Librarian's Library: Making Sure Libraries "Measure Up"

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Times are tough for libraries, and when times get tough, managers--whether college administrators, a principal, a board of trustees, or even voters--start asking about the viability of programs and the measurable benefits of those programs. That's why understanding how to measure your library's activities--and therefore proving their value--is critical in today's economic environment.

In Using Qualitative Methods in Action Research: How Librarians Can Get to the Why of Data, editors Douglas Cook and Lesley Farmer provide an array of examples that use qualitative research (which analyzes observed behaviors or transactions or a group under study) to understand what does and doesn't work with a …