Statistics Section

Annual Report
September 2002 - August 2003

Scope Statement

The Section aims to promote the use of measurement and evaluation in the management, operation and promotion of libraries and library services. It advocates the use of both quantitative and qualitative statistical and other methods and tools to achieve this.

It promotes the development and use of standardized measures and good practice. It aims to co-operate with, to assist and to advise other IFLA sections in the use of measurement and evaluation in their fields.

It takes an interest in international benchmark comparisons and supports collaboration with international agencies such as UNESCO and ISO.

Membership

The Section now has a membership of 75. In 2002-03, the Standing Committee had 19 members (one corresponding).

They were:

Members leaving the Committee in 2002-03

New members joining the Committee in 2003

Officers

2002-2003

Chair: Wanda V. Dole
Secretary/Treasurer: Cecile Arnaud
Information Coordinator: Yakov Schraiberg

2003-2005

Meetings

The Standing Committee of the Statistics Section met on August 2nd and 8th during the Berlin conference. Standing Committee members and guests reported on their activities and discussed plans for future conferences.

Pierre Meunier reported on meetings with members of the Public Libraries Section about a joint program on using statistics for advocacy for public libraries. The Statistics Section's Open Session will have the topic "Cost Analysis Data"; Roswitha Poll will take responsibility for this.

Section members and guests discussed structure and content of the Plan for 2003-05. Mike Heaney will prepare a draft and circulate it to members.

The 2001-2003 Strategic Plan was reviewed. The following Actions were updated. Action 1.2, Collaborated with the Northumbria Performance Measures Conference to sponsor Northumbria Lite Workshop at Glasgow IFLA (August 2002) and 5th Northumbria Conference on Performance Measures (July 2003). Action 1.3, Mike Heaney will compile a bibliography. Action 1.4, Henrik Aslund will look into maintenance of the Webography of sites for national library statistics compiled by Melita Ambrozic. Action 1.5.1, The Section will continue to work the National Libraries Section as a follow-up to the joint program at the Berlin IFLA (August 2003). Action 2.1, The Section co-sponsored the 5th Northumbria conference devoted to Outcome Measures, July 2003. Roswitha Poll reported that only she and Ellen Hoffman remain of the group working created in August 2002 to identify qualititative measures). She will chair a new working group composed of Ellen Hoffman, Colleen Cook and Eric Davies. Developments will be posted on the Web page of her library (http://www.uni-muenster.de/ULB/outcome/index.html) with a link from Section's Web page on IFLANET. Action 3.1, the Section co-sponsored a preconference on training for statistics at Loughborough University, August 2002. Action 3.2, Melita Ambrozic's Webography of statistics sites. Action 4.2, the Section worked with LISU to sponsor a preconference in August 2002 and with the Management and Marketing Section to sponsor a post-conference in August 2003. Several members of the Section have worked with various countries to develop workshops and training sessions.

Projects

1. Identification of qualititative measures. In 2002 a working group was created to implement Strategic Plan Action Item 2.1. (identify qualititative measures). Roswitha Poll (University of Muenster), the convener of the group, reported that the group has been reconstituted. It will work by e-mail and post developments on the Web page of her library with a link from Section's Web page on IFLANET.
2. Melita Ambrozic (National Library of Slovenia) prepared a Webography of statistics Web sites that is posted on the Statistics page at IFLANET (http://www.ifla.org/VII/s22/ss.htm#10). Henrik Aslund will maintain this work.

Publications

Newsletter. Two issues of the Section Newsletter were published in paper and electronic form last year. The electronic version is posted on the Statistics and Evaluation page at the IFLA Web site, IFLANET http://www.ifla.org/VII/s22/ss.htm#5

Brochure. The brochure has been revised and translated into four of the official languages this year. A Russian translation is in progress. Section member Ellen Hoffman revised the English version to reflect changes in the Scope and name of the Section. The brochure has been published in hardcopy and posted at the Statistics and Evaluation page at IFLANET at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s22/ss.htm

Conference programs:

Quality Issues in Libraries Discussion Group, 3 August
Over 120 people attended the start-up meeting of the. Two topics were discussed: Indicators for Staff Performance (Roswitha Poll) and Continuous Quality Improvement (Sue McKnight).

Benchmarking and Performance Measurement: Developing Quality Services at National Libraries, 5 August
141 delegates attended the Open Program in Benchmarking jointly sponsored by Statistics & Evaluation and National Libraries. The program included the following:

Setting Benchmarks with BIX - The German Library Index (Petra Klug, Bertlesmann Foundation, Germany)

Benchmarking: an Overview and a Context (Rowena Cullen, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)

Performance Indicators for National Libraries in Asia: Preliminary Proposals Based on a Study of Asian Libraries (Zawiyah Baba and Rosham Abdul Shukor, National Library of Malaysia)

Performance Evaluation in European National Libraries (Vilenka Jakac-Bizjak, Melita Ambrozic, And H. Pecko-Mlekus, National and University Library of Slovenia)

Relationships with other Bodies

Other Events

5th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measuresment, Durham, UK, 28-31 July
The Statistics and Evaluation Section and the Library Theory and Research Section were the IFLA sponsors for this preconference satellite meeting. More than 100 delegates from over 25 countries attended. Emerald Press will publish the proceedings.

Leadership and Risk Taking in Library Management: Performance Measurement and Statistics in Library Management, Vienna, 10-12 August
A post-IFLA satellite meeting sponsored by Management and Marketing and Statistics and Evaluation.

Wanda V. Dole
September 2003