The Quality Infrastructure: Measuring, Analyzing, and Improving Library Services

by Sarah Anne Murphy (Editor)

A library’s infrastructure of programs and personnel is its most valuable asset, providing the foundation for everything it does and aspires to do, which is why assessment is so vitally important. In this collection of case studies, Murphy and her team of contributors describe how quality assessment programs have been implemented and how they are used to continuously improve service at a complete cross-section of institutions. This volume

Looks at how a program was established within a library organization, the individual roles for staff participating in the program, and singles out which activities and projects were most successful
Describes programs such as the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, Lean Six Sigma, and ISO 9001:2000
Examines contexts ranging from a liberal-arts college library to key federal government libraries, to libraries that serve major research universities in the United States and Canada

Summarizing specific tools for measuring service quality alongside tips for using these tools most effectively, this book helps libraries of all kinds take a programmatic approach to measuring, analyzing, and improving library services.

202 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012