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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, can position the library as a value center rather than a cost center. A glossary, list of recommended reading, and an appendix (including a library benefits survey and a table of measures with respective definitions) make this the ultimate means of establishing the value of your library-an essential guide no special librarian should be without!
List of contents
Chapter 1: How Libraries Add Value
Chapter 2: Evaluation
Chapter 3: Evaluation Techniques and Methods
Chapter 4: Input Measures
Chapter 5: Process Measures
Chapter 6: Output Measures
Chapter 7: Approaches to Identifying Outcomes or Impacts
Chapter 8: Outcomes in Special Libraries
Chapter 9: A Balanced Scorecard
Chapter 10: Building a Library Balanced Scorecard
Chapter 11: Communicating the Value of a Special Library
About the author
Joseph R. Matthews has assisted numerous libraries and local governments in a wide variety of projects, and teaches regularly in the areas of library information systems, strategic planning, and evaluation of library services.
