A guide to using ACRLMetrics and PLAmetrics

For Immediate Release
Fri, 11/21/2014

Contact:

Rob Christopher

Marketing Coordinator

ALA Publishing

American Library Association

312-280-5052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO — Both the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Public Library Association (PLA) provide important data services. For library managers and administrators, the key to the data’s usefulness is knowing how to extract and apply the most relevant information to managing a library and improving accountability. Peter Hernon, Robert E. Dugan and Joseph R. Matthews’ “Managing with Data: Using ACRLMetrics and PLAmetrics,” published by ALA Editions, is a companion volume to the authors’ earlier bookGetting Started with Evaluation.” This guide illustrates how to use the data to support value, collection use, benchmarking and other best practices. An important resource for academic and public library managers, administrators and library trustees, this book:

  • demonstrates how to perform techniques for developing and using metrics;
  • offers exercises that illustrate how to produce meaningful metrics and reports, accessible via a free Web portal;
  • shows how to move towards outcomes assessments while simultaneously embracing value;
  • includes numerous examples to guide readers through the data services’ Web interfaces screen-by-screen.

Hernon is a professor emeritus at Simmons College, Boston, and was the principal (and founding) faculty member for the doctoral program, Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions. Coeditor of Library & Information Science Research, he is the author or coauthor of 56 books, including the award-winning “Federal Information Policies in the 1980s,” “Assessing Service Quality” and “Viewing Library Metrics from Different Perspectives.” Dugan is the dean of libraries at the University of West Florida (Pensacola, Florida).  He has also worked in state and public libraries during his more than 40-year career. He is the coauthor of 12 books, including “Viewing Library Metrics from Different Perspectives.” Matthews is a consultant specializing in strategic planning, assessment and evaluation of library services, customer service and the balanced scorecard. His books include “Research-Based Planning for Public Libraries” and “Reflecting on the Future of Academic and Public Libraries.”

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. ALA Editions publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact us at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.