Competency N

Evaluate programs and services on specified criteria.

A DOG, used to eating eggs, saw an Oyster and, opening his mouth to its widest extent, swallowed it down with the utmost relish, supposing it to be an egg. Soon afterwards suffering great pain in his stomach, he said, "I deserve all this torment, for my folly in thinking that everything round must be an egg."
Aesop

The moral of the fable is, they who act without sufficient thought, will often fall into unsuspected danger. If the dog would periodically watch what he eats, he would not swallow an oyster which causes him great pain. It is truly his folly to assume that everything round must be an egg. This fable can serve as a very fitting analogy for many areas in life like business, politics, health, education, sport and especially in library service. Like anything in our time, library service has to thrive in order to respond adequately to the patrons' many needs. The secret for thriving not only does it consist in creating more programs and services, but it also consists in evaluating them on a regular basis to see how helpful they are to the community. For any evaluation process, its purpose is two folds. On the one hand, it identifies what the strengths of the programs and services are, and, on the other hand, it reveals what the weaknesses are. With a clear evaluation, library manager would be able to build on whatever the strengths are and find solutions to remedy the weaknesses. All programs and services in library should be periodically evaluated to ensure excellent quality.

During my course of study, I was fortunate enough to do several assignments related to evaluation. One of them is my research paper, Evaluation of Library Collections, for LIBR 266 (Library Management). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a collection on Obesity in Children in San Jose Public Libraries which is available online at sjlibrary.org. In my introduction to the paper, I state: "Collection evaluation is one of the major tasks of library management because it will help to learn about the strength or weakness of a collection, to know how effectively the budget is spent, and how it serves the community. Without this process, a librarian is unclear about where he/she is and where he/she is going to in his/her service to the community." This is true because we just cannot continue to add to the collection without knowing what we have of have not. To proceed with this paper, I first identify that there are two methods to evaluate a certain collection: collection-centered method and use-centered method. The use-centered method is based on the analysis of circulation data. Because this method requires the information on the circulation data which is only known to the library staff, I rule it out. I chose the collection-centered method because the data of the collection is available online. According to my research, I found 84 printed materials, 13 E-books, 12 microfilm, 8 DVD/CD, 6 computer files, and 1 video. In additions, I was also able to find out how old each material is. Though this is only a practice, the collected data is certainly helpful for librarians to make good judgment on how to expand this collection.

In another assignment paper, "Comparative Analysis of Collection Development Policies," for LIBR 266, I had a chance to learn how to evaluate the collection development policies by way of comparative analysis. The two libraries that I chose for this paper are the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, Massachusetts and Campbell County Public Library in Wyoming. To proceed with this paper, I first show that it is necessary to have a collection development policy. To support my point, I quote Evans & Saponaro from their book, "Developing Library and Information Center Collections," as follows: "A collection development policy, when properly prepared, is, in fact, the library's master plan for building and maintaining its collections...It also must be up-to-date in terms of the library's overall mission and goals." They further emphasize three crucial elements in a policy: (1) Overview; (2) Details of Subject Areas and Formats Collected; and (3) Miscellaneous Issues. Based on the authors' opinions, I carefully studied the two policies from the two libraries and found that, though they are different in structure, they are similar to each other in essence. One is more elaborate and lengthier than the other, but they basically emphasize the same concepts. As I reflect upon this paper assignment, I have to admit that though it is not a professional comparative analysis, it is truly a great opportunity for future librarians and information professionals to learn how to evaluate programs, services, workshops, and particularly the collection development policy.

My final activity for this competency is my real life experience in taking care of my health. For me, it is extremely important to have regular physical examination because it is always safe and wise to know about our illness at its early stage. Every six months, I make an appointment with my primary physician to have my blood, cholesterol, diabetes, heart rate, and liver evaluated. A professional diagnose and evaluation would allow me to know how healthy or how sick I am. With enough information about my health, I will be able to begin any early prevention or to modify my lifestyle. Not only does this health conscious personality help me to stay fit, but it also gives me a peace of mind to care better for other things in life.

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