The document summarizes an evaluation of business services provided by the Ottawa Public Library (OPL). Survey and interview data were collected from clients, staff, partners, and other libraries. Key findings include that awareness of services was influenced by OPL cards, promotional materials, and barriers faced by clients. Usage of services was impacted by accessibility, awareness, and tailoring to specific groups. Informed decision-making was related to the number of services used, helpful staff attitudes, and satisfaction. The evaluation recommends promoting services to card holders, increasing accessibility through broadened services and reduced barriers, and knowledge sharing with other libraries.

1. CES 2013 Conference: June 11, 2013
Presenters: Moujib Bahri, DBA & Micheline Turnau, M.Sc
Evaluating libraries business services

2. Agenda
 Evaluation questions
 Evaluation methods
 Results
 Conclusions/recommendations
 Questions

3. 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?

4. Resources
* Core budget
& dedicated
funds
* Specialized
librarian
* Network of
partner
organizations
* Resource
collections
* Computer &
business
database
* Meeting
rooms
* Branches
Activities
Networking/
Outreach
Creating/
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/potent
ial partners
Membership in
business org.
Workshops
Invitations to
subject experts
Promotional
items
Newsletters
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.

5. Evaluation Methods
Data
collection
Survey
600 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

6. 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

7. 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%

8. Immediate and intermediate outcomes
Theoryofchange
PathAnalysis
+ : 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
Entreprene
urs and
business
owners
use/re-use
OPL’s
business
services
+ +
+
+

9. Focuson
Awareness
Awareness
OPL card
Promotion
tools
Barriers
+ -
+
+ : Positive and significant relationship
- : Negative and significant relationship
Website Flyer
Business
pages on
OPL website Workshops
Online
databases
Business
assistance
by staff

10. 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)

11. FocusonUse/
Re-Use
+ : Positive and significant relationship
BS
use
Accessibility
+
Workshops
Business
webpages Online
resources

12. 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

13. Focuson
Informeddecison
Informed
decision
Staff
attitude
Satisfaction
+
+ : Positive and significant relationship
appropriate
helpful
prompt
Enough
time
+

14. 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

15. Final Recommendations
Promoting to OPL card holders
Increasing 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

16. Questions?roject.