After so much stuff about evaluation theory and practice in this blog, it’s time for some fun! And what better fun is there than fun with numbers?1 Let’s begin our diversion with a graph from my prior post shown here. Looking closely, notice how some of the gold circles lie in neat, parallel bands. These [...]
Archive for the ‘Measurement’ Category
Fun With Numbers
Posted in Data vizualization, Measurement, Statistics on April 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Data Are Not Psychic
Posted in Measurement, Research, Statistics, tagged external validity, generalizability, inferential statistics, perceptions of library users, statistical significance testing, survey research on November 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s great to see other librarians advocating for the same causes I harp on in this blog. I’m referring to Sarah Robbins, Debra Engel, and Christina Kulp of the University of Oklahoma, whose article appears in the current issue of College & Research Libraries. The article, entitled “How Unique Are Our Users?”1 warns against the [...]
How Do You Know That?
Posted in Measurement, Research, Statistics, tagged inferential statistics, information literacy, sampling error, statistical significance testing, survey research, vetting information on August 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I borrowed the title for this entry from a 2009 study of student research practices by Randall McClure and Kellian Clink. Their study is cited in an article in the current issue of College & Research Libraries that Joe Matthews brought to my attention. This article is Students Use More Books After Library Instruction by [...]
Smaller is Beautifuler
Posted in Library assessment, Measurement, Statistics on June 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A recent article in AL Direct entitled The Smartest Readers presents some simple library rankings based on that stalwart library measure, circulation per capita. Rankings like these are, at least to me, a reminder of a perennial conundrum concerning the meaning of per capita library measures. For more than a century librarianship has puzzled over [...]
The U Word
Posted in Advocacy, Measurement, Reporting Evaluation/Assessment Results, Research, Statistics on April 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This week Chase Bank sent an email to its customers saying that one of their vendor’s computer systems were hacked. The bank stated that they: …are confident that the information that was retrieved [i.e., stolen] included some Chase customer e-mail addresses, but did not include any customer account or financial information. Based on everything we [...]
Non-Exponential Potential
Posted in Advocacy, Measurement, Reporting Evaluation/Assessment Results on February 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A new OCLC membership report, Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community, is hot off the…er…PDF-Maker! The report is formatted more like a magazine than a study, with key findings summarized in a myriad of graphical illustrations. So, I must confess that I have rather neglected the narrative so far. But from browsing mostly through [...]
Discussing Accuracy
Posted in Advocacy, Library assessment, Measurement, Research, Statistics on January 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Now that I am no longer distracted by the subject of last week’s entry I can get to the intended topic for my first 2011 blog entry. I should say, though, that I won’t be turning over any kind of new leaf for the new year. For now I’m sticking with the theme I’ve dwelt [...]
Checking It Twice
Posted in Measurement, Research on December 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
By this time in the season you’ve probably heard one or another rendition of the familiar Christmas carol about Santa’s annual performance measurement regimen. Mr. Claus and team work hard to make sure the results of the North Pole poll are accurate. After all, it would never do to have children receiving gifts they don’t [...]
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IMLS- Blog Post: National Medal Video: San José Public Library May 29, 2012
- Blog Post: Mark Your Calendars for WebWise Reprise! Live Webinars Coming in June May 25, 2012
- Blog Post: National Medal Video: Madison Children’s Museum May 22, 2012
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- New Report Explores Roles of Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture May 16, 2012
