Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques

Citation

Ole Pors, N. (2007), "Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pmm.2007.27908aae.002

Measuring Library Performance: Principles and Techniques

Measuring Library Performance: Principles and TechniquesPeter BrophyFacet PublishingLondon2006ISBN 1 85604 593 5242 ppKeywords: Performance measures, Libraries, United Kingdom, United States of America

Peter Brophy will be well known to most of the readers of this journal as one of the most prominent researchers in the area of performance measurement. During the last decade, he has been involved in a variety of projects concerned with measurement, value and impact of the library and information sector. He is also known to be a very effective, stimulating and entertaining presenter and disseminator of research results to the professionals.

Therefore, it is with great expectations one eagerly grabs and reads his newest book. After reading it, I was not disappointed. As a matter of fact, I was rather delighted.

As usual with books published by Facet publishing the binding, layout and paper quality are all fine and the book also contains an index and a list of abbreviations. It is an attractive publication.

The intended audiences for the book are practitioners, researchers and students. The objective of the book is to summarise the broad subject area, highlight current issues and point to areas that need to be further investigated.

The book contains 14 chapters and three appendices. The appendices are about data collection, data analysis and presentation of results. The 14 chapters cover all the fundamentals of performance measurement including newer areas like benchmarking, standards, balanced scorecard, impact on users and social and economic impact. All the chapters include useful references to important resources, mostly in form of annotated references to websites and of course traditional references.

The first chapter sets the scene with definitions of key concepts and it also places performance measurement in a greater societal and organisation context emphasising performance measurement as part of a planning process. The next chapter is called Theoretical Considerations and gives an overview of the theoretical underpinning performance measurement studies and practices. The outline of the different theoretical positions is short but precise. The chapter also contains a short overview of research methods and Brophy also includes evidence-based practice and narrative-based practice among these methods. The evidence-based practice has during the last couple of years won a rather influential position in library and information science. Brophy questions some of the underlying assumptions and their relevance for the library profession – especially because the research base is weaker than in medicine and because procedures are less controlled and transferable. It is clear that the author has a liking for narrative-based practice. It is primarily about storytelling but it can be used to reconcile different theoretical and methodological viewpoints. We have seen the strength in story telling in relation to intellectual capital accountancy where we often see a story or a narrative based on visions and achievements and grounded in the numerical account of indicators related to different forms of success factors.

The next two chapters, amounting to over 40 pages, are on user satisfaction and impact on users. The chapter on user satisfaction focuses on concepts and on measurement instruments like LibQUAL+ and PLUS. The elusive concept of satisfaction is wisely introduced by means of the KANO model and the relationship between expectations and satisfaction are explained. The discussion of the measurement instruments are clear and give a good insight into the basis of the instruments. The one thing the reviewer missed in this chapter is a more critical discussion about the relationship between behaviour and satisfaction. Satisfaction is not only influenced by expectations and actual experiences. It is probably also connected to behaviour, personality traits and other psycho-social phenomena. The discussion on impact is good because it defines the concept. The chapter discusses the concept and it also demonstrates some surrogate measures for impact. Much of the discussion is centred on impact on learning and Brophy states that this important area is one of the most difficult to grasp both on a theoretical level but also by measurement techniques.

Social and economic impact is another hot topic covered in the book. The social impact centres on social inclusion. The main part of the chapter is concerned with the economic impact and gives an overview of approaches and some studies done. The studies are from the UK and the USA. It is a good overview outlining the complexities but a pertinent question is not asked. It is not surprising that investment in libraries generates positive economic effects, but the question ought to be asked if a similar investment in another area would generate a greater economic benefit.

The next three chapters are on inputs, processes and outputs, which together constitute the core of library statistics and it also constitutes the way we used to evaluate services. The concept of effectiveness becomes central for the argumentation and Brophy succeeds to integrate electronic resources, including usability into the traditional framework.

There is also a chapter on the infrastructure both in terms of building and technology. There is a chapter on staff but surprisingly not on the relationship between management qualities and performance. There is also a chapter on personalisation of services including a discussion of services to segments of the population for example people with different kinds of disabilities. Together, these chapters warn against the “one size fits all” approach.

The three last chapters are on benchmarking, balanced scorecard and standards and they give good definitions and examples demonstrating the possible benefits of adopting approaches like these. He points to many of the benefits of the balanced scorecard in a library setting but also emphasises the need for a better incorporation of measures of digital services. The chapter on standards covers both international standards like the ISO – generated ones and national ones such as those available in Britain.

There is no doubt that Peter Brophy has accomplished what he set out to do. He has skilfully summarised a complex and growing field of both research and practice and he has also pointed to areas where more work needs to be done and he points to other future developments like introducing the narrative-based evidence or story telling as an integral part of performance measurement. As you will have guessed the book is highly recommended.

Niels Ole Pors Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark