Taking the Struggle Out of Statistics

Monday, 4/6/2015 - Sunday, 5/3/2015

Word cloud of library and book-related termsSold Out!

To be placed on the wait list send an email to registration@ala.org

Recently, librarians of all types have been asked to take a more evidence-based look at their practices. Statistics is a powerful tool that can be used to uncover trends in library-related areas such as collections, user studies, usability testing, and patron satisfaction studies. Knowledge of basic statistical principles will greatly help librarians achieve these new expectations.  This course will be a blend of learning basic statistical concepts and techniques along with practical application of common statistical analyses to library data. Got assessment in your title or duties? This course is for you!

Learning Outcomes

This course will be a blend of learning basic statistical concepts and techniques along with practical application of common statistical analyses to library data.

The course will include online learning modules for basic statistical concepts, examples from completed and ongoing library research projects, and also exercises accompanied by practice datasets to apply techniques learned during the course.

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Understand basic descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, median, skew, variance, and standard deviation
  • Understand levels of measurements relative to types of analysis that can be done
  • Identify and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data commonly collected by libraries
  • Recoding data to maximize analytical value
  • Understand how to analyze frequency and descriptive statistics from data using several different softwares such as Excel, R, etc.
  • Create data visualizations and graphs that visualize the story
  • Create sampling pools relative to library-specific parameters
  • Identify challenges during the data collection and cleaning phase for better and more accurate analyses
 

Who Should Attend

Got assessment in your title or duties? This course is for you!

Instructor

Jackie Bronicki is the Collections and Online Resources Coordinator at the University of Houston. Her background is in research methodology, data collection and project management for large research projects including international dialysis research and large-scale digitization quality assessment. Her focus is on collection assessment and evaluation and she works closely with subject liaisons, web services, and access services librarians at the University of Houston to facilitate various research projects.

Registration

Cost

Sold Out!

  • LITA Member: $135
  • ALA Member: $195
  • Non-member: $260

Moodle login info will be sent to registrants the week prior to the start date.

How to Register

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To be placed on the wait list send an email to registration@ala.org

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Contact ALA Registration:  call 1-800-545-2433 and press 5 or email registration@ala.org or submit print registration form [PDF]

Tech Requirements

The course will be delivered via the Moodle courseware system.  Participants will need an internet connection and computer with a current operating system and web browser.  Further details will be provided prior to the course start.  The course will proceed weekly for 4 weeks with an optional two weeks if students need more time to complete assignments.

Contact

For questions about registration, contact ALA Registration:  call 1-800-545-2433 and press 5 or email registration@ala.org.

For all other questions or comments related to the course, contact LITA at (312) 280-4268 or Mark Beatty at mbeatty@ala.org.