Statistics and Evaluation Section
Annual Report
September 2003 - August 2004
SCOPE STATEMENT
The section aims to promote the use of measurement and evaluation in the
management, operation and promotion of libraries and library services. It
advocates the use of both quantitative and qualitative statistical and other
methods and tools to achieve this.
It promotes the development and use of standardized measures and good practice.
It aims to co-operate with, to assist and to advise other IFLA sections in the use of
measurement and evaluation in their fields.
It takes an interest in international benchmark comparisons and supports
collaboration with international agencies such as
UNESCO and ISO.
MEMBERSHIP
The Section has a membership of 75 (July 2004).
In 2003-04, the Standing Committee
had 16 members (three corresponding). They were:
- Valerie Alonzo (Bureau of
Libraries of the city of Paris, France),
- Henrik Åslund ( Lund University
Libraries, Head office ),
- Colleen Cook (Texas A&M
University, USA),
- Brinley Franklin (University of
Connecticut, USA),
- Michael Heaney (University of
Oxford, UK),
- Sue Henczel (CAVAL, Australia),
- Ludmila Kozlova (Russian State
Library),
- Elizabeth Lemau (University of
Rennes, France),
- Boris Lensky (Russian Book
Chamber),
- Pierre Meunier (Public Library of
Montreal, Canada),
- Erland Ra (Norwegian Archive,
Library & Museum Authority, Norway),
- Pierre-Yves Renard (Ministry of
Education, France),
- Roswitha Poll (University and
Regional Library Muenster, Germany),
- Pauline Rothstein (Ramapo College
of New Jersey, USA),
- Sherrie Schmidt (Arizona State
University,USA)
- Yakov Shraiberg (Russian National
Library of Science and Technology)
Corresponding members:
- J. Eric Davies (LISU, UK)
- Ellen Hoffman (York University, Canada)
- Lic. Isabel Portales (Biblioteca Arca de Papel del Instituto Cubano del Libro, Cuba)
OFFICERS FOR 2003-05
Chair:
Michael Heaney
University of Oxford
Clarendon Building, Bodleian Library
OXFORD OX1 3BG
United Kingdom
michael.heaney@ouls.ox.ac.uk
Secretary/Treasurer:
Roswitha Poll
University and Regional Library Münster
Krummer Timpen 3-5
48143 MÜNSTER
Germany
pollr@uni-muenster.de
Information Coordinator:
Henrik Åslund
Lund University, Head Office
P.O. Box 134
SE-221 00 LUND
Sweden
henrik.aslund@lub.lu.se
MEETINGS
The Standing Committee of the
Statistics Section met on August 22nd and 28th during the Buenos Aires
conference. Standing Committee members and guests reported on their
activities and discussed plans for future conferences. 11 members and 8
observers attended the first meeting; 9 members and 8 observers attended the
second.
The President and Vice-President of
IFLA attended the first section meeting in order to discuss the collection
and use of statistics to support IFLA’s advocacy at the World Summit on the
Information Society. An ad-hoc working group consisting of Susan Henczel
(chair), Brinley Franklin, Roswitha Poll, and Joyce Gozo met during the
conference to identify a list of possible statistics which they brought back
for discussion to the second meeting.
The list of potentially robust and
available statistics agreed was:
1. Library provision
1.1 Number of libraries
(categorised as academic, public, school and other)
1.2 Number of staff (Full-time
equivalent)
1.3 Number of user places
1.4 Number of computers for
users
1.5 Number of libraries with
networked catalogues
2. Collections
2.1 Number of physical items
held
2.2 Number of physical items
acquired each year (by all methods)
2.3 Number of print journal
subscriptions
2.4 Number of E-journal
subscriptions
2.5 Expenditure on
acquisitions (of all kinds)
3. Usage
3.1 Number of loan
transactions
3.2 Number of user visits
3.3 Number of registered
library users
This list was forwarded to IFLA HQ
with a recommendation for a pilot project to start as soon as possible to
ascertain their viability as a set of measures.
PROJECTS
Outcome measures: A content table for the projected guidelines on outcome measures was distributed by Roswitha Poll and accepted by the committee.
Webography of statistics website:
Henrik Aslund has revised and enlarged the list. Roswitha Poll has produced
another such list, restricted to evaluation in libraries, that Henrik Aslund
sent to IFLANET. Thus, the section's website will show 3 link
lists/bibliographies: Statistics, evaluation, and outcome.
PUBLICATIONS
Two issues of the Section Newsletter
were produced, one in December 2003 and one in July 2004. The July 2004
issue contained a bibliography by Michael Heaney, "Case studies demonstrating use of statistics", produced at the request of the Standing Committee. The bibliography has also been mounted on the Section’s IFLANET
website.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMS
At the Buenos Aires conference the Section participated in the Quality Issues in Libraries Discussion Group. There were ca. 130 persons attending, and 52 evaluation surveys were
returned with good notes. The Section also participated in two Open
Programmes: "Take it to the limit" in conjunction with Public Libraries,
with ca. 100 attendants, who particularly welcomed the use of a Spanish
translator; and
"Cost of information access" in conjunction with University Libraries, with simultaneous translation, which
had an outstanding attendance (ca. 460 persons). The evaluation surveys
returned for the latter (only 19) said "good" or "excellent". Some comments
asked for the topic "cost of open access".
The papers given in the programme "Cost of information access" were:
- Management of the electronic
collection with cost-per-use data: BRINLEY FRANKLIN (University of
Connecticut, Storrs, USA)
- Do users get what they pay for? A
resource allocation model for Oxford University Library Services: MICHAEL
HEANEY (Oxford University Library Services, Oxford, UK)
- Library management with cost data:
ROSWITHA POLL (University and Regional Library, Münster, Germany)
- Non-subscription costs of print
and electronic journals on a life-cycle basis: ANN OKERSON (Yale
University, USA) and ROGER C. SCHONFELD (Ithaka, USA)
The papers given in the programme "Take it to the limit" were:
- Development of Québec public
libraries: Profile of the standardization process at Montreal Public
libraries System: PIERRE MEUNIER (Montreal Public Library, Montreal,
Canada)
- De como las estadísticas y los
indicadores ayudan a mejorar las bibliotecas: el caso de la Red de
Bibliotecas Municipales de la Provincia de Barcelona: TONI FELIU and JORDI
PERMANYER (Servei de Biblioteca, Diputació de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain)
- Together we shape better
libraries. The Swedish Quality Handbook Project: CHRISTINA JONSSON ADRIAL
(Royal Library of Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden) and JOHAN EDGREN (Public
library of Hisingen, Gothenburg, Sweden)
- Los no usuarios: ¿cómo llegar a
ellos en nuestras comunidades?: ANALÍA CAÑIBANO and PATRICIA BARGERO
(Public Library 'Domingo F. Sarmiento', General Villegas, Buenos Aires,
Argentina)
Pierre Meunier also summarized the
paper Recent developments in the application of statistics, standards and
performance indicators in public libraries in England: DAVID FUEGI (MDR
Partners, Colchester, UK), as David Fuegi was unable to be present
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER BODIES
The Section cooperates with other
IFLA groups interested in the use of statistics and performance measures as
tools for management and change in libraries. These IFLA groups include the
following Sections: Management and Marketing, Library Theory and Research,
University Libraries, National Libraries and Acquisitions and Collection
Development. The Section is one of the sponsors of the new discussion group
on Quality Issues in Libraries. The Statistics Section also works with other
library organizations and bodies such as the Northumbria Conference on
Performance Measures, LISU, and ARL, and members of the Section serve on
relevant ISO committees.
AUTHOR
Michael Heaney
