My name is Jennifer Peterson, a couple other quick things before we begin.
Today's session is being recorded and we will provide the information about the recording later today in an email that I will send to you.
Also certificates I'll mail out to all attended within the week.
Those certificates for all of our library specific courses and webinar recordings are available in the WebJunction catalog free and available to all, so know that that is something you can share with folks who missed today's session, and also if you're not yet subscribed to crossroads, our newsletter comes out twice a month and it's an excellent way to stay up to date on all of the activities, resources, and programs at WebJunction.
I mentioned to those of you who were here earlier, we created a learner guide.
This is a way to extend your learning and conversations with your team related to the topic.
This is something that we provide for all of our events, it's a way for you to customize your local discussions.
This is a document, so feel free to customize it as well, and we'll remind you about that at the end of the session.
I'm going to go ahead and get our recording started.
This is the first of three webinars as a part of the measures that matter project.
We're so excited to be partnering with COSLA and IMLS on this project.
Our second event is scheduled, and you can register for June 13th, and we're just wrapping up final details for part three for the end of July.
So keep your eyes out for that as well.
I'm going to quickly introduce today's presenters and let them take us into this great presentation.
Linda Hofschire comes to us as the director at the library research services at the Colorado state library.
Vailey Oehlke is our director of libraries at the Multnomah County library in Oregon.
And Stacy Aldrich will be joining us shortly, she's the state librarian for the Hawaii state public library system.
Excellent.
Welcome to all of you, and thank you so much, Linda.
>> Thanks, Jennifer.
Thank you, everyone, for joining us.
It's great to have such a big group today to talk about this topic.
So we would like to begin by asking all of you a question, and I'm going to let Jennifer explain how it's going to work to get your answers.
>> Excellent.
Thanks so much.
Quick orientation to our annotation tools.
Those of you who have been to a WebJunction webinar perhaps are familiar with this.
To open your annotation tool, go to the top left corner of the slide, and click on that marker.
It will turn blue, and you'll see a man El open up of multiple options.
Go halfway down to the square, click on the square arrow to the right of the square, and then you'll see the option to click on a check mark.
Go to that check mark and feel free and click on this slide to test your check mark, and we'll make sure that folks -- excellent, YAY!
People are finding their check marks.
And we'll give you just a couple more seconds, and then we are going to ask you to hold your check marks so that we can use them on the next slide.
Great.
Now we're going to ask you, looking at the spectrum on the slide, where do you fall on the data use spectrum?
So you can use your arrow to indicate, you don't really use data in your job, you use it pretty regularly.
Are you an expert?
Are you a certified data geek?
If so, you're very close to my heart.
Great.
I love all the colors.
So you can see kind of from the range of responses that we have people from a wide variety of experiences with data who are joining us today.
And that's great.
Because that means we will have a variety of perspectives as we engage in today's discussion.
And for many of us, I think it is part of our regular responsibilities to collect a lot of data and to report that data to various entities.
And the project that we're going to be talking about today gives us the opportunity to pause and think a little bit more deeply about all of the data that we're collecting.
What we're going to talk about today is measures that matter.
That is a cooperative project, it's one year long, and it is a cooperative project between the institute of museum and library services, and the chief officers of state library agencies, or COSLA.
And so for this project, what we are doing is we are taking stock of the current public library data landscape, kind of as I said, thinking more deeply about what we're collecting, we're examining all of the various national efforts that are out there that focus on public library data, and then from that reflection, we're then going to consider what opportunities there are for the future in terms of both streamlining public library data collection, and then also thinking deeply about what measures will most meaningfully tell the story of today's libraries?
So that's measures that matter in a nutshell.
As Jennifer mentioned, this is the first in a three-part webinar series.
So you can see on the slide right now, kind of where we're headed today.
We're going to cover kind of the five Ws.
Who, what, when, where, and why, of this project.
