Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques

Citation

McNicol, S. (2007), "Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques", New Library World, Vol. 108 No. 9/10, pp. 465-466. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800710824015

As the author of Measuring Library Performance points out, libraries have been measuring their performance for a very long time, but not always effectively. This book reflects the fact that, in recent years, the focus has moved away from the measurement of size and quantity of bookstock and more attention is now being paid to the effects the library has on population it is intended to serve.

The author effectively summarises the subject area, highlighting current issues and initiatives. This is clearly intended to be a starting point for practitioners or students interested in the area. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of useful resources which direct the reader to more detailed works on each topic.

The first chapter sets the scene by defining different types of evaluation and describing how to construct an evaluation plan. This is followed by a brief overview of the theoretical considerations.

Brophy deliberately places initial emphasis on the user, before moving on to look at the evaluation of library resources. So user satisfaction and impact evaluation occupy the first chapters. LibQUAL+ impact on users and social and economic impact are among the topics discussed. The book then turns to more the traditional measures of inputs, processes and outputs. Library infrastructure, something which is often overlooked, is the subject of the following chapter. A separate chapter is also dedicated to “service for all” with a particular emphasis on services for users with disabilities. The main section of the book finishes with a series of chapters devoted to topics which have grown in importance to libraries in recent years, the broader frameworks of benchmarking, the balance scorecard approach and library standards.

Perhaps the most useful part of the book for library practitioners is the appendices. These deal with data collection methods, analysis of data and presentation of the results. Like the preceding chapters, each of these presents a clear overview of the topic, practical advice and, importantly, has a list of additional useful resources.

In summary, this is a clearly laid out, well structured book which offers an accessible introduction to performance measurement for library students and practitioners. If I have any criticisms of the book, they would be that it tends to focus on large‐scale projects and initiatives rather than the smaller scale activities which are carried out by individual libraries and there is a strong emphasis on the HE and public sectors. For example, the Colorado school library impact studies and CoLRiC's peer accreditation scheme for college libraries are two obvious omissions. However, I acknowledge it would be impossible to include everything in a book of this length and the author has obviously had to choose to focus in certain areas.