Community Projects

The Data and Decision Sciences Lab is constantly working with local community partners on several data related projects that have a local and global impact.

Libraries plays a crucial and integral role in providing educational and technological access for the public. People on the lower-income spectrum would typically be more reliant on public accesses to resources that are generally provided by libraries such as computers, books, internet, music, printers, study rooms, entertainment, etc. The limiting factor for how libraries across the nation maintain its abilities to adequately staff and provide resources to the public depends on how well these facilities are funded. Yet, the allocation of how funding is determined depends on various factors such as structural jurisdiction forms, service areas, population sizes, etc. Improving the performance of public libraries has always been the common concern of many Public Affairs and Community Services Center. This project helped the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha utilize the public library survey data to analyze and understand what drives the performance of national public libraries. The project focused on how horizontal fiscal transfer impacts the performance of public libraries in the U.S. Intergovernmental structure and fiscal relationships can either positively and/or negatively impact the quality and equity of how provision of services is provided by these libraries. Information came from a self-reported national survey that was conducted in the Fiscal Year of 2015 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.