Five steps of outcome-based planning & evaluation for public libraries

Abstract

mean, variability and deviation), whilst the third part deals with the less familiar skills of visual presentation of statistical data for which R is particularly valuable. it is this section which makes the book one for the experienced statistician as well as for students. Although designed as a textbook for students and practitioners and employing natural language, much hands-on practice would seem to be essential in order to become familiarised with theory and application. An attempt has been made to include library-based examples of the uses of statistics which are not U.S.-centric (which the ‘References’ are). one illustration (p. 6) is of an english Post office Savings Bank deposit book from 1939 (incorrectly captioned 1869), and a University of Adelaide survey which included students’ smoking habits is used to illustrate the use of the MASS package to create a ‘data.frame’ (pp. 230, 231). on the other hand one wonders at the identity of the U.S. ‘Librarian [sic] Association’ whose survey is mentioned (p. 143). Three appendices have been provided: ‘A’ consists of a very useful collection of statistical formulae; ‘B’ presents a Z score table; and ‘C’ gives a handy set of R commands. This book is not as daunting as it first appears, especially if used as a practical guide to contemporaneous use of the software. its chief value for students and practitioners lay in the detailed coverage of the topic, the visual examples of formulae, and especially the final section illustrating in colour (a bewildering 655 are available) the graphical presentation of data.