Singing in harmony: statistical benchmarking for academic libraries

Abstract

This paper describes a pilot project for the benchmarking of library statistics for Asian Academic libraries. Methodology: The project was facilitated through the development, setup and management of an online statistics service for a group of 22 academic libraries in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. CAVAL, an Australian library consortium, managed the project with sponsorship provided by the iGroup, Asia. The objectives were to develop and provide an online statistics website, to improve the collection processes for the individual libraries and to develop a sustainable service for statistical benchmarking. The paper describes the design and implementation of the pilot project, outlines some of the challenges and concludes with an evaluation. Findings: The pilot project was an opportunity for libraries in the region to participate in the creation and usage of a shared statistical database. At this point in time the utility and value of cumulative statistical collections is not standard practice in Asian libraries. As a consequence participation in the project was an opportunity for library staff to gain some experience with the practicalities, and to raise their awareness of the need for a critical mass of centralized data in order to benchmark. Practical implications: CAVAL will maintain the Asian Online Statistics website into the future. Some of the participating libraries are keen to continue to contribute data and to grow the database, however for this to happen further funding will be required. Discussions are ongoing as to how this can be achieved.

The uptake and usage of a national higher education libraries statistics database in South Africa

“…This site is modelled on the ARL online statistics site (Jilovsky 2009) and to date remains the main source of statistics for academic libraries in the region. Jilovsky (2011) reports on a pilot project (The Asian Online Statistics Pilot Project) for the benchmarking of library statistics for twenty-two Asian academic libraries (in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand). The project, which was managed by CAVAL, an Australian library consortium, had several positive outcomes.…”

“…The project, which was managed by CAVAL, an Australian library consortium, had several positive outcomes. Most importantly, "it provided library staff from participating institutions with practical experiences and awareness of the need for a critical mass of centralised data in order to begin benchmarking" in their region and countries (Jilovsky 2011). In Latin America, efforts in countries like Argentina, at the National University of La Plata, to create a cooperative national library statistics database have met with some measure of success (Fushimi et al 2009).…”

“…In Latin America, efforts in countries like Argentina, at the National University of La Plata, to create a cooperative national library statistics database have met with some measure of success (Fushimi et al 2009). In Africa, like in Asia, the use of cumulative statistical collections is not standard practice (Jilovsky 2011;Chiware and Mbambo-Thata 2009). As the Asian Online Statistics Pilot project has demonstrated, awareness must be raised of the need for centralised statistics databases for benchmarking in African academic libraries.…”

“…One library indicated that a new staff member has been appointed to the task and needs training on the database, while another indicated that it was awaiting the appointment of an institutional coordinator whose responsibility would be to collect and submit data. Such planning indicates the level of importance given to the national statistics project by South African university library directors and a change in attitude within South African university libraries since Jilovsky (2011) and Chiware and Mbambo-Thata (2009) observed that the value of cumulative statistical collections is not appreciated in Africa and Asia. Of the fourteen, seven were of the opinion that the required CHELSA statistics were accurately reflected in the database.…”

Efficiency analysis of GCC academic libraries: an application of data envelopment analysis

“…Nicholas, 2010;Jilovsky, 2011;Tenopir, 2012). In this context, a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used in evaluating library performance (e.g.…”