This article describes a project undertaken as part of a cross-campus strategic planning effort. The project documented current campus practices and systems in use for collecting, analyzing and reporting key research metrics. The project identified organizational issues around siloed data collection and lack of clarity on data stewards, data…

User experience is immeasurably important for your patrons as they access your Web site. This article presents tips and strategies for testing user experience, suggests a number of different popular technologies and tools that are used in the UX field, and lays out a plan for sharing and utilizing data to make improvements on your Web site. It is…

This paper examines the place of public libraries in supporting distance learners in Makerere University, exploring the factors which affect utilisation of their services. The study adopted a survey design with 300 B.Ed. students, collecting data through focus group discussions, structured questionnaires and individual interviews.

Libraries have become increasingly interested in studying the use of spaces within their buildings. Traditional methods for tracking library building use, such as gate counts, provide little information on what patrons do once they are in the library; therefore, new methods for studying space usage are being developed. Particularly promising are…

Libraries are making great efforts acquiring, maintaining, and promoting electronic book (e-book) collections; therefore, understanding what preference users have regarding e-books will help with current and future collection-development decisions. For librarians to provide e-book resources and services effectively, a thorough understanding of…

Reference statistics were collected and analyzed for a three-year period from Fall 1975 to Summer 1976 at the Pennsylvania State University Main Undergraduate Library. Reference questions were classified and recorded in three categories: (1) search, (2) ready reference, and (3) directional. Hour of question, interlibrary loan, book, and telephone…

This manual describes the methods, procedures, techniques, and activities that were used to produce the Academic Library Survey of 2004 (ALS:2004). This manual is designed to provide guidance and documentation for users of the ALS data. Included in the manual are the following: (1) an overview of the study and its predecessor studies; (2) an…

In spring of 2006, a task force was charged to look at the feasibility of acquiring hand-held inventory devices for the Pennsylvania State University Libraries (PSUL). The task force's charge was not to look at the whole concept of doing an inventory, but rather to focus on the feasibility of acquiring hand-held devices to use in an inventory.…

Describes simple, unobtrusive method of determining who uses government publications by analyzing manual check-out circulation data at Arkansas State University. Per capita circulation and cross-tabulation results, analysis by classification number, document circulation and library circulation statistics, and publications that make up more than…

While current information on the dynamics of a library is essential, some concern has been expressed about the efficiency of the statistical collecting procedures as well as the usefulness of the statistical data collected at the Purdue University Libraries. Task priorities based on objectives and the significant cost factor of staff time, dictate…

This report outlines specifications for the online transaction monitoring and questionnaire administration features of the University of California's (UC) Prototype On-Line Catalog, known as MELVYL. The development and testing of these features by the UC Division of Library Automation (DLA) is also described. This document is the final report…

Seventy-seven of ninety library evaluators of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) responded to a 1973 questionnaire to determine: (1) if evaluative criteria used are based with an authority other than SACS; and (2) if certain methods, procedures, and techniques employed by evaluators could be used to construct an ideal…

This report describes the aspirations and inspirations as well as the data collection and analyses which constituted the first phase of activity under the Mellon Foundation grant to examine collection development and management at Cornell. The emphasis is mainly on analytical and planning processes rather than specific results during this first…

A study examined the feasibility of developing a cost effective sampling technique which would estimate the mean number of patrons using the Purdue University General Library during one semester. The technique employed, called random sampling without replacement, meant that, from the total population of days in the Fall Semester, particular days…

In order to ascertain what data elements should commonly be considered in the development of a meaningful procedure for recording and analyzing library reference transaction data for planning purposes, a comparison was made between the development, use, and results of surveys designed and tested at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the…