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• Part III. Case Study Report

 

PART I: SECONDARY DATA REPORT

IV. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NEGOTIATED GRANTS

The Technical Assistance Negotiated Grants (TANG) program was begun in FY 1999 to enable library staff to make better use of technology in their libraries. TANG funds were provided to the individual library systems ranging from $12,719 (TTPLS) to $99,999 (NETLS). Total funding ranged from $500,839 in FY1999to $618,988 in FY 2000 and $596,274 in FY 2001. Average funding in FY 1999 was $50,000; it increased to nearly $62,000 in FY 2000, and decreased to about $60,000 in FY 2001. Funding to individual Library Systems was based on amount requested and negotiated. TANG funding increased during the three years for six of the Library Systems, was uneven for two of the Library Systems, and actually decreased for two of the Library Systems.

Table IV.1

Library Systems	1999	2000	2001
Big Country Library System (BCLS)	$ 48,038	$ 52,112	$ 53,873
Texas Panhandle Library System (TPLS)	$ 43,469	$ 36,450	$ 27,511
Central Texas Library System (CTLS)	$ 75,289	$ 84,397	$ 73,000
South Texas library System (STLS)	$ 25,515	$ 55,000	$ 61,385
Texas Trans-Pecos Library System (TTPLS)	$ 12,719	$ 52,012	$ 52,041
North Texas Regional Library System (NTRLS)	$ 63,646	$ 69,000	$ 75,000
Northeast Texas Library System (NETLS)	$ 99,999	$ 71,934	$ 54,031
Houston Area Library System (HALS)	$ 22,100	$ 60,000	$ 60,000
West Texas Library System (WTLS)	$ 54,378	$ 74,997	$ 74,452
Alamo Area Library System (AALS)	$ 55,686	$ 63,086	$ 64,981
Mean TANG funding	$ 50,008	$ 61,899	$ 59,627
Total Funding	$500,839	$618,988	$596,274

1. Use of TANG Funds

All 10 regional Texas Library Systems participated in the grant. Library Systems used TANG funds to provide technological aid to their member public libraries. Grant funds were used for personnel, equipment, supplies, telecommunications, travel, and professional services. Most Systems chose to hire a technical support staff person to provide consultations, training and needs assessment.

Table IV.2

Library Systems	1999	2000	2001
BCLS	Hire a technician Purchase equipment Training materials Travel to libraries	Hire a technician Travel to libraries	Train and assist member library staff. Technician's salary.
TPLS	Hire a technician Travel to libraries Training	Train library staff in troubleshooting and computer maintenance Funds for emergency technical assistance	Provide technical training workshops, instructional materials, security software updates.
CTLS	Hire a technician Purchase equipment Travel to libraries Training	Train library staff Travel to libraries Supplies for training	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.
STLS	Technical training materials	Hire a technician Travel to libraries Supplies for training Funds for specialists Funds for emergency technical assistance	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.
TTPLS	Provide computer tool kits and cleaning kits to libraries. Office and equipment for technician	Hire a technician Travel to libraries Supplies for training Equipment for technician	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.
NTRLS	Hire a technician Contract for additional expertise for large libraries	Technician salary Travel to libraries Funds for specialists Training	Train and assist member libraries. Fund contractual technical assistance for larger libraries and more complex projects.
NETLS	Intensive PC training and materials for staff	Training	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.
HALS	Technical training Instructional materials	Training	Fund contractual technical assistance. Fund development of a comprehensive training plan and materials to be implemented system-wide. Fund contractual technical consultants for larger projects.
WTLS	Hire a technician Purchase equipment	Technician salary Travel to libraries	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.
AALS	Technical training Materials	Training Technical assistance	Train and assist member libraries. Technician's salary.

2. TANG Activities

TANG uses three performance measures:

• Number of library staff assisted, including professional staff, technical staff, volunteers, and community members who help provide technical services to the library.
• Number of library staff trained, including professional staff, technical staff, volunteers, and community members who help provide technical services to the library.
• Number of instructional materials provided, including all materials purchased for libraries or for the System office, and substantive materials provided to libraries and library staff such as manuals or workshop packets.