So we'll get into the background, where this project came from, talk about its purposes and goals, we'll walk through the major activities that will be part of this year-long project, and also talk a little bit about just what is the current state of public library data?
Our next webinar, which is coming up on June 13th, this will give us the opportunity to learn about sampling various sampling methods, we'll also learn about data types, including inputs, outputs, and outcomes.
And then we'll also learn about some data management topics.
So thinking about collection, storage, and how we access our data.
And so we'll learn about those concepts and then we will consider how they impact the public library data landscape.
So how do each of those concepts impact what we currently know about public libraries.
Based on data.
Then the third webinar, which will be taking place in July, and we will be announcing the date and time for that soon, now that's going to give us an opportunity to kind of think back to the title of this project, measures that matter, with the emphasis on matter, and so we will spend that webinar really diving deeply into meaningful measures.
And we'll think about that from perspectives both within the library field, as well as outside of the library field.
So that is where we are heading with this webinar series.
I just learned that Stacy, our third presenter today, is tied up at an elementary school, where she was judging a book contest.
Certainly a worthy thing to get hung up with.
So I'm going to jump in on her part and we will take it from there.
So kind of -- now that I've set the stage for where we're heading today, and in the future with these -- with this webinar series, I want to talk a little bit more broadly about the environment from which -- kind of which led to the development of this project.
And so thinking about how we're in such a data driven society at this point, everywhere we turn we hear about big data, and the importance of data-based decision making, we feel -- we felt increasing demands from our various stakeholders to provide data to back up our -- the things that we're asking for.
It's -- it's an environment where all these factors are coming into play.
One thing we've noticed is kind of with all of the public library data that are being collected, we want to make sure that we are kind of leading that effort and that we are using that data effectively to tell our story, so that someone else doesn't come in and kind of take over on that story and tell our story for us.
So that's the environment from which this project came.
So if we think about kind of the head and the heart, also an awesome band, we have the head on the one hand, the data, the facts, more kind of the objective information.
And then we have our stories of the heart.
And in our libraries, I think we've done a great job sharing our stories.
Wore really good at the heart part, and the heart part is really important.
But we also want to make sure that we are covering the head.
So are we collecting the right data, and using it effectively to really tell a meaningful story about today's libraries?
So I'll share one example of that, kind of thinking about both the head and the heart.
This comes from a state library initiative in California, where -- working on literacy services with adults.
And so kind of for that statewide initiative, we can tell you how many learners were involved, how many volunteers participated, how many hours did this take, how many libraries, all of that stuff.
And Stacy, you came at just the right point.
I see Stacy just joined us.
I'm just starting your story about California library literacy services.
But I know you will tell it better than me, so I'm going to turn it over to you.
>> Thank you, Linda.
Aloha, everyone.
Yeah, California did a great job of using the head and the heart to tell the story of important programs.
And in California while I was there, the budget had been completely eliminated for the literacy program that we had, so we had wonderful staff to collect -- who collected both data, but also the stories that people had to tell about why the literacy program was so important.
So Karla Lynn and jackie brinkly did a wonderful job with all the volunteers across the state to not only just show how many people participated and how many people completed programs, but the difference that it made in each person's lives.
So they could now read medicine bottles, that they could read stories to their grandchildren, having both of those stories is really important for the people we're talking about why the programs are so important.
So I think the California Library Literacy Services example is a great example of tying those two, the head and the heart, pieces to enable us to tell a better story.
And I think we need both of those pieces to get at people who are logical, but also get at the heart strings of as humans why something matters to us.
I think it's a great example.
And I think as we look at what measures that matter is about, it really is about how can we get better at telling our stories and using our data in a way that is meaningful and understandable to the people around us.
>> Stacy, you have the ball, so I'll let you advance your slides.
>> This is an example of the website that they put up that shows a picture of one of the people who participated in the reading program, but also shows the data about more than 20,000 adults, like Steve here, learned how to read and write last year through the program.
So again, it is using those stories to tell people about why a program is important and why it makes a difference to the communities that they serve.
