Libraries routinely gather and report data about their budgets, collections, staff, services, and so forth. But libraries need to do a better job of using these data to help them improve their existing services and communicate value to their stakeholders.

1. Intelligent Library Presentation
Intelligent Library is one that uses a variety of data to make
decisions about collections, services, staffing, and facilities
Intelligent Library may also be know as one that uses
Evidence-based Librarianship
Some interesting quotes about libraries, their abilities in
collecting data and how they use data.

3. An Intelligent Library uses data to inform professional
judgment

4. Monitor our progress – in the name of transparency and
accountability, we measure our inputs, activities (processes),
and outputs of our work
Inform our strategies – we test our assumptions by tracking
our accomplishments using performance measures
Contribute to our profession – we share data as well as stories
of our successes and failures – sometimes in the literature
The purpose of any analysis is not to prove but to improve
Why we use performance measures?
Monitor our
progress
Inform our
strategies
Contribute to our
profession
Purpose of Library Intelligence

5. Library Intelligence = Gates Foundation calls Actionable
Measurement
Communication with stakeholders can often be planned –
monthly, quarterly, annual reports; completion of surveys, etc.
However, we often must respond to request for information
We can do this with immediate online access to . . .
Library Intelligence
The collec on, analysis, and synthesis
of data
Time devoted to reflec on
and development of insight
Willingness and ability
to change
Timeframe

7. What is the purpose of the analysis, selecting a set of peers,
how many, …
Institutional peers, library peers
Criteria for selection – number of customers, circulation, size of
collection, in-state (plus some out-of-state), etc.
Use data and statistics, plus judgment
Cluster analysis - homogeneity within a cluster and
heterogeneity between clusters is statistically significant
If all your peers are aspirational, then when you run
comparisons you'd always be at the bottom of the list and think
that you've got serious performance issues. But if those
comparisons are against schools we know are aspirational,
then we know why we're performing at that level. So it's good
to be able to set targets and goals,
Who the university sees as a peer and who potential students
(and their parents) see as peers may be different

8. Aspirational University wide include: Boston College,
University of Notre Dame, Rice University, Stanford University,
and the University of Southern California.
A library peer may not be an institutional peer
Aspirational Peer Syndrome – might be Aspirational Delusional
Syndrome
Pepperdine University
University-Wide University Library
Baylor University Calvin College
George Washington University Claremont McKenna College
Loyola Marymount University Occidental College
Santa Clara University Santa Clara University
Southern Methodist University Rice University
Syracuse University Wake Forest University

9. What is an Intelligent Library?
More concerned about trends and the direction of the trend
than the value of the data at any one point in time
More concerned about trends than data at one point in time
Use data to drive improvement in processes
Trends
Process Improvement

10. Listens – constantly, using many different tools
Is focused on productivity improvements
Voice of the Customer
Produc vity Improvements
Customer “Quotes” + Data

11. Local library transaction data, customer feedback data, plus
state/national data
Markham PL
•Make collections more accessible & increase usage
•Improve ROI for collections budgets
Examples

12. While circulation has doubled since 2005, Markham is the most
efficient library in the Toronto area
Invested in technology to reduce staff handling of materials
Steve Potter, MCPL Director and CEO

14. Bob Dugan, Univ of West Florida “Talking points” with the
Provost for both peers and aspirants
University of West Florida
Annual Comparisons
Measure Peer Review Comparison to Avg
Services
Total circula on/FTE Highest of 8 Above
Reference transac ons/FTE Highest of 8 Above
ILL loaned/FTE 3 of 8 Above
ILL borrowed/FTE 5 of 8 Below
Ra o of loaned:borrowed 3 of 8 Above
Collec ons
Volumes held/FTE Highest of 8 Above
Titles held/FTE 2 of 8 Above
Journal subscrip ons/FTE 5 of 8 Below
Measures Peer Rank Comparison to Avg.
Expenditures
Total expenditures/FTE Highest of 8 Above
Total resource expend/FTE 6 of 8 Below
Monograph expenditures/FTE 7 of 8 Below
Journal expenditures/FTE 4 of 8 Above
Total eResource expend/FTE 5 of 8 Below
Other expenditures/FTE Tied for last Below
Total staff expenditures/FTE 4 of 8 Below
Salaries of prof staff/FTE 6 of 8 Below
Annual Comparisons

15. Univ of West Florida – example of charts from ACRLMetrics
Also, Bob provides tools to articulate the value of the library
Institutional ROI
Measures Peer Group Comparison to Avg
Staffing
Total staff in FTE 6 of 8 Below
Professional staff in FTE 6 of 8 Below
Support staff in FTE 2 of 8 Above
Student assistants in FTE 5 of 8 Above
% prof staff to total staff 8 of 8 Below
% support staff to total staff 1 of 8 Above
% student assistants to total staff 6 of 8 Below
Annual Comparisons

16. Student ROI
Elizabeth Brown SUNY Binghamton
Also used data from SciVal Spotlight, InCites from Thompson,
Academic Analytics, OCLC to investigate quality and
uniqueness of collections, faculty productivity

17. Virginia commonwealth University Libraries Michael Rawls,
Budget & Assessment Director
Jimmy Ghaphery Head, Library Information Systems VCU
Libraries

18. MAPHAT
M Meet
AApproach
P Probe
H Hear
AAssist
T Thank
Encourage customer feedback

19. Same data – different presentation

21. What measures of library success will resonate in your
organizational setting?
Be visible with your funding decision makers – build personal
connections
In your environment, how is value defined, measured &
communicated?

22. Alignment Organization’s mission and goals
What is a valuable library? One that contributes to reaching
the goals and objectives of the organization.
What is an Intelligent Library? One that not only collects data
but uses it to inform its actions and communicates its value to
stakeholders
Use charts and graphs rather than showing lots of data (but
have the data to back up your charts)
May not be necessary to specialize as this organization has

23. Funding for libraries is a reflection of public or campus support
Support (in the form of your budget) reflects the perceived
value of the library to each family, student, faculty member –
In short, to your community
However, the value is judged in the context of today’s
economy and today’s society
Tell your story in numbers and stories
Your message – “We have contributed towards YOUR goals by
….”
Or “We have contributed towards OUR goals by ….”
Stories + Stats = Success

24. Use lots of color and excitement to convey both written and
spoken stories of the value of the library
These quotes bear repeating

25. Hope I have not left you like this audience!
Joe@JoeMatthews.Org
www.JoeMatthews.Org for a copy of the slides
Discussion