1st Edition

Libraries Without Walls 6 Evaluating the Distributed Delivery of Library Services

Edited By Peter Brophy, Jenny Craven, Margaret Markland Copyright 2006
    256 Pages
    by Facet Publishing

    This edited collection is drawn from the sixth Libraries Without Walls Conference, held in 2005. From their beginnings in 1995, the Libraries Without Walls conferences have mapped a major change in the practice of librarianship. While library services are still concerned to provide users with physical access to their buildings, electronic access, often from remote locations, is becoming ever more dominant. Papers presented at previous LWW conferences have provided examples of how libraries are pushing out the frontiers of their services. In 2005 a different approach was taken. The question was asked, 'How do we know whether these new services are having a positive impact on our users?'

    In response, papers written by leading professionals worldwide followed these broad themes:

    theoretical approaches to the evaluation of the new services, with an emphasis on qualitative methods

    the user experience: what do we know about the users of these services?

    assessment of the usability, including the accessibility, of the services

    measuring the outcomes and impact.

    Readership: These state-of-the-art papers will enable library managers and information professionals in all sectors to keep abreast of the latest developments in this vital area. The book will also assist educational specialists and course developers in increasing their understanding of the role and importance of information in the learning process.

    1. Introduction - Peter Brophy 2. Keynote address: Involving the customer in library planning and decision making - Susan McKnight 3. Denmark's Electronic Research Library: evaluation of services through user surveys and usability tests - Bo Öhrström 4. Beyond the guidelines: assessment of the usability and accessibility of distributed services from the users' perspective - Jenny Craven 5. Online services versus online chaos: evaluating online services in a Greek academic library - Emmanouel Garoufallou and Rania Siatri 6. The Hellenic Academic Libraries Consortium (HEAL-Link) and its effect on library services in Greece: the case of Aristotle University library system - Claudine Xenidou-Dervou 7. Information seeking in large-scale resource discovery environments: users and union catalogues - Richard J Hartley 8. A 'joined-up' electronic journal service: user attitudes and behaviour - Ken Eason, Ross MacIntyre and Ann Apps 9. Climbing the ladders and sidestepping the snakes: achieving accessibility through a co-ordinated and strategic approach - Dawn McLoughlin and Ruth Wilson 10. The impact of library and information services on health professionals' ability to locate information for patient care - Alison Brettle 11. We know we are making a difference but can we prove it? Impact measurement in a higher education library - Dianne Nelson, Jacqueline Chelin, Jane Redman and Pauline Shaw 12. Proving our worth? Measuring the impact of the public library service in the UK - Juliet Eve 13. Outcomes and impacts, dollars and sense: are libraries measuring up? - Jose-Marie Griffiths 14. Longitude II: assessing the value and impact of library services over time - Peter Brophy and Jenny Craven 15. The use of electronic journals in academic libraries in Castilla y Leon - Blanca Rodriguez Bravo and Maria Luisa Alvite Diez 16. The integration of library activities in the academic world: a practitioner's view - Ursula Nielsen and Marie-Louise Axelsson 17. Monitoring PULMAN's Oeiras Manifesto Action Plan - Robert Davies 18. Enabling the library in the university systems: trial and evaluation in the use of library services away from the library - Chris Awre, Ralph Quarles and Steven Smail 19. Towards an integrated theory of digital library success from the users' perspective - Li-Hsiang Lai, Ming-Der Wu and Yeu-Sheng Hsieh 20. The role of digital libraries in helping students attend to source information - Steve Cohen, Susan Eales, Michael Fegan and Dean Rehberger 21. A DiVA for every audience: lessons learned from the evaluation of an online digital video library - Elizabeth Mallett, Agnes Kukilska-Hulme, Anne Jelfs and Chetz Colwell 22. Usability evaluation of Ebrary and OverDrive e-book online systems - Anne Morris and Panos Balatsoukas 23. Tearing down the walls: demand for e-books in an academic library - Ellen Derey Safley

    Biography

    Peter Brophy