>> Thanks, Stacy.
So kind of now we've talked about the environment, where did this project come from, and so these -- Vailey is going to talk about the purposes behind measures that matter.
>> Good afternoon, everyone.
I am busy trying to figure out how to advance my slides.
>> The top -- there you go.
>> Thanks so much for joining us today.
I'm on this call because I am a library director whose staff is often involved in gathering,  collecting, recording data for various purposes.
And I'm serving on the advisory committee largely from that perspective.
So as a library director, I'm really concerned about the amount of staff time and resources  that go into collecting and reporting data for what I'm sure many of you have experienced as multiple ongoing efforts, some one-time, some periodic efforts, some annual efforts related to gathering data in order to tell stories, to report for various purposes.
We all I think spend a fair amount of time doing that kind of thing, and I had some concerns about the best use of that time and committing that kind of resource for a product that was going to really serve our needs.
>> Vailey, I'm going to make sure you're close to the mic.
Imagine you're speaking to a room filled with 345 people.
>> All righty.
Is -- can folks hear me better now?
>> That's much better, thanks.
>> Sorry about that.
Normally I'm told to quiet down.
Also we -- so many of us use data for advocacy, and for general communications purposes.
So we needed to be accurate, we needed to be relevant, and we needed to be timely.
So I'm excited about this project because I feel like it's going to really -- a big part of the goal is to address a lot of those neesdz on a national scale, but also in ways that would benefit us locally.
One of the deliverables of this project is to develop an action plan.
And there are several goals with that action plan.
I'm going to run through them quickly just so folks are clear on what those are.
The first is to reduce data collection burden, that's what I spoke to a little bit earlier.
To me, I'm with a fairly large library system, so we have some resources to put forward data collection and reporting, but I know the vast majority of libraries, public libraries don't have the kinds of resources we have.
And so every choice you make about how you're deploying staff is really important.
And needs to be a real value add to your -- for your organization.
Another goal for the data action plan is to eliminate duplications of data collection efforts.
I know we have a single individual here at my library who's largely responsible for collecting the data and send -- the various tools that reach out to us, and it is frequent enough that she's asked for the same kinds of data, but in just enough of a sort of -- just enough of a different twist that it requires additional effort.
So ensuring that what we're collecting and reporting is not duplicative is a goal for the action plan.
I think especially attractive to me, and probably to a lot of folks on this webinar is the need to improve the timeliness of the data release.
Many of us rely on the information we get, for instance, from the PLDS, but as you know, that data is about two years behind, so if we're working hard in an environment that is changing quickly and unpredictably, having that data be timely, up to date, and sort of real live, as an  11-year-old in my life would say, is really important to our ability to tell a good solid story and to be effective in our advocacy efforts.
Increasing the response rate, the more libraries that are reporting and providing data, the better and the more profound the resulting products are.
And so creating an easy interface, making it simple for libraries to engage and participate I think is really important in order to ensure that we get as many libraries participating as possible.
And improving data quality, the old adage about bad data in, bad data out, I don't know for sure what the old adage is, but ensuring that the data that we're submitting is reliable.
And not only reliable, but that it's apples to apps.
If my library is recording our, for instance, our digital content use, we understand what that  means, the same way that a library in Ann arbor understands that to be.
So we know as we're starting to look at public libraries and their trends and their direction on a national scale, we're all kind of -- we're all saying the same thing and addressing the same issues.
And lastly, increasing public libraries' ability to track and measure outcomes.
We talk a lot about outcomes and Linda spoke earlier about the head and the heart and about stories and storytelling.
Taking that data and being able to use it to speak to the impact that our work and the programs and services and the things that are happening, our public libraries in terms of impact and outcomes is increasingly critical to really demonstrating and convincing others of the value of public libraries.
So doing that and doing it in a way that focuses on our communities and community engagement, and allows us to do -- to get better at community centers, design in terms of what our libraries look like now and into the future.
