Benchmarking and the knowledge industry: a case study

Abstract

Case study of the knowledge Industry Libraries (IDCs) owned by the Industrial Social Service System (Sesi) located in Alagoas (25), Paraíba (10), Pernambuco (18), Rio Grande do Norte (10), specifically the ones located in public areas , aiming to investigate their performance and present opportunities to increase attendance by using benchmarking. It includes a literature review of national projects that use benchmarking, as well as, other studies that discuss and examine this procedure. In order to analyze the data, two indices were created: the municipal scope and efficiency, relating the attendance to IDCs to the population at school age (PIE) of each municipality and to monthly working hours respectively. Eight stages are suggested to perform a benchmarking policy for IDCs based on existing preconditions in the system composed by approximately 275 units. This policy could be also applied to the municipal public library system.

Keywords:
Knowledge Industry Libraries; Benchamarking; Public policy