CES 2013 Conference: June 11, 2013Presenters: Moujib Bahri, DBA & Micheline Turnau, M.Sc

Evaluating libraries business services

Agenda

Evaluation questions

Evaluation methods

Results

Conclusions/recommendations

Questions

Evaluation questions

RQ1. What are the key variables impacting awareness, use and informed decision?

RQ2. How do clients make an informed decision?

RQ3. Relevance - to what extent is OPL’s Business Services meeting and unmet need?

Resources

* Core budget & dedicated funds

* Specialized librarian

* Network of partner

organizations

* Resource collections

* Computer & business database* Meeting

rooms * Branches

Activities

Networking/ OutreachCreating/

nourishing part,Involvement with

the local bus. community

Specialized activities

Organizing and conducting

workshops on various business

topics

Information provision

offering market research and one-

on-one consultations

Free information

Outputs

Meetings with current/potenti

al partners Membership in business org.

Workshops Invitations to

subject expertsPromotional

itemsNewsletters

Market research studies

Consultations

Reach

New and potential entre-

preneurs

Small business owners

Immigrants and new-comers

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

Awareness of OPL’s business

services increase

Entrepreneurs and business

owners use/re-use OPL’s business services

Business services clients make informed

decisions : start / grow

their business or change their

mind

Long term outcomes

Improving the competitive-ness of SMEs

Building a strong Ottawa

community

Situation Statement: OPL is offering BS to support Ottawa’s economic development. The literature showed that people rarely think of going to the library for BI.

Effective partnerships

Greater community awareness

Greater community

participation

Evaluation Methods

Data collection

Survey600 client interactions

(emails/flyers)

Clients(online)

125 respondents(79 completed)

Interviews

Staff(face-to-face,

phone)

5 staff members

Partners(face-to-face,

phone)

7 partners

Clients(phone)

7 clients

Libraries(phone)

2 libraries

Analysis methods

Mixed methodologies

Quantitative analysis (RQ1. What?)- Descriptive statistics- Partial least square (PLS) method- Means comparison tests

Qualitative analysis (RQ2-Q3. How/Relevance?)- Content analysis & synthesis- Nvivo software

Descriptive statistics

Variable Demographics

Sex Male Female

60.7% 32.9%

Age 18-34 35-44 45-54 55 +

10.1% 21.5% 31.6% 36.7%

Education High school or less

Post secondary - college

University

6.3% 43.0% 50.6%

Immigrant to Canada

Yes No

45.6% 54.4%

Immediate and intermediate outcomesT

heory of ch

ange

Path

An

alysis

+ : Positive and significant relationship-: Negative and significant relationship

1

2

4

7

Awareness of OPL’s business services Business

services clients make

informed decisions :

start / grow their business or

change their mind

Clients’ satisfaction

Entrepreneurs and

business owners

use/re-use OPL’s

business services

+ +

+

+

Focus on

A

waren

essAwareness

OPL card

Promotion tools

Barriers

+ -

+

+ : Positive and significant relationship- : Negative and significant relationship

Website Flyer

Business pages on OPL website Workshops

Online databasesBusiness

assistance by staff

Awareness - Summary

Awareness was significantly influenced by:• OPL cards• OPL website & promotional flyers• Number of barriers

Key Factors for Awareness:• Networking is key for awareness (referrals)• Identify & engage key target markets • Work with loyal OPL customers to find out what they want• Use innovative approaches to reduce barriers• Develop partnership with Colleges and Universities

“They must let people know what services are available” (OPL BS client)

Focus on

Use/

Re-U

se

+ : Positive and significant relationship

BS use

Accessibility

+

Workshops

Business webpages Online

resources

Use/Re-Use was significantly influenced by: • Accessibility (space, consultations, business collections,

workshops)• Degree of clients awareness

“We have good collaboration with the Ottawa Public Library. This helps us to offer more” (OPL partner)

Key Factors for Use/Re-Use:• Providing space for networking and business support groups• Tailoring services to specific groups - separate business

training for new and old business owners• Embrace diversity of clients

Use/Re-use Summary

Focus on

Inform

ed d

ecison

Informed decision

Staff attitude

Satisfaction

+

+ : Positive and significant relationship

appropriate

helpfulprompt

Enough time

+

Informed Decisions influenced by: • Number of BS used• Staff attitude (appropriate, helpful, prompt, timeliness)

Key Factors for Informed Decisions:• Combined support from OPL & partner organizations• Satisfaction is directly related to the decision quality • Stages of starting a business:o Clients with existing business were significantly more aware of

the business pages and used more services “The resources I received were immensely helpful in taking me

from the idea stage to the planning stage” (OPL client)

Informed Decisions - Summary

Final Recommendations

Promoting to OPL card holdersIncreasing accessibility (broaden services,

networking, workshops, tailor services) Reducing barriers (location of workshops &

business librarians, online registration, timeliness)

Innovative web based solutions (webcasts, online video, web materials)

Knowledge Exchange – share with other business librarians across Ontario and Canada

Questions?roject.