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ERIC Number: ED328251
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1989-Apr
Pages: 95
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Use of Management Statistics in ARL Libraries. SPEC Kit #153.
Vasi, John
A Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) survey conducted in 1986 investigated the collection and use of management statistics in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries, and SPEC Kit #134 (May 1987) summarized the kinds of statistics collected and the reasons given by the 91 respondents for collecting them. This more recent SPEC Kit looks at the next step in the process--how libraries use the statistics they collect. SPEC Kit #134 categorized the types of statistics collected by placing them in one of five groupings: measures of activity and workload; measures of holdings; measures of facility (building) use; measures of resources generated and expended; and "others." In this document, ways in which libraries use these statistics are categorized in four groupings: (1) comparative data: i.e., presentation of numerical data showing year-to-year increases or decreases within or among libraries; (2) required reporting: provision of quantitative information for a given period of time to satisfy internal and external reporting requirements; (3) cost of operations: use of public service or processing statistics together with costs to determine a cost-per-unit figure or to gauge efficiency of specific operations; and (4) formula data: provision of appropriate statistics as raw data for funding or space allocation formulas. Following a brief overview of the study and the SPEC survey results, the kit provides examples of the use of statistics in each of these four categories. Materials used as examples were contributed by the Association of Research Libraries, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of California Libraries, the University of California at Los Angeles, Dartmouth University, the University of Houston, the University of Missouri, Northwestern University, Notre Dame University, the University of Rochester, the University of South Carolina, and Waterloo University. (MAB)
Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Services, 1527 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 ($20.00).
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Administrators; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC. Office of Management Studies.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: For SPEC Kit #134, see ED 284 566.