So those I think are all really laudable goals.
I think if we nail all those we'll be in a really wonderful place.
>> Thanks, Vailey.
This is easy, right?
We'll definitely have all this taken care of.
So now that we've covered kind of the background and the purpose for measures that matter, I want to talk more about details regarding the project to help everyone get more familiar with it.
So this is the measures that matter logic model.
And I realize that at first glance this might be a bit overwhelming, and I really want to focus on the highlights of the logic model.
And there is a link on the WebJunction webpage for this webinar that links to this logic model, if you want to look at it in more detail later on.
And what underlies this logic model is the assumption that there's both a need and an interest in developing a plan that's going to coordinate our data collection efforts at the national level, and will also help to facilitate using that data to better demonstrate public libraries' value.
And so by engaging the field in a variety of activities that I will walk through in just a minute, the goal of the project is to create this action plan as Vailey had described a few minutes  ago, that will lay out steps kind of for better streamlining national efforts, and then with that streamlining also collecting more meaningful data to tell truly the most impactful story about libraries.
So let me talk about a few of the major activities during the year that this project is taking  place.
Kind of focusing in on the -- that first one, creating a data landscape.
So what is that?
There is a report that has been developed that looks across kind of both current-national collection efforts as well as some recent efforts that have been discontinued.
And it summarizes these efforts, it analyzes them looking for the various topics that are covered, where there is overlap, all sorts of different characteristics.
This data landscape report will be finalized this summer, and so it will then be made available to the public so that anyone can take a look at it, hopefully comment on it and get a good discussion going on it.
And Stacy is going to talk a little bit more about the details of that -- the data landscape in a few minutes.
A second major activity is what we are engaged in right now.
And so the idea behind the webinar series is both to really engage the field broadly, so really pulling in public librarians and people connected with public library data from all over the U.S., engaging everybody on this topic, and getting your feedback, and also to create a common understanding of the current state of public library data.
A third major activity is the national data summit.
And so this will be an in-person event in September, and it's going to be held in Baltimore, and it is an invitation-only event, it's limited to 75 participants, and that's simply for both practical and financial reasons.
And during this event, those who are in attendance will be asked to really contribute to kind of high-level analysis of these issues around public library data, and also to brainstorm about possible solutions for the challenges that have been identified.
There will certainly be many people from the library field who will be at this event.
And we're also inviting people from other fields who are data experts, so we can learn from them and kind of benefit from their experiences where there's kind of overlap or similarities with what's happening in the library field.
Part of the data summit will be broadcast, so that anyone can view it, and interact, provide comments about it.
And then after the summit, the proceedings will be shared very widely.
There will be webinars, conference presentations, reports, so there will be many options to learn about what happened in the summit afterwards, and to engage and respond to what was discussed.
And I will share contact information at the end of the webinar, if you're interested in getting more information about the data summit or wanting to express -- that will be coming up.
And so the final product for this project is that national data action plan.
And so this will be coming kind of out of the summit based on what is discussed during the summit.
And the hope is that it will be shared very widely in the field and hopefully ultimately adopted by the field.
And so this data action plan will specifically identify a kind of current public library data needs, and a plan for kind of shaping the future of public library data.
And so ultimately kind of through all of these activities and through all of the stakeholder groups that are engaged, the long-term outcome that we see is -- the measures that matter and then subsequent efforts that come as -- after measures that matter will lead to a place where public libraries have stronger roles in society.
Because there is increased recognition of their value, and their impact, because of the data that we are able to provide.
As you may have gathered from looking at that logic model, this is a big tent.
And so it's really important obviously for a project of this size, of this scope, to not kind of go this alone.
And so you can see kind of in the left column on the screen there's a core group of individuals  working on this project, they represent public libraries, COSLA and IMLS, and then more broadly you can see on the right-hand side we really want to engage am times of libraries, people who work with libraries, as well as look to other fields such as museums and education.
For their expertise.
