Collaborative Electronic Journal
on Evaluation and Research in Information Science
Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology
Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven CT

LSI 580-70
Fall 1999

CONTENTS:
Week 1 Reviews
Week 2 Reviews
Week 3 Reviews
Week 4 Reviews

Week 2 Reviews of Research Articles

• Fiore: The numbers game. [by Christine Bird ]

Fiore, Carole D. (1998). The numbers game. School Library Journal, 44, 104-107.

Reviewed by Christine Bird

The use of statistics has become a very valuable tool in libraries. In an article in School Library Journal, Carole Fiore explains how children's librarians can utilize program attendance and circulation statistics to illustrate the need for increased funding for the department for the purpose of adding new staff members. By comparing use statistics with budget numbers, children's librarians can determine if there may be monetary inequities present between their department and others. Computer generated statistics can be examined to see what age groups utilize the library most or least often and what items in the children's collection are most or least used. Fiore states that the use of numbers can be powerful when proving a case to administrators because they are given what they want: hard evidence of what is or isn't happening at the library.