IMLS Releases 2007 Public Library Data Files

Incorporates New GIS Data

Wow! Faster than a speeding bullet! Able to leap mounds of red-tape in a single bound! The Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) has released the 2007 public library public use data files!

This is the first year the the federal public library data contain geographical information system (GIS) fields (longitude, latitude) as well as census tract, census block, and U.S. Congressional District information.

The IMLS public library data files are the most comprehensive collection of U.S. public library statistics available. Having them published on this new speedier timeline is quite an advantage.

The FY 2007 Public Library Survey report will be released by IMLS in June 2009.

New IFLA Book Formalizes 21st Century Library Statistics Standards

Includes my article on public library ratings

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has published standards for international library statistics in proceedings from its 2008 conference Library Statistics for the 21st Century World. The book (ISBN 978-3-598-22043-2) was edited by Michael Heaney of Oxford University Library Services. It describes pilot testing and early uses of the new collection of statistical indicators. The model was developed over the past several years via a joint project of IFLA, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For more history on this project visit the IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section.

The book contains articles by presenters at the conference, including mine (see Aug. 26, 2008 post).

Our Session @ PLA Spring Symposium 2009

The Statistics of Silk Purses and Sows Ears

Larry White, Joe Matthews, and I presented a day and a half workshop about public library statistics and assessment at the PLA Spring Syposium April 2-4 in Nashville TN. We covered approaches to evaluation, making peer comparisons, unintended consequences of assessment, outcome evaluation, activity-based costing, cost-benefit analysis, and a range of other topics. Joe covered the topic of measuring customer satisfaction, and his comments inspired this post in my weblog.

Keith Curry Lance was originally going to co-present with me on the LJ Index, but ended up with a scheduling conflict.

American Libraries editor not thrilled with the LJ Index

AL editor Leonard Kniffel believes that the LJ Index of Public Library Service is "too much too late." Kniffel, long-time publisher of HAPLR ratings, defends HAPLR against criticism from LJ editor-in-chief Francine Fialkoff.

Maybe it is ALA's organizational culture that leads Kniffel to view new measures in public library asessessment as a territorial issue. Annual press inquiries about HAPLR and former LJ editor-in-chief John Berry's envy are the topics most salient to Kniffel. Issues like measurement soundness and unintended consequences of issuing ratings didn't get much play in his retrospective account.

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LJ Index of Public Library Service Debuts

Library Journal released the first annual edition of the LJ Index of Public Library Service. The index, designed for the Journal by Keith Curry Lance and me, is based on IMLS 2006 public library data.

Keith, the LJ editors, and I all agreed that the, let's say, "vicissitudes" of IMLS data make any ratings system based on them fairly imprecise. (Keith expresses this with some metaphor or other in the article--something to do with balogna and lasers?) That's why we use the 5-star, 4-star, 3-star rating approach for the LJ Index.

All public library ratings are really contests with specific and arbitrary (contest) rules about things like which statistical indicators to include, which to emphasize more or less, how to calculate and calibrate scores, how to deal with extreme or questionable data values, etc.

Here's another idea the LJ Index project team has embraced from the start: Ratings based on standard library statistics cannot possibly measure library greatness, goodness, excellence, quality, or value. The title of the LJ ratings say exactly what they aim to measure: SERVICE DELIVERY!

'Honorable Mention: What Public Library Ratings Say'

published in Public Libraries Nov/Dec 2008

Neal Kaske, Director of the NOAA Libraries, and I co-wrote an article based on research conducted during my graduate internship at the (now defunct) U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). Dr. Kaske was NCLIS Director of Surveys & Statistics from 2005 to 2007.

Ratings are mainly advocacy tools. While they can highlight certain key aspects of library operations, they are still pretty simplistic. Besides, ratings are based on standard library statistical data that have significant limitations. Ratings don't 'hold a candle' to well-conducted local library evaluation studies.

See the article in Public Libraries ...

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