an article by Ralph Catts (Researcher, Allimar Ltd) published in Journal of Information Literacy
Volume 6 Number 2 (2012)
Abstract
Information literacy, defined as the capacity to locate, evaluate and use information to create new knowledge, is a core adult life skill and an extension of the notion of functional literacy.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has identified information literacy as an essential capacity for participation in the knowledge economy and has included this construct as a strategic priority in the Information for All Programme (IFAP).
To support this initiative UNESCO has commissioned research to consider whether a household survey could be used to identify the extent to which people in member states are information literate in all aspects of their life, including work and lifelong learning, and in relation to their personal well-being, and in their participation in civil society.
United Nations agencies use surveys to provide indications of the extent to which various agreed objectives are being achieved. These include international surveys of education and of health and well-being.
This paper reports on an investigation aimed at determining whether indicators of information literacy could be identified by secondary analysis of existing data collected in other household surveys. It was concluded that information literacy has unique elements that are not encompassed in the surveys that were examined.
Full text (PDF 16pp)
Showing posts with label performance_indicators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance_indicators. Show all posts
Friday, 28 December 2012
Friday, 4 May 2012
Evaluating the strategic plans of public libraries: An inspection-based approach
an article by Steven Buchanan and Fionnuala Cousins (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) published in Library & Information Science Research Volume 34 Issue 2 (April 2012)
Abstract
For public libraries, as with most organizations, effective strategic planning is critical to longevity, facilitating cohesive and coordinated responses to ever present and ever changing political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) forces which shape and influence direction.
Strategic planning is widely recognized as a challenging activity, however, which can be both time consuming and unproductive, and there exists limited guidance regarding how to evaluate documented and disseminated strategic plans, particularly within the not-for-profit sector.
In response, this research proposes and tests an inspection-based approach to the evaluation of strategic plans, based upon a rubric specifying the key attributes of each of the core components of a plan, combined with an appropriate assessment scale. The rubric provides a method to identify and assess completeness of strategic plan, extending to qualitative assessment of communication aspects such as specification and terminology, and synergistic aspects such as cohesion and integration.
In the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, the method is successfully trialled across the devolved Scottish public library sector, with the strategic plans of 28 of the 32 regional networks evaluated. Of the 28 plans, 17, or 61%, were found to be incomplete and/or to contain contradictory or uncoordinated components.
It is recommended that Scottish public libraries improve not only completeness of plans, but also their precision, specificity, explicitness, coordination, and consistency, and overall mapping to library services. Recommendations are made for further widespread application of the rubric.
Abstract
For public libraries, as with most organizations, effective strategic planning is critical to longevity, facilitating cohesive and coordinated responses to ever present and ever changing political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) forces which shape and influence direction.
Strategic planning is widely recognized as a challenging activity, however, which can be both time consuming and unproductive, and there exists limited guidance regarding how to evaluate documented and disseminated strategic plans, particularly within the not-for-profit sector.
In response, this research proposes and tests an inspection-based approach to the evaluation of strategic plans, based upon a rubric specifying the key attributes of each of the core components of a plan, combined with an appropriate assessment scale. The rubric provides a method to identify and assess completeness of strategic plan, extending to qualitative assessment of communication aspects such as specification and terminology, and synergistic aspects such as cohesion and integration.
In the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, the method is successfully trialled across the devolved Scottish public library sector, with the strategic plans of 28 of the 32 regional networks evaluated. Of the 28 plans, 17, or 61%, were found to be incomplete and/or to contain contradictory or uncoordinated components.
It is recommended that Scottish public libraries improve not only completeness of plans, but also their precision, specificity, explicitness, coordination, and consistency, and overall mapping to library services. Recommendations are made for further widespread application of the rubric.
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Understanding Uncertainty in School League Tables
an article by George Leckie and Harvey Goldstein (University of Bristol) published in Fiscal Studies: the journal of applied public economics Volume 32 Issue 2 (June 2011)
Abstract
In England, contextual value added (CVA) school performance tables are published annually by the government. These tables present statistical-model-based estimates of the educational effectiveness of schools, together with 95 per cent confidence intervals to communicate their statistical uncertainty. However, this information, particularly the notion of statistical uncertainty, is hard for users to understand. There is a real need to make school performance tables clearer. The media attempt to do this for the public by ranking schools in so-called ‘school league tables’; however, they invariably discard the 95 per cent confidence intervals and, in doing so, encourage the public to over-interpret differences in schools’ ranks. In this paper, we explore a simulation method to produce simple graphical summaries of schools’ ranks that clearly communicate their associated uncertainty.
Abstract
In England, contextual value added (CVA) school performance tables are published annually by the government. These tables present statistical-model-based estimates of the educational effectiveness of schools, together with 95 per cent confidence intervals to communicate their statistical uncertainty. However, this information, particularly the notion of statistical uncertainty, is hard for users to understand. There is a real need to make school performance tables clearer. The media attempt to do this for the public by ranking schools in so-called ‘school league tables’; however, they invariably discard the 95 per cent confidence intervals and, in doing so, encourage the public to over-interpret differences in schools’ ranks. In this paper, we explore a simulation method to produce simple graphical summaries of schools’ ranks that clearly communicate their associated uncertainty.
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