by Lesley S. J. Farmer (Author), Alan M. Safer (Author)

"Show me your data " More than ever, funding agencies are looking for cost effectiveness. Sound data analytics is the foundation for making an evidence-based case for library programs, in addition to guiding myriad organizational decisions, from optimizing operations for efficiency to responding to community needs for customer satisfaction. Designed to be useful for novices as well as those with a background in data, this book introduces the basics of the Six Sigma framework as a model that can be applied to a variety of library settings. Helping readers make sense of data, this guide for system based, data-driven management covers such key topics as the basics of statistical concepts; recommended data sources for various library functions and processes, and guidance for using census, university, or chamber of commerce data in analysis; techniques for cleaning data; matching data to appropriate data analysis methods; how to make descriptive statistics more powerful by spotlighting relationships; 14 case studies which address such areas as digitization, e-book collection development, and reference; and staffing, facilities, and instruction. This book's clear, concise coverage will enable readers of every experience level to gain a better understanding of statistics in order to facilitate library improvement.