And then let's talk a little bit about kind of time line.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a year-long project.
And so the phase that we're in right now kind of through July, we're really working on raising  awareness about the project and getting feedback about it, we're also in the process of completing that data landscape report, which will be available to the public later this summer.
So you can see to do that kind of raising awareness and getting feedback, we've got the three webinars.
There will also be a presentation at ALA annual in June.
So that would be a place to connect in person if you happen to be at annual.
Then for the second part of the year, that's really going to be focused on developing and finalizing that action plan so the data summit will take place in September and then out of that, that action plan will be crafted, and the plan is that it will be completed by December 31st, that is the end of this cooperative project between IMLS and COSLA.
But as you can see on the slide, certainly the work continues, the work has just begun, really.
So the hope is this is the start of kind of a fieldwide long-term effort to move towards a better future with public library data.
Stacy now is going to talk a little bit about the data landscape.
>> One of the things we were looking at before we even started thinking about how do we look at the data that's collected, we have to know what's out there and what is it that we have been collecting.
I've had the privilege at working in four states now, at the state level, working with wonderful libraries across each of the states to look at collecting data and many cases badgering people to fill out surveys, and there have been so many different surveys, and sometimes there's been duplication of effort, sometimes they were short-term surveys, but we wanted a sense of what is it that is already out there, what is it that we've already been collecting, and what has been the intent and purpose for collecting those data sets.
And so joe Matthews has been working with COSLA and IMLS and this project, and has gone through and identified all the various data projects that have been out there, and what elements they've -- they collect and where there is crossover in those elements.
And so many of you will recognize the current national efforts around the PLS that's done every year with public libraries, there's also the public library association's survey, and then many of you participate in edge, which is more of a tool for helping you to be strategic about the technology that you're using and how people are using it in your libraries, and how you tell those stories to your community.
And then now project outcome, many of you are participating in project outcome as a way of showing the impacts of your programs and what is it that people are getting out of the efforts that you're making through your programs and services.
And then of course the impact survey from the University of Washington, which really gets information from your community about how they're using technology in the library.
Many of you have also in the past participated in the public library funding and technology access survey along with the digital inclusion survey.
Both of those done at the University of Maryland, and then many have seen the library topology survey.
So in looking at the landscape, it's about saying, is out there, what are we already collecting, and then once we have that landscape in front of us, we can really decide what are the things that are important to collect and what is our intention behind those collections, and where do we continue to collect things, where do we need longitudal data, and what are the things that might be short-term collections.
But again, how can we make it easier for all libraries as they look at all these different data collection schemes, how do we make it easier to connect all of those data collections?
And part of that again is to see what is currently out there.
So the data landscape is being produced now, and as Linda said, should be available in the next couple months for people to take a look at.
And to see how each of these various surveys are playing a role in the national data collection that we have.
We are curious about which national collection initiative you've participated in, because we know you've all participated in one of them.
Linda, should I continue on with the next slide?
>> Yeah, go ahead, and we'll remind folks, you weren't here when we gave them the tools before, so we've given you the tools again if you want to go to the next slide.
If you want to make sure you have your marker clicked on, go down to the box again and click on the little options to get to your check mark and feel free to practice again on this slide.
And then we'll move on.
Excellent.
All right.
>> So we're very curious now, it's a very creative use of the check marks.
>> Now we'll have you hold your check marks.
There you go.
>> If you could check in the boxes of the collection efforts you've participated in, that would be great.
Awesome.
A few other.
If you have an other, could you please chat -- put in the chat box what are the other things you're participating in?
Yes.
There's a question, are we looking at all the various data reports that feed the PLS and the differences between them.
Yes, joe Matthews has been working with each of the states to identify those elements that are different.
Great question.
Before project outcomes, folks had their own things, counting opinions, satisfaction surveys, balanced score card.
Great.
Wonderful.
So there's a lot of data collection that's going on, and if we know it's being collected, is there a way we can collect it more effectively?
