Isnt it really quality of service that counts; why rate quantity only?
Of course quality counts. As I said in the January 1999 issue of American Libraries, data measurement cannot capture a friendly smile and a warm greeting at the circulation desk. Nor can data measurement alone measure the excitement of a child at story time or a senior surfing the Internet for the first time. But we have no accepted and nationally consistent measures of quality in library services that would allow for comparisons like the HAPLR Index. I agree that numbers alone do not identify truly great libraries, quality counts too. On the other hand, I do not believe that a library can be truly great with poor numbers. As my logic professor taught me, the numbers are a necessary but not sufficient condition.
Of course quality counts. As I said in the January 1999 issue of American Libraries, data measurement cannot capture a friendly smile and a warm greeting at the circulation desk. Nor can data measurement alone measure the excitement of a child at story time or a senior surfing the Internet for the first time. But we have no accepted and nationally consistent measures of quality in library services that would allow for comparisons. I agree that numbers alone do not identify truly great libraries, quality counts too. On the other hand, I do not believe that a library can be truly great with poor numbers. As my logic professor taught me, the numbers are a necessary but not sufficient condition.
