The Library Research Service is proud to announce the release of our most recent Closer Look Report, “U.S. Public Libraries and the Use of Web Technologies.” In the spring of 2008, we visited the websites of nearly 600 public libraries in the United States, including all Colorado public libraries, looking for the presence of web technologies, including those identified as “Web 2.0″. This report details our findings about what public libraries are doing on the web, and the characteristics that “early adopters” share.
Find the report, and a Colorado-specific Fast Facts report, on the report page: http://www.lrs.org/public/webtech
Published by
nicolle on
September 28, 2009 in
IT, Public Libraries, advocacy and funding.
Tags: Add new tag, Internet survey, library researc, library research, Library Research Service, Public Libraries, Public Library Computer and Internet Access, survey.
Fill-out the Annual “Internet Survey”
The 2009 National Survey of Public Library Computer and Internet Access is web-based and can be access at http://survey.pnmi.com/. The survey has two parts: 1) questions relevant to library branches, and 2) questions related to library jurisdictions.
Help Your Library
By providing data about advocacy, impacts, benefits, and challenges of public access Internet services in public libraries you will help inform and educate stakeholders at the local, state and national levels about the issues and needs your library faces in providing public computer and Internet access services and resources.
Continue reading ‘Help Your Public Library and Register to Win an Amazon Kindle’
Published by
nicolle on
April 24, 2009 in
Academic Libraries, General, Public Libraries, School Libraries and Special Libraries.
Tags: 60-s, 60-Second Survey, Colorado State Library, economic downturn, Library Research Service, LRS, MLIS, recession.
“Libraries & the Economic Recession” is the latest LRS 60-Second Survey. Take a minute—literally—to tell us how the recession has changed what’s happening at your library.
Survey: http://surveys.lrs.org/respond.php?sid=56
If you are so inclined, share this link with colleagues and library listservs. Please!
Read about the results of the first 60-Second Survey “The Value of an MLIS to You” on the LRS blog at: http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=281.
Thanks!
Published by
nicolle on
April 13, 2009 in
General and Public Libraries.
Tags: Colorado State Library, CSL, Library Research Service, LRS, LRS Blog, LRS.org, Public Libraries, return on investment, ROI, value of libraries.
Thanks to the newest LRS staff member, Lisa Boyd, the ROI Closer Look report is finally published. She was able to gather together all the individual pieces of the study and produce a document with all the ROI study findings in one place. Of course, the individual library reports, calculators, and other ROI information are still available on the ROI webpage. Read more and comment on the LRS blog.
For most of the libraries participating in the study, the return on investment (ROI) was approximately five to one—that is, for every $1.00 spent on public libraries, $5.00 of value was realized by taxpayers.
Thanks to the staff at the eight participating libraries who generously shared their time and expertise to make this study possible.
AASL has just launched the third annual longitudinal study “School Libraries Count!” All K-12 schools, public and private, are invited to participate on a voluntary basis. Past participant’s continued involvement is crucial when examining trends over time, as well as new participants so that an accurate reflection of the U.S. educational demographics are represented. The survey may be accessed at http://www.aaslsurvey.org. The survey deadline is March 12.
Out of 73 institutions, Colorado has only 11 libraries that have completed the 2008 Academic Libraries Survey. This is far from the 85% required to close the survey.
How can we discuss the value of academic libraries if we don’t have basic data about outlets, staff, collections, services, and expenditures?
Data collection for the 2008 Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) began on November 5, 2008 and ends on February 25, 2009.
Please register, then enter and lock your data as soon as possible on the ALS Web site at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/libraries/als
Published by
nicolle on
December 18, 2008 in
Reference Services.
Tags: 60-Second Survey, Academic Libraries, institutional libraries, library research, Library Research Service, Public Libraries, reference, school libraries, Special Libraries, survey, virtual reference.
How critical is reference to the survival of libraries? Should the library profession do more to promote reference services? In less than a minute you can tell us what you think about reference services.
Let us know what you think at: http://surveys.lrs.org/respond.php?sid=50
Why This Topic
The questions on this survey were inspired by a discussion on a national listerv for virtual reference librarians. It was a fascinating discussion with varied opinions being expressed on everything from usage to promotion. Of course, LRS staff were curious about what the folks in library land thought about these issues. So, here is the second LRS 60-Second Survey: Reference Service – Where is it Going?
About 60-Second Surveys
The 60-second surveys are intended to capture respondents’ gut-reactions to questions about narrowly defined, high-interest topics. Taking less than a minute of the respondent’s time, these are truly quickie surveys. This is not a scientific study, but rather a reader poll-style survey (think online magazine survey) that “takes the temperature” of a very specific topic.
Published by
nicolle on
October 20, 2008 in
IT and Public Libraries.
Tags: ALA survey, FSU, funding, Internet, Internet survey, library funding, Library Research Service, library technology, Public Libraries, technology.
The 2008-2009 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Survey is underway. I encourage Colorado public libraries to participate in this important national survey. The findings from this study will give public library administrators, librarians, boards, and advocates powerful data to use when talking about Colorado libraries. This is the kind of data that speaks volumes to legislators, the media, and the general public.
For more information see the ALA Press release and last year’s survey results.
Thanks.
Nicolle
One of a libraries biggest challenges can be–if you’ll pardon the pun–challenged materials. Recently, Douglas County Libraries received a reconsideration request from a patron for the book “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.” Jamie LaRue, DCL’s Director, shared his response to the concerned patron on his blog. Like Jamie, I think this book is likely to be widely challenged and encourage everyone to read this thoughtful, well-reasoned letter.
In accordance with Colorado library law, the Library Research Service published the 2007 Colorado Public Library Annual Report. The data is available at LRS.org as statistical reports in various formats, as well as by using LRS-i, an online interactive data tool that produces customizable tables and charts.
In 2007 Colorado public libraries had…
* 11.7 million print books
* 28 million visits
* 5.3 million reference questions
* 53.7 million circulation transactions
* 1.6 million attendees at 70,500 library programs
Following completion of the federal edit checks, the data was sent to the U.S. Census for inclusion in the national library statistics reports published by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us
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