The Bottom Line: Determining and Communicating the Value of the Special Library / Edition 1

by Joseph R. Matthews

Overview

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!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591580041
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2002
Series:	Library and Information Science Text Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	175
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.44(d)
Age Range:	3 Months

About the Author

JOSEPH R. MATTHEWS is an internationally renowned expert on library automation and information systems and President of his consulting company, Matthews & Associates, Carlsbad, California.

Table 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