How Libraries Should Manage Data: Practical Guidance on How, With Minimum Resources, to Get the Best From Your Data

There is a tsunami of literature on the need to demonstrate the value of libraries, and what to measure to achieve that goal. The driving force behind the production and consumption of this literature is the growing consciousness of the impact of the digital age on the library business model. While this is not a book about the strategic directions libraries should take, the journalist's comments do raise two issues that are absolutely critical to turning the content of this book into something useful for your library or organization. The first is that even though the journalist's comments could be written off as glib and sar­ castic, and it is quite possible some librarians would find those comments offensive, they do carry a kernel of truth. There has been much angst, without much in the way of solutions. So, if your ultimate motivation in reading this book is to uncover the "truth," to find an alternative business model, then you are putting things in the wrong order, and setting yourself up to fail.