And then is there a way we can better use at this data?
Good question.
Someone is using orange boy.
There's another person who uses qualTRIX.
All right.
And of course collaborative summer reading program also collects data.
Library journal.
There's a lot of different elements out there, and I imagine for many it can be a little bit of data fatigue to answer all of the different surveys that are out there.
But I know each one of them has been very purposeful and does have a purpose in helping either helping a library better tell its story and be strategic, or also helping us tell a story at the local, state, and national level with the data that we collect.
Great.
A lot of people participating in all the different data collection tools.
>> Hi, everyone, this is Linda again.
Thanks for participating in that.
I see a good comment in chat, I think you hit it on the mark, a lot of data.
Now what?
And, yeah, that is the question.
And so up until -- I'm sorry, Stacy.
I skipped one of your slides.
If you wanted to talk about overlap at all.
>> Yeah, thank you very much.
So just to be specific about the things that joe has found in the collection of all the data and the different data tools, you can see from this slide that organizational characteristics like staff and hours is collected across multiple surveys, facilities like infrastructure, number of staff, resources in terms of types of collection, the kinds of technologies that are available, and also education, how library resource and technology assist education, and lastly, community and the importance of internet community.
There's been a lot of overlap in many of the data collection tools, and this is just a sample of some of the overlap that has been found in looking at all these tools.
>> I see, I'll just answer one question in chat about other than impact survey and project outcome, is it accurate to say most of these collections are input-output focused?
Impact survey and project outcome focus on outcomes primarily, whereas the other collections are input and output focus.
So thanks for that question.
And that's actually something I'll address a little bit in our next part where we're going to talk about opportunities for an action plan.
So far we've really been focusing on the present in terms of what is the current public library data landscape, and getting into details about the measures that matter project.
But now we want to turn our attention towards the future, so we want to think about kind of what opportunities would we want to include in this national data action plan.
And I'm going to start this conversation by sharing a few opportunities that came up as a result of joe Matthews' work putting together the public library data landscape report.
And then I'll invite Vailey and Stacy also to share their thoughts on this topic.
Stemming from that public library data landscape report, this is something we've talked about earlier today as well, is one big opportunity for sure would be to share data across the various national collection efforts that could really help to reduce the data burden that's put on all of the public libraries.
So really there seems to be this opportunity to move away from coupe indicating efforts and to become more efficient.
A second opportunity suggested by the public library data landscape document is, as I just  mentioned, a lot of the surveys are focused on collecting inputs and outputs, things like budgets, other resources, circulation, and collection.
And then a few of the efforts are focused on outcomes.
So kind of what is the effect on the end user.
And so now with this large pile of data that we've accumulated, there's an opportunity to look for linkages across these data sets.
So can we in some instances perhaps link those inputs and outputs to the outcomes?
And then a third opportunity is really to think deeply about what's missing right now.
And we can tackle that from at least a couple different angles.
One being looking at the various current national efforts for gaps, what is happening in public libraries that is not being captured right now in those data collection efforts.
And then we can also look at those efforts that have been discontinued for topics, or specific questions that aren't currently covered on the national efforts, but may be important to keep tracking.
So those are a few of the opportunities that we are considering for the national data action plan.
But Vailey and Stacy, I'm going to invite you to talk about this as well.
In terms of what opportunities do you see for the future of public library data as a result of this project as well as subsequent efforts?
So Vailey, maybe I'll ask you to chime in first.
>> Sure.
Sort of echoing what I spoke to earlier and then again what you've mentioned, Linda, this notion of eliminating redundancy and having a way to share data across efforts to ease the collection burden, but also to enhance the quality and the expansiveness of the data I think would just be fabulous.
And then if we're talking pie in the sky, wouldn't it be wonderful as all of that data is collected and people -- the data shifts from inputs and outcomes to outcomes, to create a web of best practice opportunities so that folks could Via the shared data, see what other libraries are doing and then be able to reach out and start little communities of practice, or conversations around how is it you produce this kind of impact, what did you do to move the dial on this need in your community in ways that are really productive and concrete.
