Abstract

Assessing impact is increasingly critical to the survival of services: managers now require comprehensive information about effectiveness, especially in relation to users. Outlining a rigorously tested approach to library evaluation and offering practical tools and highly relevant examples, this book enables LIS managers to get to grips with the slippery concept of service impact and to address their own impact questions in their planning. The 2nd edition is fully updated to include international approaches to qualitative library evaluation, new international research, and current debates on the evolving nature of evaluation, as well as reflections on the importance of involving stakeholders and of evaluation to guide advocacy. This is an essential tool for practising library and information service managers and policy makers in the field. It will be equally relevant to LIS policy shapers and managers in public, education (schools, further and higher education), health and special libraries and information services working in any country or internationally. It will also be of interest to people engaged in professional education in the field as lecturers or students.
"Stands out as a shining example of how a guide should be written." - Information Research
David Streatfield leads Information Management Associates, a research, training and consultancy team working in education, health and libraries. He has over 25 years' experience in educational and social sciences research and consultancy, including several years as Head of Information Research and Development at NFER. Both David and Sharon are Independent Impact Consultants to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Libraries Initiative and have worked in a similar capacity for various overseas and international programmes including the International Federation of Library Associations and the United National Development Agency in Bulgaria. Sharon Markless is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at King's College, London and at the University of Surrey. She carries out research and consultancy work with Information Management Associates in the field of public, academic and school libraries. She is a trained teacher and was formerly a Senior Researcher at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
"The strength of the book lies in its duality as both a tool and as an insightful analysis of the context, concepts and methodologies required to demonstrate the effectiveness of your library." - Ariadne