MATTHEWS, Joseph R(onald) 1942-

PERSONAL: Born April 15, 1942, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Oliver Ronald and Jeanne Mary (Doocy) Matthews; married Martha Enid, August 3, 1968; children: Paul, Erin. Education: California State University, B.S., 1972; University of California—Irvine, M.B.A., 1974.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Geac Computers, 11 Allstate Pkwy., Markham, Ontario L3R 9T8, Canada.

CAREER: Library automation and information systems consultant. J. Matthews & Associates, Inc., Grass Valley, CA, president, 1974-86; Inlex, Inc., Monterey, CA, vice president, 1986-88; Geac Computers, Markham, Ontario, Canada, vice president of operations, 1988—.

MEMBER: American Library Association, American Society for Information Science.

WRITINGS:

(With others) The County Information Systems Directory, 1975, Lexington Books (Lexington, MA), 1976.

Choosing an Automated Library System: A PlanningGuide, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 1980.

Automated Circulation: Planning for a Region (LibraryJournal special report), R. R. Bowker (New York, NY), 1981.

Public Access to Online Catalogs: A Planning Guide for Managers, Online, Inc. (Weston, CT), 1982, revised 2nd edition published as Public Access to Online Catalogs, Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 1985.

(Editor, with others) Using Online Catalogs: ANationwide Survey: A Report of a Study Sponsored by the Council on Library Resources, Neal-Schuman (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor) A Reader on Choosing an Automated LibrarySystem, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 1983.

(Editor, with Kevin Hegarty) Automated Circulation:An Examination of Choices, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 1984.

Directory of Automated Library Systems ("Library Automation Planning Guide" series), Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 1985.

(Editor) The Impact of Online Catalogs, Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 1986.

Guidelines for Selecting Automated Systems, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 1986.

Internet Outsourcing Using an Application ServiceProvider ("How-to-Do-It Manuals for Libraries" series), Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.

The Bottom Line: Determining and Communicating the Value of the Special Library, Libraries Unlimited (Westport, CT), 2002.

(With Thomas R. Kochtanek) Library InformationSystems: From Library Automation to Distributed Information Access Solutions ("Library and Information Science Text" series), Libraries Unlimited (Westport, CT), 2002.

(With Mary Helen Gillespie) Service Providers: ASPs,ISPs, MSPs, and WSPs ("Wiley Tech Brief" series), John Wiley & Sons (New York, NY), 2002.

Measuring for Results: The Dimension of PublicLibrary Effectiveness, Libraries Unlimited (Westport, CT), 2004.

Technology Planning: Preparing and Updating aLibrary Technology Plan, Libraries Unlimited (Westport, CT), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including Information Outlook.

SIDELIGHTS: Joseph R. Matthews is a library automation consultant and the author of a number of texts and guides for professionals in the field. He is the coauthor of Library Information Systems: From Library Automation to Distributed Information Access Solutions, a four-part textbook that provides library information managers, administrators, consultants, and advanced students with information on the technology to date, and a history from the integrated library system (ILS) to an environment that now includes digital libraries, e-books, and Web portals. "The book is the single most comprehensive source of the literature on library systems design and planning," wrote Edwin-Michael Cortez in Portal. "The authors enrich the technical side of the topic with discussions on information literacy, system manager characteristics, usability guidelines, impacts on library operations, ergonomics, the history of library automation, and the impact of information on library staff." The book provides resources that will help users stay up to date and includes comments on trends that may impact the future.

In Measuring for Results: The Dimensions of Public Library Effectiveness, Matthews notes that libraries must demonstrate their value to the taxpayers and decision makers who control the purse strings. He emphasizes the importance of mission statements, strategic plans, and other tools that should be used to measure how well the needs of the users are met. Library Journal reviewer Rhea Joyce Rubin called Measuring for Results "an excellent introduction to the many and varied methods of measuring social and economic impacts of public library services on individual users and on communities."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Libraries, April, 1983, review of Public Access to Online Catalogs: A Planning Guide for Managers, p. 205; August, 2004, Cathleen Bourdon, review of Measuring for Results: The Dimension of Public Library Effectiveness, p. 86.

Booklist, June 1, 2003, Linda Loos Scarth, review of Library Information Systems: From Library Automation to Distributed Information Access Solutions p. 1831.

Library Journal, April 15, 2004, Rhea Joyce Rubin, review of Measuring for Results, p. 134.

Portal, October, 2003, Edwin-Michael Cortez, review of Library Information Systems, p. 690.*