Study title

Finnish Local Government 2004: Libraries 1996

Dataset ID Number

FSD2145

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2145

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Mäkelä, Pertti (University of Vaasa. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Abstract

The survey focused on public libraries in Finnish municipalities, concentrating on their management, services and development. Other similar surveys were carried out in 1999 and 2002.

First, the respondents were asked a number of questions relating to staff qualifications and numbers, library facilities, and expenditure. Services were investigated with detailed questions about opening hours, types of services on offer, library use, stock, acquisitions and loans, loan periods, fines and charges, and whether there were other services (e.g. a museum, health centre, banks) in the immediate vicinity of the library. Use of and satisfaction with contracted-out services were surveyed.

One theme covered influence and decision-making. The respondents were asked which issues they themselves could decide in the role of the person in charge. They also assessed how much influence library users, staff, the municipal council, local businesses, etc. have on the decision-making concerning library matters. One set of questions pertained to members of the municipal committee responsible for library matters, asking about their level of activity, knowledge of libraries, etc. Use of performance measures in evaluation was charted, as well as respondent opinion on whether certain factors promoted or hindered the use of these performance indicators. The respondents were also asked how useful the indicators would be in operational planning, reallocation of resources, etc.

One topic pertained to developmental policy. The respondents assessed the state of services in their library in terms of accessibility, sufficiency of stock, premises, etc. They were asked what kind of changes had been implemented in the services, organisation, financing, etc. in the past four years, and what areas in their library they thought were in need of increased resources. They were also asked whether certain areas for development (e.g. image promotion and marketing, increasing the influence of users or staff, introducing new services, increasing staff numbers, contracting out services) would be important for the library in the coming years. An additional questionnaire was used to collect basic information from small service units like mobile libraries and institution libraries.

Background variables included library type, and the respondent's gender, mother tongue, year of birth, job title or position, education, previous work experience, responsibility areas at work, and elected positions of trust.

Keywords

evaluation; information/library resources; library facilities; library services; local government services; public libraries; public services

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Natural sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government 2004

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Mäkelä, Pertti (University of Vaasa. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Data Producers

• Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities

Time Period Covered

1996

Collection Dates

late winter and early spring 1996 ( 1996 )

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Political-administrative area (Municipality)

Universe

Finnish municipalities (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities. Total study of library managers/chief librarians of libraries located in the selected municipalities.

The project municipalities were selected separately from those with less than 10000 inhabitants (28 municipalities) and from those with more than 10000 inhabitants (19 municipalities). The selection aimed to be representative within both groups in relation to all municipalities with the same population size. Large municipalities were over-represented because 70 % of the Finnish population lives in large municipalities. Representativeness criteria included regional location, age and education of the population, industry structure, municipal economy parameters, political situation and variables related to municipal policy. The selected municipalities form a small scale model of all Finnish municipalities. The Åland Islands municipalities were excluded because of special features caused by their autonomy.

Total study of all libraries and branch libraries which were located in the selected municipalities and had someone designated as the person in charge (N=125). 116 libraries responded.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

92.8

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Related Datasets

FSD2146 Finnish Local Government 2004: Libraries 1999

FSD2147 Finnish Local Government 2004: Libraries 2002

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Mäkelä, Pertti (University of Vaasa): Finnish Local Government 2004: Libraries 1996 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-19). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2145

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Mäkelä, Pertti (1997). Kunnan kultainen kirjasto matkalla multimediaan : Raportti KuntaSuomi 2004 -kuntien kirjastoyksiköille suunnatusta kyselytutkimuksesta. Helsinki : Kuntaliitto. - (KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; nro 6 & Acta nro 76)

Related Publications

Mäkelä, Pertti (1997). Kunnan kultainen kirjasto matkalla multimediaan: Raportti KuntaSuomi 2004 -kuntien kirjastoyksiköille suunnatusta kyselytutkimuksesta. Helsinki: Kuntaliitto. KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; nro 6 & Acta nro 76.

Mäkelä, Pertti (2002). Kunnan kultainen kirjasto II: matka multimediaan jatkuu. Helsinki: Kuntaliitto. KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 33.

Mattila, Juha & Ikola-Norrbacka, Rinna (2004). Vaihtelevat vapaa-aikapalvelut. Tutkimus kuntien kirjasto-, kulttuuri-, nuoriso- ja liikuntapalveluista 1996-2002 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Kuntaliitto. http://hosted.kuntaliitto.fi/intra/julkaisut/pdf/p041216133533D.pdf [viitattu 28.9.2006].