April 2026 · · iIA Specialized Courses
Data Analytics and Dashboards for Decision-Making (KPIs · evidence · impact)
Turn your library data into decisions: KPI dashboard, collection analysis and impact reports ready for management.
Your team builds an operational key indicator dashboard, learns to analyze collection usage, detect gaps and communicate institutional impact with real data from your library.
Problems it solves
- Collection decisions based on intuition, not data.
- Usage reports that arrive late and in formats hard to interpret.
- Library impact invisible to management and funding bodies.
- Data scattered across multiple systems without integration.
Results achieved
- Base KPI dashboard implemented and operational.
- Data dictionary and update plan with assigned owners.
- Executive impact report ready to present to management.
- Installed capacity to maintain and evolve the analytics system.
Course structure
Why data matters and what decisions can be grounded in it. Data sources in a library: ILS, repository, digital platforms, surveys. Metric types: usage, impact, efficiency and satisfaction.
How to select relevant indicators according to library objectives. Workshop: co-defining the group's priority KPIs. Data dictionary: what to measure, how to calculate it and who is responsible.
Exporting and cleaning data from existing systems. Common formats: CSV, Excel, basic APIs. Workshop: prepare the initial dataset for the dashboard.
Visualization tools: accessible and open-source options. Dashboard design: information hierarchy, appropriate charts by data type. Workshop: first dashboard visualizations.
Filters, segmentations and period views. Collection analytics: most and least used titles, thematic gaps, candidates for withdrawal or acquisition. Workshop: complete the base dashboard.
How to use AI for text analysis, pattern detection and data narrative. Workshop: drafting the executive impact report. Presentation structure for management and funding bodies.
Options for automatic dashboard updates: scripts, connectors, alerts. Maintenance plan: frequency, owners and KPI review cycle.
Full dashboard review with group feedback. Defining the implementation plan for each institution. Next steps: scaling and new analytics use cases.
Frequently asked questions
Basic knowledge of Excel or Google Sheets is helpful. No programming required. The instructor guides every step of the workshop.
Accessible and open-source or low-cost tools. Adapted based on the group's context.
Implemented KPI base dashboard, data dictionary, update plan and executive impact report.
Library director, service coordinators and anyone who prepares usage reports or makes collection decisions.
At least 8 hours to complete workshops and adapt the dashboard and report to your institutional context.
