3. Evaluating Libraries Using MAUT Bayesian

Interest in improving local government productivity has sparked a co‐operative effort between a local head librarian and a research team from West Virginia University's Public Administration Department. A productivity analysis and evaluation was conducted for the library, using the MAUT‐Bayesian method of strategy evaluation (MAUT is the acronym for Multi‐Attributable Utilities). This method was selected over other comparable methods because of its numerous technical advantages. For example, it enables the policy makers to identify the department's goals and weight them in relationship to their relative importance. The library's performance of each goal is then evaluated by numerous measurements. Finally the entire library can be evaluated relative to the importance of each goal.