Staff publications - Barrington Library

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Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Benchmarking and library quality maturity
    (Emerald Group Publishing, 2005-10-26T17:55:04Z) Wilson, Frankie; Town, J. Stephen
    It remains unresolved from the literature whether benchmarking is a useful and appropriate tool for the library and information services sector. The aim of this research was to gather evidence to establish whether benchmarking provides a real and lasting benefit to library and information services. The study investigated the long term effects of a benchmarking exercise on the quality level of three UK academic libraries. However, an appropriate framework for assessing the quality level of libraries is not present in the literature, and it was therefore necessary for such a framework to be developed. This article describes and provides initial characterisation of the framework developed - the Quality Maturity Model. The evidence from the investigation showed that the two libraries which were at stage one on the QMM before the benchmarking exercise remained there; and the library which scored at the penultimate level, level four, before benchmarking, was, four years afterwards, at level five. The tentative conclusion drawn were that benchmarking may only be appropriate for organisations with a existing high level of quality maturity. Much further work is proposed.
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    Benchmarking of Online Information Literacy Tutorials to Identify Lessons Learnt and Best Practice.
    (2005-10-26T17:59:52Z) Hunn, Ruth A.; Elliott, Amanda C.; Town, J. Stephen
    This paper reports the process and findings of a benchmarking exercise conducted on 10 online information literacy tutorials from around the English speaking World. The benchmarking exercise comprised site visits and the completion of an online survey. The aim of the exercise was to establish best practice and to gather any lessons that could be learnt, with the overall purpose of determining ways that our information literacy tutorial could provide the best quality and performance through the identification of user requirements. The method of selecting the tutorials to benchmark against and the areas to include in the review is described. A summary of results from each of the benchmarked areas is included for: pedagogical issues; design, development and user feedback; content; interactivity; and look and feel.
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    E-measures: a comprehensive waste of time?
    (Emerald, 2004) Town, J. Stephen
    Purpose: To provide a critique, some sources of data, and a broader conception for informing development of e-measures frameworks for use in academic library services. Approach: Suggests that the broader context for e-measurement is investigated and provides a critique of current thinking. Provides four additional sources or routes for improved measures, including scholarly communication methods, information literacy, developments in measuring library and e-service quality, and the critical success factors of serials staff. Develops a proposed framework for e-measures based on the balanced scorecard approach. Findings: Provides specific suggestions arising from the four sources for relevant e-measures, and provides a framework based on the balanced scorecard which incorporates these and other suggestions for data collection under the following perspectives: financial, customers, process and projects, staff development, and organisational learning and development. Value: The paper will be valuable to library directors and managers and library researchers interested in the field of performance measurement and evaluation of e-resources. It provides some original thinking about the problem and suggests some innovative techniques and approaches to addressing the need to develop effective and useful performance measurement frameworks.
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    LibQUAL+ in the local context: results, action and evaluation. Presented at the 6th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services, Durham, 22–25 August, 2005
    (2005-10-26T18:02:19Z) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. Stephen
    This paper discusses the use of the LibQUAL+ library survey instrument and its ability to define an agenda for further improvements in a setting where quality maturity is high and library performance tends to be generally acknowledged as good. The results from the survey run in 2003 and 2005 are presented, and how these results have been used to form a change agenda discussed. In particular the indications of the effect of improvement projects across the years are described. The revelation of differing perceptions of library staff and users to the service is described, and the approaches taken to close this gap through more effective internal marketing and communication are discussed. Comparisons of the LibQUAL+ results with an internal exit questionnaire are also presented. Conclusions about the benefit of the use of the LibQUAL+ survey instrument within a local context of quality are drawn.
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    LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years findings and experience.
    (SCONUL, 2005-09) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. Stephen
    This article gives an overview of the SCONUL LibQUAL + participation, presents some of the overall results of the 2003-5 SCONUL cohorts, and describes some feedback from participants and the lessons learnt from the process.
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    LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years findings and experience.
    (2005-10-26T18:06:01Z) Town, J. Stephen; Lock, Selena A.
    This paper reports on the SCONUL participation in the use of the LibQUAL+ survey methodology from 2003 to 2005. It discusses the history of performance measurement in the UK over the past decade and sets LibQUAL+ in the context of current practices. The overall results of the SCONUL consortiums from 2003, 2004 and 2005 are presented and discussed. Feedback from the participants over the three years is also presented proving incite into how the LibQUAL+ survey has been implemented in higher education institutions within UK and Ireland.
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    LibQUAL+ in the UK and Ireland: three years' findings and experience
    (2011-04-21) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. Stephen
    Presents an overview of the SCONUL LibQUAL+ participation, reports some of the overall results of the 2003-2005 SCONUL cohorts, and describes some feedback from participants and the lessons learnt from the process. The overall results for SCONUL in 2005 show that performance is a little above the minimum in Affect of Service and some problems of performance below the minimum in Information Control and Library as Place. There is a marked difference between the results for 2003 and the subsequent years, and one without obvious immediate explanation. Library as Place is the dimension which suggests more research is needed to understand the variation across the three years, and the particularly good results in the 2003 cohort. Consistently across all years the ability of libraries to deliver printed materials that staff and students require for their work, and the print or electronic periodical collection provision has scored below users' minimum expectations in the UK. For all major dimensions there was a decrease in perceptions in 2004. Library as Place is the only dimension to see a steady increase in users' expectations over the three years, Information Control expectations have remained fairly stable and Affect of Service has seen a decline in users' expectations. (Quotes from original text)
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    LibQUAL+ in the UK: a brief report on the SCONUL Pilot.
    (SCONUL, 2003-09) Lock, Selena A.; Town, J. Stephen
    Reports on the pilot year of LibQUAL+ in the UK adopted for trial by SCONUL Libraries. Discusses the implementation of LibQUAL+ and presents feedback from the UK participants. Concludes that the trial was a success and further iterations of the survey should be encouraged and supported.
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    New Research Facility: A Note on the Russian Military Studies Archive
    (Informa UK Limited, 2016-01-02) Daniels, RJ; Main, Steven J
    The Russian Military Studies Archive (RMSA) was formally launched in November 2015. Managed by Cranfield University’s Barrington Library on behalf of the Defence Academy, the RMSA is a new research facility based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Wiltshire.
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    Update on LibQUAL+ 2004: the international library satisfaction survey instrument
    (2011-04-21) Lock, Selena A.
    Following from the success of the 2003 LibQUAL+ UK Pilot, SCONUL's Advisory Committee on Performance Improvement (ACPI) are coordinating a consortium of SCONUL libraries in LibQUAL+ 2004. LibQUAL+ is a World Wide Web based library users survey, measuring their minimum, perceived, and desired levels of service quality. It assesses three core dimensions of library service: information control (questions on, for example, availability of resources and the ability to access them); affect of service (questions concerning the effectiveness of library staff); and library as place (questions on the physical environment). Following calls for participation circulated by email in September 2003, a total of 17 institutions (university libraries) registered to run the LibQUAL+ survey in 2004 and they are listed. (Quotes from original text)
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    What do library users really want? The application of a market research tool.
    (2006-01-09T20:32:48Z) Lock, Selena A.
    In order to provide services that the users desire you must first evaluate exactly what users (and potential users) want from the library. This paper discusses how Cranfield University set out to do this in order to shape the future strategy of the library in line with both user needs and internal goals. The LibQUAL+ library survey tool was used to assess what the users want from the library service. The findings from Cranfield and SCONUL are presented with a view to informing library managers of the potential needs of their users.