Measuring the Quality of Public Library Services; A Report to Participants

The purposes of the Workshop on Measuring the Quality of Public Library Services were to explore attitudes toward service, discuss the many facets of measuring library services and get a close-up view of one particular method of evaluating services: "hidden testing." Informal proceedings of the workshop include: (1) a talk of Ernie DeProspo entitled "The Measurement Art," giving the general state of public library measurement and some new techniques that are currently being explored, (2) two talks by Tom Childers, one entitled "Measuring Quality of Information Services," discussing recent studies that have involved the hidden testing of library services, and the other entitled "Measuring Impact and 'Quality' in Maryland," summing up the workshop and offering recommendations for future activity, and (3) "A Very Short Bibliography on Library Measurement with an Emphasis on Hidden Measurement." (Author/KE)