I think that would be super exciting.
>> Thanks, Vailey.
I appreciate you throwing the pie in the sky vision out there as well.
I think that while obviously we all recognize the realities of making change, it's also important to think aspirationally.
And Stacy, I'll turn to you with the same questions.
So kind of what opportunities do you see for the future of public library data as a result of both this project as well as subsequent efforts?
>> I absolutely agree with everything that Vailey has said.
And I would add to it, it would be great if we could use the data in ways to look at what is really happening in our libraries and use the data to tell different stories against other kinds of information.
So the digital inclusion survey did a nice job of incorporating other kinds of demographic data but I think sometimes when you can mix data in different ways, you can see things that you didn't see before, and the pie in the sky for me is having this idea where we have a place where we can really have this library land of data, that's our big data hub that allows everyone an easy way of providing data, but also getting at data, and taking that data and looking at it in new and different ways.
So I think about the Ted talk that Hans Rosing did, the late Hans Rosing, where he looked at data in a different way, and in a visual way in Africa that tells the different story about wealth and health and what the meaning is.
And I think there's -- there are a lot -- there may be new stories, new ideas that we're not clearly seeing because of the way our data is collected in all these buckets that we would be able to make new connections that would help us be more strategic and also better tell our story.
>> Thanks, Stacy.
I agree with you.
It's exciting to consider the possibilities for kind of combining data sets and opening up those new perspectives.
So I see several questions in chat.
And we will get to those in just a few minutes.
But one thing we wanted to do first is throw out a couple questions to everyone who has joined us today.
So the first question is, just thinking about what story do you want to tell about your library?
And maybe you can think about this in the context of a specific stakeholder.
A funder, or your board.
Someone like that.
But what story do you want to be able to tell about your library?
I'll encourage you to consider that and share that in chat.
I see one impact on people.
So, how, how our resources improve lives.
Great.
I can see comments, it gets to the value of libraries.
How much we provide for our communities.
How we're making a difference with our resources.
Great.
Thanks for these ideas, and I encourage you to keep them coming.
I am just going to throw out one -- a second follow-up question so that we can think about that a little bit as well.
So you've identified the story you want to tell about your library, what data do you need to be able to kind of support that story that you want to tell?
I like that, all of the data.
I'm seeing some comments that are getting at ROI or economic impact.
Stories.
Other qualitative forms of data.
Great.
Long-term outcomes or getting really at that impact we have.
Great.
Thank you for sharing those ideas.
I'm going to encourage you to keep sharing those in chat.
I also want to make sure that we get to the questions that people have asked in chat, and so I am going to turn this over to that topic.
And Stacy I'll let you take the lead with those questions.
>> I'm trying to get back to the questions  that started, but when people add a chat it bumps it so I can't get back to it.
>> There was one earlier I want to touch on, there was mention Vailey, when you were covering the action plan, that last bullet talked about community-based measurement systems.
And someone asked what is that, is it different from the other data gathering you're looking at in terms of the data landscape.
The point was increase public libraries' capacity to track and measure outcomes that align with community-based measurement systems.
So there was curiosity about what the community-based measurement systems are.
>> I think that's in reference to measurements that are communities in which our libraries provide service, are measuring impact, need, that kind of thing.
So really looking at what is it that libraries are doing, could be doing, that would really support and contribute to the needs that exist in our community.
And what they're measuring to determine various metrics like health metrics, employment, the needs that are unique to that particular community.
And aligning our outcomes with our communities' desires, needs, goals.
>> Excellent.
There's a great question around whether or not this project will provide guidance on establishing benchmarks cities or benchmark libraries for the purpose of vetting data.
>> I think it's too early to tell, but that's really a good point for us to pay attention to as we're looking at the broader scope of how we build this plan and how do we pilot and understand how all the pieces fit together.
