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Analyzing IMLS Data to Find Your Peer Libraries

Submitted by Jim Craner on Mon, 04/01/2019 - 8:16pm

"Peer analysis" is a tool used in finance, management, and even sports -- and you do it unconsciously all the time.  We're simply finding the similar items in a large dataset by one or more dimensions, and then seeing how they compare in other dimensions.  In other words, if you're the director of a small library in Ruraltown, Nebraska, you don't want to compare your library's collection numbers to those larger library systems in Omaha and Nebraska.

Book Review - "Working as a Data Librarian: A Practical Guide" by Eric O. Johnson

Submitted by admin on Fri, 03/22/2019 - 1:13pm

A data librarian is a librarian who specializes in helping people find and use data.  While I'm not a librarian myself, I do help librarians find and use data, so when I saw this book mentioned on Twitter, I was quick to hop on our local library's OPAC and request a copy.  Quick summary: a fantastic introduction to the strategies and tools used by data librarians!

Using IMLS Data to Help Save IMLS

Submitted by Jim Craner on Fri, 03/15/2019 - 6:11am

With the news this week that the Trump Administration is trying to destroy the Institute for Museum and Library Services - for the third year in a row - library advocates across the United States snapped into action.  ALA fired up a "send an email to your representative" tool as well as an interactive table for looking up your representative's and senator's respective votes on past library funding bills.  As BookRiot says, not hyperbolically: "[d]efunding the IMLS would effectively end all federal funding of public libraries."