Library Impact Data Project

I think I failed to blog about the Library Impact Data Project (based at the UnNiversity of Huddersfield), for which Phase 1 was carried out last year and Phase 2 is continuing this year. The aim of Phase 1 was "to prove a statistically significant correlation between library usage and student attainment." This they did by taking data from 8 universities and showing a correlation between class of degree and both borrowing books and using electronic resources. As they emphasise, this is a correlation, and you cannot prove causality, but nevertheless it is a very useful piece of research. They also did some focus groups, and Phase 2 is exploring further; it "will further exploit the data, investigate possible causal aspects and disseminate findings from both phases". The project blog is at http://library.hud.ac.uk/blogs/projects/lidp/, with papers at http://library.hud.ac.uk/blogs/projects/lidp/articles-and-conference-papers/ and a data collection toolkit at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/11571/
Photo by Sheila Webber: People photgraphing the huge Christmas tree made of Lego, at St Pancras Station, January 2012