HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — February 23, 2005 — Sirsi Corporation announced today that Robert E. Molyneux, Ph.D., director of statistics and surveys for the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), will join the company on March 1, 2005, as chief statistician for the Normative Data Project (NDP) for Libraries. In his new position, Molyneux will work with Normative Data Project staff to collect, analyze, and publish data on statistics related to libraries. To ensure the quality and value of NDP, he will recommend data that should be collected and by what methodologies they should be collected, as well as vet all statistical data published or released through NDP. Molyneux will also work closely with government and library community sources of data – including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, NCLIS, the National Center for Education Statistics, the Federal-State Cooperative System for Public Library Data, the American Library Association, the Public Library Association, and American Association of School Librarians – to create new and derivative information products.
Molyneux, a professional librarian and statistician, holds his baccalaureate, M.S.L.S, and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia, Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), and the University of North Carolina, respectively. Prior to joining NCLIS in 2002, he held teaching and library staff positions at the University of South Carolina, Global Knowledge Inc., Louisiana State University, the University of Illinois, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Also of particular note from 1989-1996, Molyneux worked at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where he served in a variety of statistical and analytical capacities. He has published numerous monographs and articles on a range of topics related to libraries, library data and statistics, and information technology.
"The Normative Data Project is a phenomenal opportunity," said Molyneux. "By studying real-world data collected as part of the day-to-day operations of libraries, we can discern trends and dynamics as never before." Molyneux continued, "On a personal note, as both a librarian and 'numbers guy' who has long used data and statistics of all kinds to support libraries, I can't wait to get started working on NDP."
"When I went to work on my doctorate," said Molyneux, "I wanted to study the 'behavior' of books on shelves. But with the technology and reporting available at the time, we really couldn't do it. Now we can." Molyneux continued, "I can't begin to describe how exciting this is because I knew more than 20 years ago that this ability would be important in managing and understanding how people and libraries interact."
"It's great to have Bob joining the NDP team," said Angus Carroll, Sirsi's chief marketing officer. "We're committed to making the Normative Data Project as meaningful as possible. With Bob's background in libraries, keen eye for data, and analytical skills, Sirsi and our NDP development partners are going to ensure that every aspect of the initiative – from what data are collected to how they are collected to how they are reported – is credible, reliable, and even actionable."
Visit the Sirsi Press Room at http://www.sirsi.com/Newsevents/Pressroom/ for an online version of this press release and Molyneux's complete resume.
About NDP
The Normative Data Project (NDP) for Libraries is a cooperative effort among hundreds of libraries in North America, the GeoLib Program at Florida State University, and Sirsi Corporation to compile transaction-level data from libraries throughout North America; to link library data with geographic and demographic data on communities served by libraries; and, thereby, to empower library decision-makers to compare and contrast their institutions with real-world industry norms on circulation, collections, finances, and other parameters. NDP data and reports will be available online in the second quarter of 2005. Information on NDP and related resources are now available at www.librarynormativedata.info.
More than 700 library outlets "representing approximately 300 North American library systems with combined annual income of more than $340 million and combined annual circulation in excess of 150 million items" are contributing data to the project. Data for 10.5 million unique titles and 30 million copies are contained in these libraries' collections, which are valued collectively at more than $1 billion. Additional libraries continue to be added, with plans to have data from approximately 500 library systems and 2,500 library outlets in the NDP database.
About Sirsi
Founded in 1979, Sirsi Corporation develops, sells, and supports a comprehensive integrated suite of software solutions for meeting the information management and sharing needs of libraries and library users around the world. From the open, evolutionary integrated library system technology in the Sirsi Unicorn Library Management System... to leading-edge data analysis and intelligence tools in Sirsi Director's Station... to leading-edge solutions such as Sirsi Rooms 2.0 for library users seeking unparalleled access to the world of knowledge... Sirsi and its partners provide the broadest array of information management products and services for the library community. Sirsi solutions serve more than 10,000 libraries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. For more information about Sirsi, please see www.sirsi.com.
