Big data analysis of public library operations and services by using the Chernoff face method
| Pages | 466-480 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2016-0098 |
| Date | 08 May 2017 |
| Published date | 08 May 2017 |
| Author | Young-seok Kim,Louise Cooke |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Big data analysis of public library
operations and services by using
the Chernoff face method
Young-seok Kim
Department of Library and Information Science,
Myongji University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, and
Louise Cooke
Department of Information Science,
Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to conduct a big data analysis of public library operations and
services of two cities in two countries by using the Chernoff face method.
Design/methodology/approach –The study is designed to evaluate library services by analyzing the
Chernoff face. Big data on public libraries in London and Seoul were collected, respectively, from Chartered
Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Korean government’s website for drawing a Chernoff
face. The association of variables and human facial features was decided by survey. Although limited in its
capacity to handle a large number of variables (eight were analyzed in this study) the Chernoff face method
does readily allow for the comparison of a large number of instances of analysis. A total of 58 Chernoff faces
were drawn from the formatted data by using the R programming language.
Findings –The study reveals that most of the local governments in London perform better than those of
Seoul. This consequence is due to the fact that local governments in London operate more libraries, invest
more budgets, allocate more staff and hold more collections than local governments in Seoul. This
administration resulted in more use of libraries in London than Seoul. The study validates the benefit of using
the Chernoff face method for big data analysis of library services.
Practical implications –The Chernoff face method for big data analysis offers a new evaluation technique
for library services and provides insights that may not be as readily apparent and discernible using more
traditional analytical methods.
Originality/value –This study is the first to use the Chernoff face method for big data analysis of library
services in library and information research.
Keywords Performance, Evaluation, Libraries, Data, Visualization, Chernoff
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the world’s first modern public library was established in 1852 in Manchester in the
UK, several thousand public libraries have been operating for more than 160 years all over
the world. Although public library operations have been shrinking in many ways in some
countries, e.g., Finland, Germany, Norway, the UK, the USA, for the last 10-20 years, in
some other countries, e.g., Australia, Canada, Korea, Japan, public library services have
been steadily extending and developing. Surprisingly, in the UK 443 libraries (excluding
mobile libraries) were closed, opening hourswerereducedandmany local libraries are
operating by community volunteers between 1995 and 2014 (CIPFA, 1996, 2015). In stark
contrast, in Japan the number of libraries increased from 2,951 to 3,261 between 2005 and
2015 ( Japan Library Association, 2015) and in Korea 438 new libraries have been built
during the period between 2004 and 2014 (National Library Statistics System of Korea
(NLSSK), 2015). It seems that the development of public library infrastructure in Korea is
well supported by the result of the research on the cost-effectiveness of public library
services carried out in Korea (Ko et al., 2012). The research reveals that the return on
investment is 3.66:1. This means that there may be a return of economic benefit of Korean
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 73 No. 3, 2017
pp. 466-480
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-08-2016-0098
Received 1 August 2016
Revised 21 November 2016
Accepted 30 November 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
466
JD
73,3
To continue reading
Request your trial