From March 2024-February 2025, RIPL hosted the monthly webinar series 12 Months to Better Library Data. This series featured curriculum from the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL) 2023 national event as well as a few new topics, and was based on the steps involved in conducting an evaluation:
- Identify the purpose of your evaluation
- Plan your evaluation
- Collect data
- Analyze data
- Use data – for management, program improvement, strategic planning, and advocacy
Recordings for all of the webinars in this series are now available:
- Begin With a Strong Foundation: Developing a Data Plan (March 7, 2024, recording now available)
- Outcomes and Beyond: A 3-Step Approach to Evaluating Program Success (April 16, 2024, recording now available)
- Introduction to Data Equity (May 13, 2024, recording now available) – please note that this recording will only be available until May 12, 2025
- Building Bridges: Collecting Culturally Relevant Data (July 25, 2024, recording now available)
- Exploring Public Libraries Survey Data for Peer Comparisons (August 15, 2024, recording now available)
- Elements of Data Visualization and Design (September 24, 2024, recording now available)
- Ethical Artificial Intelligence: Bridging Technology with Credible Evaluation Practices (October 8, 2024, recording now available)
- Inspire, Advocate, Communicate: Library Data Storytelling (November 20, 2024, recording now available)
- What Counts: Finding Meaningful Metrics (December 11, 2024, recording now available)
- Library Customer Data: Privacy vs. Personalization (January 9, 2025, recording now available)
- From Insight to Action: Using Public Library Data for Decision-Making, Strategic Planning, and Advocacy (February 24, 2025, 1:00-2:30 Eastern/12:00-1:30 Central/11:00-12:30 Mountain/10:00-11:30 Pacific)
This webinar series was made possible by funding from the Mellon Foundation.
