This article discusses best practices for evaluating open source software for use in library projects, based on the authors' experience evaluating electronic publishing solutions. First, it presents a brief review of the literature, emphasizing the need to evaluate open source solutions carefully in order to minimize Total Cost of Ownership. Next,…

Libraries are all about collecting data. When it comes to collection development and assessment of e-resources, collecting data on usage of resources aids in decision making regarding these resources and provides data-rich evidence to support the value for the user of these resources. However, the author asserts that libraries should take some…

In 1988, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, a research team from the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University began a study of the origin, development, and diffusion of the Public Library Association's (PLA) planning and evaluation manuals. The study was intended to add to the general understanding of the…

Evaluation of instructional personnel is standard procedure in our Pre-K-12 public schools, and its purpose is to document educator effectiveness. With Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind waivers, states are required to implement performance-based evaluations that demonstrate student academic progress. This three-year study describes the…

This article examines multiple inventory methods and findings from the inventory processes at the University of Mississippi Libraries. In an attempt to reduce user frustration from not being able to locate materials, the University of Mississippi Libraries conducted an inventory process beginning with a pilot inventory of a branch library and a…

Introduction: Little is known about the quality of health information in social contexts or how socio-emotional factors impact users' evaluations of quality. We explored how librarians, nurses and users assessed the quality of health answers posted on Yahoo! Answers, focusing on socio-emotional reactions displayed, advice given to users and…

Administrators, librarians, parents, teachers, and teacher educators need to be familiar with quality multicultural children's literature as a means of helping children develop an understanding of others as well as affirming their own diverse backgrounds. In this study, 31 fictional picture books identified as containing representations of ethnic…

This guide discusses how to approach staff evaluation and offers actual performance standards for a wide variety of library positions. These standards can be used by any type of library. Chapter 1 explains what performance standards are, how staff evaluation has evolved over the years, legal issues which have influenced the process, and some…

This kit and flyer produced by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center of the Association of Research Libraries provides documents submitted by 14 universities that are used in the performance evaluation of professional library staff. Commentary based on a thorough review of documents submitted by 60 libraries includes an overview of the…

Jeffrey Beall's blog listing of potential predatory journals and publishers, as well as his "Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access (OA) Publishers" are often looked at as tools to help researchers avoid publishing in predatory journals. While these "Criteria" have brought a greater awareness of OA predatory journals,…

Designed to aid elementary, middle, junior high, and high school library media staff in developing a quality collection, "Analysis of Client Groups" poses questions about students, faculty and administration, and parents and community. Brief discussions also consider methods for collecting data; review of student records; conversations…

In 2012, "U.S. News & World Report" ranked nineteen institutions on its Up-and-Coming national universities list. The universities were put on the list based on rankings from experts in higher education administration. The experts were asked to identify institutions that had implemented innovative ideas in the areas of academics,…

In an effort to insure that medical technologists prepared for their careers through nontraditional educational offerings are at least as competent as those graduated from traditional programs, the American Society for Medical Technology has defined the term "nontraditional education" for its own use, categorized the educational…

Presents the revised "Standards for University Libraries" approved by the Association of College and Research Libraries Board. Areas covered in the standards include a basic statement of purpose, underlying assumptions, goal development, measuring achievement and forming a statement of expectations, and evaluative criteria. Resource…

In order to evaluate and utilize library data for the management process, a German project, sponsored by the German Research Council, uses the Balanced Scorecard as the concept for integrated quality management. Performance indicators across the following four perspectives are combined to produce a balanced evaluation of the library: (1) users,…