Library Data: Empowering Practice and Persuasion »

Numerical evidence is everywhere and how best to handle and leverage it is a growing concern in the academic world in general and the academic library world in particular. Libraries are not only storehouses and key contacts for library patrons in accessing numbers, but are also collectors and users of their own data, which is integral to the functioning of the library itself.

The essays in Library Data: Empowering Practice and Persuasion focus on interpreting and using library-generated and outside data in support of data-driven practice and data-strengthened persuasion. The collection includes such topics as how to make data presentations appealing and effective; applying capital-budgeting models to libraries; and using data for evaluation and improvement of collections and services. Articles also cover specialized scenarios, including reference, collection development, serial acquisitions, institutional repositories, web site design, interlibrary loan, and bibliographic instruction.

Introduction ix

Part I Approaching Data 1

Chapter 1 Yielding to Persuasion: Library Data's Hazardous Surfaces Jamene Brooks-Kieffer 3

Chapter 2 Using Educational Data to Inform and Persuade Kate Zoellner 17

Chapter 3 Telling Your Library's Story: How to Make the Most of Your Data in a Presentation Anne C. Elguindi Bill Mayer 25

Part II Evaluation of Monographic Collections 35

Chapter 4 Collection Evaluation: Selecting the Right Tools and Methods for Your Library Lucy Eleonore Lyons 37

Chapter 5 Comparing Approval and Librarian-Selected Monographs: An Analysis of Use Erin L. Ellis Nikhat J. Ghouse Monica Claassen-Wilson John M. Stratton Susanne K. Clement 53

Part III Serials and E-Resources Management 69

Chapter 6 E-Journal Usage Statistics in Collection Management Decisions: A Literature Review Andrée J. Rathemacher 71

Chapter 7 Perspectives on Using E-Journal Usage Statistics in a Serials Cancellation Project Andrée J. Rathemacher Michael C. Vocino 91

Chapter 8 Using "Meta-Analysis" in Electronic Resource Decision-Making Trade J. Ballock Carmel Yurochko David A. Nolfi 103

Chapter 9 Usage Statistics: Resources and Tools Margaret Hogarth 129

Part IV Reference and Instruction 149

Chapter 10 Moving Beyond the Hash Mark: Capturing the Whole Reference Transaction for Effective Decision-Making Danielle Theiss-White Jason Coleman Kristin Whitehair 151

Chapter 11 Maximizing the Value of Reference Data: A Case Study Erika Bennett Sommer Berg Erin Brothen 183

Chapter 12 Instruction by the Numbers: Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning Wendy Holliday Erin Davis Pamela Martin 197

Part V Specific Methods andIssues 215

Chapter 13 If the Library Were a Business, Would It Be Profitable? How Businesses Go Beyond Numbers Michael A. Crumpton 217

Chapter 14 The Use of Grounded Theory in Interlibrary Loan Research: Compliance Always Occurs David E. Woolwine Joseph A. Williams 227

Chapter 15 Investing in Electronic Resources Using Capital, Budgeting Timothy M. McGeary 237

Part VI Emerging Contexts 261

Chapter 16 Data for Repositories: Making the Case and Integrating into Practice Hilary Davis 263

Chapter 17 How Library Homepage Vocabulary Influences Database Usage: Use of Vendor-Provided Usage Data for Homepage Design Melissa Johnson 271

Chapter 18 NUC Accreditation Data and Evidence-Based Library Management in Nigerian University Libraries Samuel C. Utulu 281

Index 297