The setting of targets by Library Systems was inconsistent from year to year in the three performance measurement areas. The extent to which Library Systems met, failed to meet, or exceeded their targets was also inconsistent throughout the three years, as shown in the following tables. Some Library Systems experienced difficulty in hiring or retaining qualified technicians. This affected their ability to provide technology-related training and assistance to their member libraries.

Table IV.3


FY1999

Library Systems	Library Staff Assisted			Library Staff Trained			Instructional Materials Provided
	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target
BCLS	240	68	28.3%	60	4	6.7%	600	526	87.7%
TPLS	551	0	0.0%	335	0	0.0%	120	0	0.0%
CTLS	400	838	209.5%	200	158	79.0%	200	232	116.0%
STLS	244	244	100.0%	--	--	--	100	100	100.0%
TTPLS	252	0	0.0%	8	0	0.0%	262	0	0.0%
NTRLS	420	134	32.0%	70	17	24.0%	800	0	0.0%
NETLS	50	94	188.0%	65	94	145.0%	200	282	141.0%
HALS	750	0	0.0%	14	17	121.0%	150	585	390.0%
WTLS	150	0	0.0%	150	0	0.0%	165	0	0.0%
AALS	419	419	100.0%	--	--	--	419	419	100.0%

Table IV.4


FY2000

Library Systems	Library Staff Assisted			Library Staff Trained			Instructional Materials Provided
	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target
BCLS	420	48	11.4%	60	0	0.0%	600	21	3.5%
TPLS	311	697	224.0%	181	160	88.0%	311	440	141.0%
CTLS	600	2137	356.0%	80	73	91.0%	100	117	117.0%
STLS	180	0	0.0%	140	0	0.0%	61	0	0.0%
TTPLS	252	0	0.0%	8	0	0.0%	262	0	0.0%
NTRLS	2030	1906	93.9%	470	352	74.9%	1080	1951	180.6%
NETLS	0	0	0.0%	134	123	92.0%	134	123	92.0%
HALS	400	0	0.0%	40	76	190.0%	50	380.5	761.0%
WTLS	300	607	202.0%	300	24	8.0%	330	0	0.0%
AALS	419	419	100.0%	--	--	--	419	419	100.0%

Table IV.5


FY2001

Library Systems	Library Staff Assisted			Library Staff Trained			Instructional Materials Provided
	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target
BCLS	210	418	199.0%	60	93	155.0%	300	402	134.0%
TPLS	240	490	204.0%	240	278	116.0%	840	1183	141.0%
CTLS	800	946	118.0%	80	102	128.0%	400	589	147.0%
STLS	260	702	270.0%	108	8	7.4%	432	28	6.5%
TTPLS	270	401	148.5%	8	55	687.5%	274	138	50.4%
NTRLS	2336	2091	90.0%	108	295	273.0%	1860	1648	89.0%
NETLS	500	334	67.0%	500	107	21.0%	225	499	222.0%
HALS	--	--	--	40	82	205.0%	100	84	84.0%
WTLS	625	786	126.0%	68	177	260.0%	680	175	26.0%
AALS	769	280	36.0%	106	72	67.0%	194	305	156.0%

It is unclear from the analysis of the data reported by Library Systems over the 1999-2001 period, how Library Systems set targets in any of the measurement areas and why they failed to achieve or exceeded their targets. It is also unclear how they used data on their performance in Year 1 of the TANG grant in setting targets in the following years. For example, some Systems held the target constant over the three years while others increased the targets significantly in Year 3 from the Year 1 target and yet other Systems decreased the targets or varied the targets up and down. Some of the variation in targets set from one year to the next may be associated with variations in the use of TANG funds between years.

Table IV.6


FY1999-2001 Targets

Library Systems	Library Staff Assisted			Library Staff Trained			Instructional Materials Provided
	Target 1999	Target 2000	Target 2001	Target 1999	Target 2000	Target 2001	Target 1999	Target 2000	Target 2001
BCLS	240	420	210	60	60	60	600	600	300
TPLS	551	311	240	335	181	240	120	311	840
CTLS	400	600	800	200	80	80	200	100	400
STLS	244	180	260	--	140	108	100	61	432
TTPLS	252	252	270	8	8	8	262	262	274
NTRLS	420		2336	70		108	800		1860
NETLS	50	0	500	65	134	500	200	134	225
HALS	750	400	--	14	40	40	150	50	100
WTLS	150	300	625	150	300	68	165	330	680
AALS	419	419	769	--	--	106	419	419	194

Setting targets also appeared to be unrelated to the extent to which Library Systems managed to meet their target during each of the three years under review. As seen in the table below, percent of targets achieved varied greatly from year to year within the three areas of performance, but the variance was not consistent and did not follow any patterns.