So thank you very much for mentioning that.
We will add that to our conversation.
>> Excellent.
There are a number -- there's definitely a wealth of great questions and ideas that will help you all I know.
A couple of those that are sort of points, questions that come up for people in their data collection is whether or not, if I collect the data, will it initiate appropriate action?
If not, why collect it?
So knowing that there are resources in -- used in the process of collecting data being deliberate about knowing how the resource used to collect that data will be leveraged.
So that's a good one.
There was a point that I know you all are addressing in terms of other fields using this type of data gathering and reporting, and I know that was mentioned in terms of looking at other sectors, which is great.
>> I think there was a question about measuring outcomes of cultural or poetry readings, and those are, again, great programs, but -- that inspire people and many cases depending on the focus, can have great impacts on them.
So I think it's -- they're going to be more tools that are out there, and I know that at ALA there's going to be a program from project outcome about how to increase our add additional outcome measurements as needed.
So that would be a good place to start, where you could actually get to those kinds of programs that don't exist in the current surveys that are available through project outcome.
I think as we look at, again, as we look at the data summit, we're going to be thinking about here's the landscape, what is it that we're trying to -- what is it that we want to be able to do in our libraries?
Where do we need data?
And then how do we collect that data and then how do we make that data accessible and in meaningful ways that help us make better decision and communicate more effectively?
It's a big order, but if we can figure this out, I think together we can work much more effectively and then at a local level, being able to as Vailey was saying, look at data so that we can work with our communities and show how we connect to the priorities of the communities.
There's just a comment here, start with knowing the decisions you need to make.
Exactly.
We need to ask the right questions.
>> I think it's -- seeing all that's been contributed to chat is an indicator in and of itself, but people are definitely ready to help figure this out, so you've got lots of folks willing to contribute to the conversation.
>> This is Linda again.
Thank you to everybody for the great comments and questions today.
I just wanted to hit one more quick answer, someone asked about if that public library data landscape document was going to be made public, and it will.
It will be published later this summer.
So we definitely want to get feedback from the field.
We just have a couple minutes left.
So I want to wrap up by reminding everyone about what is coming up with measures that matter.
And so our second webinar detailing the database story of public libraries will take place June 13th, the same time frame, 3:00 to 4:00 eastern, 12:00 to 1:00 Pacific.
And then if you're at annual, we hope you will join us for our presentation about measures that matter, which will be taking place on June 24th.
And then finally, I want to encourage you to check out that learner guide.
Jennifer mentioning it at the beginning of our time, this is a great tool for you as well as your team to extend the learning and discussion about this topic.
And then I also want to encourage you as we finish today to reach out.
If you have questions or feedback about the project, you'll see there's two email addresses provided there for you to contact us.
And we'll include those on that WebJunction webpage as well.
Also, if you are interested in participating in the data summit, you can email Tim Cherubini at the email listed in the first bullet point to express your interest.
You can follow measures that matter on twitter, and then you can also sign up for an email distribution list that we have, and this will give you regular updates about the project.
So we want to thank you so much for coming today and engaging on this important topic.
We're really excited to continue this conversation over the next few months.
And Jennifer, I'll turn it over to you to finish this up.
>> Excellent.
Thank you so much, all of you for your great work on this project and the great work you're doing in your libraries and in your communities.
And thank you to all of you who joined us today for bringing your great ideas to the conversation.
Today's session is being recorded and I will let you all know in an email later today once all of the recording and the resources are available, and we're also going to send you to a survey as you leave today.
We ask that you complete that quick survey to provide feedback, it will be shared with our  presenters, and it guide our ongoing programming.
So thank you.
And thank you to our captioner today.
We look forward to seeing all of you if not most of you on the 13th, and yes, all of the sessions in the series will be recorded and made available so you can both follow up on your own or share with your colleagues.
So thank you again to all of you, and thank you to IMLS and COSLA for supporting this great work.
Have a great day.