Showing the value of your service to the people who count

Karen Vitullo, director, library and extension services
Kim Farley-Larmour, national manager, library extension program

Who are we and what do we do?

• ABS Library provides:
  
  • services to external clients - through the library extension program
  • services to internal clients - ABS staff

The library extension program...

• a partnership between the ABS and Australian libraries
• over 500 member libraries
• National Library, all state and parliamentary libraries, university, TAFE and public libraries
• Provides free products and services

The library extension program provides...

• ABS publications
• Census data - CLIB - just for libraries
• Training programs
• Promotional materials and web pages
• Advice and suport of an LEP co-ordinator based in each state and territory

ABS library service...

• Main library in ABS central office
• Smaller libraries in ABS regional offices
• A traditional collection and traditional services along with...
• sophisticated desktop services delivered across all ABS offices...
• as well as liaison and training programs for ABS staff

ABS library service provides...

• ABS library desktop services
• In-house databases
• Web services
• Internet assistant
• Research assistant
• Liaison program
• Training programs

We need to ask ourselves four questions...

• Whom do we serve and why?
• At what must we excel?
• Can we continue to improve and create value?
• How do our stakeholders see us? Or more fundamentally, is the service worth paying for?

Showing our value...what should we measure?

• Measure the 'most crucial' aspects of the library to ensure the library is responsive, efficient and effective.
• What are these?
• How can we measure the quality of the three levels of performance - service level, team level and personal level?

Crucial to measure...

• Outcomes vs outputs
• Client satisfaction
• Access to content
• infrastructure
• training and support
• cost-effectiveness

How does ABS library and extension services do it?

• Performance indicators tied to funding
• Ongoing formal and informal evaluation of services
• Environment scans
• Commitment to staff development
• Blowing our own trumpet

Biography

Karen Vitullo is the director of library and extension services at the Australian Bureau of Statistics central office in Canberra. Prior to her move to Canberra in 1998 Karen worked in NSW public libraries. Most of this period was spent heading up the reference and information services sections of these libraries. She has also worked as a contract consultant in the public libraries branch at the State Library of NSW working with public libraries in the central west.

Karen has been active in the library and information sector particularly in ALIA public libraries section, NSW and Australian Government Libraries Information Network (AGLIN). Karen has been a committee member of the AGLIN executive since 2001 and in 2003 established the AGLIN consortium taskforce.

Kim Farley-Larmour has been with the ABS for five years and is the national manager of the ABS library extension program. She has worked in government special libraries, university and public libraries and as a TAFE teacher and as an editor during a 20 year career. Kim completed her MA from the University of Canberra in 2000 with a thesis on 'Factors influencing students' choice of library and information studies'' and has been with the ABS library extension program since 1999. She is a committee member of the AGLIN training and development taskforce.