Quality of academic libraries - funding bodies, librarians and users perspective: a common project of Polish research libraries on comparable measures

Derfert-Wolf, Lidia and Górski, Marek M. and Marcinek, Marzena Quality of academic libraries - funding bodies, librarians and users perspective: a common project of Polish research libraries on comparable measures., 2005 . In IFLA Council and General Conference (71st : 2005 : Oslo), Oslo (Norway), 14th - 18th August 2005. (Unpublished) [Conference paper]

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English abstract

According to the ISO Standard 11620 Performance Indicators for Libraries, the quality means "totality of features and characteristics of a product or services that bear on the library's ability to satisfy stated or implied needs". Hence the quality assessment depends not only on the product or service as it is but also on a person or institution involved in the assessment process. High quality of library performance is crucial for each research library to survive. Wide on-line access to information makes researchers and students demand the highest quality library services. It is the quality of library services that decides on the perception of the library within its parent institution and the society. Comparable quality measures (which refer not only to library services but to all aspects of library performance) are of vital importance for efficient and effective library management. A library needs both to satisfy its users and to prove to its funding bodies that it is worth investment. Moreover, the State Accreditation Commission in the process of the assessment of higher education institutions takes the quality of library services into account. Therefore current efforts to determine unified standards and library performance indicators are a starting point to the full implementation of reliable analysis-based management and assessment. The main objective of the paper is to present the results of the on-going study of performance indicators for Polish research libraries. The report from the research together with background information on library statistical data collection reflects the overall situation of library quality measures and assessment in Poland. The study is a continuation of the activity realised in the frame of the EU Tempus Project "Development of Library Management as a Part of the University Total Quality Management". The Group for Standardisation presently conducts the research in the frame of the national project financed from the funds of the Ministry of National Education and Sport. Authors of the research encountered many difficulties implied by the lack of national patterns or standards for library statistics and effectiveness measurement to follow. Therefore they have been trying to adopt model foreign solutions to the Polish realities. The paper describes the tools for library performance evaluation applied in Poland in 2003. The authors discuss some issues related to the preparation of an online questionnaire for comparative studies and a computer program for a quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Next, the results of the research for the years 2002-2003 are presented including tables and graphs. Finally, we present a proposal for new standard surveys to be used for the assessment of the quality of libraries by their users (according to the international standard 11620). Data received from users surveys will provide important complementary information to the raw data and the indicators derived from them.

Item type: Conference paper
Keywords: university libraries, library statistics, performance measurement, performance indicatirs, quality, Poland
Subjects: D. Libraries as physical collections. > DD. Academic libraries.
F. Management. > FA. Co-operation.
F. Management. > FZ. None of these, but in this section.
F. Management. > FC. Finance.
F. Management. > FF. Funding.
Depositing user: Lidia Derfert-Wolf
Date deposited: 06 Nov 2005
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:02
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/6831

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