data analysis, and specific recommendations for measuring individual services, such as technical services and reference and interlibrary loan. New chapters give readers effective ways to evaluate critical aspects of their libraries such as automated systems, physical space, staff, performance management frameworks, eBooks, social media, and information literacy. The author explains how broader and more robust adoption of evaluation techniques will help library managers combine traditional internal measurements, such as circulation and reference transactions, with more customer-centric metrics that reflect how well patrons feel they are served and how satisfied they are with the library. By applying this comprehensive strategy, readers will gain the ability to form a truer picture of their library's value to its stakeholders and patrons.

Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences

Author: John D. McDonald

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2017-03-15

Total Pages: 5538

ISBN-13: 1000031543

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The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, comprising of seven volumes, now in its fourth edition, compiles the contributions of major researchers and practitioners and explores the cultural institutions of more than 30 countries. This major reference presents over 550 entries extensively reviewed for accuracy in seven print volumes or online. The new fourth edition, which includes 55 new entires and 60 revised entries, continues to reflect the growing convergence among the disciplines that influence information and the cultural record, with coverage of the latest topics as well as classic articles of historical and theoretical importance.

What are Archives?
What are Archives?

Author: Louise Craven

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-02-11

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1134759738

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This collection of essays breaks new ground in archival studies in the UK where professional archival texts have traditionally concentrated on the how, not the why, of archival work. Studies of the theoretical role of, for example, the archive and the text or the archive and political power, have meanwhile been undertaken in other academic disciplines where there is an established forum for the discussion of related issues. This book invites the archivist to join that arena of debate, whilst appealing to all those interested in archives from other disciplines; the authors encourage archivists to step away from the practicalities of keeping archives to consider what it is they actually do in the cultural context of the early 21st century. The wider context of technological innovation and the internet form the backdrop to this collection. The book explores change and continuity in the archival paradigm, the textual nature of archives and asks if views of manuscripts and personal papers are changing; it looks at specific developments in community archives, at concepts of identity and culture in archives and it presents the fruits of innovative studies of users of archives. Taken together, these essays, written by leading experts in the field, provide a new understanding of the role of the archive today.

Getting Started with Evaluation
Getting Started with Evaluation

Author: Peter Hernon

Publisher: American Library Association

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0838911951

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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 qualitative versus quantitative measures Shows how to decide which metrics are relevant to one’s own institution, covering benchmarking, best practices, peer group filters, and those metrics that offer a high return on investment Includes pointers for launching and maintaining successful library evaluation through flexibility and smart delegation among library staff Offers advice on marshaling data to effectively communicate the value and impact of a library and its services, no matter the audience Complete with a detailed list of sources for metrics and concrete examples of evaluation in practice, this workbook will be both valuable and immediately useful to managers at academic and public libraries, as well as to library trustees and others interested in assessing service quality.