Table IV.7


FY1999-2001 Percent of Target Met

Library Systems	Library Staff Assisted			Library Staff Trained			Instructional Materials Provided
	% of Target Met 1999	% of Target Met 2000	% of Target Met 2001	% of Target Met 1999	% of Target Met 2000	% of Target Met 2001	% of Target Met 1999	% of Target Met 2000	% of Target Met 2001
BCLS	28.3%	11.4%	199.0%	6.7%	0.0%	155.0%	87.7%	3.5%	134.0%
TPLS	0.0%	224.0%	204.0%	0.0%	88.0%	116.0%	0.0%	141.0%	141.0%
CTLS	209.5%	356.0%	118.0%	79.0%	91.0%	128.0%	116.0%	117.0%	147.0%
STLS	100.0%	0.0%	270.0%	--	0.0%	7.4%	100.0%	0.0%	6.5%
TTPLS	0.0%	0.0%	148.5%	0.0%	0.0%	687.5%	0.0%	0.0%	50.4%
NTRLS	32.0%		90.0%	24.0%		273.0%	0.0%		89.0%
NETLS	188.0%	0.0%	67.0%	145.0%	92.0%	21.0%	141.0%	92.0%	222.0%
HALS	0.0%	0.0%	--	121.0%	190.0%	205.0%	390.0%	761.0%	84.0%
WTLS	0.0%	202.0%	126.0%	0.0%	8.0%	260.0%	0.0%	0.0%	26.0%
AALS	100.0%	100.0%	36.0%	--	--	67.0%	100.0%	100.0%	156.0%

Similarly, Library Systems did not appear to have taken into consideration the target they set and their actual performance in one year in setting targets for the following year. The data analysis indicates that target setting was done independently from year to year with little consideration to actual performance.

Table IV.8


FY1999-2001 Performance

Library Systems	Library Staff Trained 1999			Library Staff Trained 2000			Library Staff Trained 2001
	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target	Target	Actual	% of Target
BCLS	60	4	6.7%	60	0	0.0%	60	93	155.0%
TPLS	335	0	0.0%	181	160	88.0%	240	278	116.0%
CTLS	200	158	79.0%	80	73	91.0%	80	102	128.0%
STLS	--	--	--	140	0	0.0%	108	8	7.4%
TTPLS	8	0	0.0%	8	0	0.0%	8	55	687.5%
NTRLS	70	17	24.0%				108	295	273.0%
NETLS	65	94	145.0%	134	123	92.0%	500	107	21.0%
HALS	14	17	121.0%	40	76	190.0%	40	82	205.0%
WTLS	150	0	0.0%	300	24	8.0%	68	177	260.0%
AALS	--	--	--	--	--	--	106	72	67.0%

The data that Library Systems reported to TSLAC with regard to number of trained staff do not indicate how many people have actually been trained or the specific levels of training they received. These data also do not identify the number and percent of member libraries which have staff who received "basic" and "advanced" training. Hence, these data do not help TSLAC determine the percent of the member libraries that have in-house staff with specific levels of technology-related skills.

Finally, the data that Library Systems provided to TSLAC on the TANG funding did not have any impact measures. Impact measures for this grant may include:

• Unduplicative number and percent of member libraries whose staff received "basic" training.
• Unduplicative number and percent of member libraries whose staff received "advanced training.
• Reduction in number of calls to the Library System for assistance with "basic" technology problems.
• Number of calls to Library System on more advanced issues.
• Number of member library staff receiving more advanced technology training.
• Extent to which member libraries are able to trouble-shoot.
• Extent to which member libraries have become more self-sufficient.
• Patron use of technology.

Part One, Section Three | Part One, Section Five