Charles R. McClure, PhD

Francis Eppes Professor of Information Studies and
Director, Information Use Management & Policy Institute
College of Communication & Information, Florida State University

Phone: (850) 644.8109
Fax: (850) 644.9763
E-mail: cmcclure@lis.fsu.edu

Francis Eppes Professor

Dr. Charles R. McClure is the Francis Eppes Professor of Information Studies at the College of Communication & Information, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. He was selected as the first recipient of an Eppes endowed chair at FSU in 1999. From 1986-1999 he was at Syracuse University School of Information Studies - the last five as Distinguished Professor. He teaches courses in planning/evaluation of information services, U.S. government information policies, evaluation of networked services, library/information center management, and research methods. He completed his Ph.D. in Library and Information Services from Rutgers University.

Information Use Management & Policy Institute

As Director of the Information Use Management & Policy Institute at Florida State University, he and the Institute staff work on a range of funded research projects, promote interdisciplinary research efforts at the university and with other organizations, and actively participate in various information policy debates and initiatives at the state and federal level. The Information Institute, founded in 1999, provides a highly visible and active research arm of the School of Library & Information Studies. Since its inception in 1999 the Information Institute has received over $4.3 million in funded research.

Research

He has conducted research on a range of library planning, evaluation, and management topics. He served as the principal investigator for the Public Library Development Project, funded by the Public Library Association, which resulted in the 1987 ALA publication, Planning and Role Setting for Public Libraries and Output Measures for Public Libraries, 2^nd ed., both of which McClure is a co-author. Since that time he has published numerous books and papers on these topics.

He completed the manual “Assessing the Academic Networked Environment: Strategies and Options” (Coalition for Networked Information, 1996), which was funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In 1996 he completed a funded project that assessed the Maryland statewide network Sailor, summarized in the report Sailor Network Assessment Final Report: Findings and Future Sailor Network Development. Similar studies assessing networked services were completed in 1998 for Delaware, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

National Surveys

He completed national surveys in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 on Public Libraries & the Internet, with John Carlo Bertot, examining the use of the Internet by public libraries. These studies were funded and published by National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the American Library Association (ALA). He is currently a Co-PI with John Carlo Bertot on an effort continuing through 2009 to extend and expand these national surveys, funded by the American Library Association for $1.4 million.

McClure was the Co-Principal investigator for a study funded by OCLC (and others) assessing Digital Reference Services. This study resulted in the manual, Statistics, Measures and Quality Standards for Assessing Digital Reference Library Services; Guidelines and Procedures (2002). He completed, in January 2002 a project funded by the Association of Research Libraries that resulted in a manual describing a number of statistics and measures to describe use and users in the networked environment and a report assessing the utility of institutional outcome measures for academic libraries. He has also been to Principal Investigator on a range of initiatives related to the evaluation of the Florida Electronic Library (FEL) to assess the service and to conduct functionality and usability on the services conducted 2001 through 2007.

From 2003-2008 McClure was Co-Principal Investigator on three studies funded by the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services. The first is Librarian Education for the Collection, Analysis and Use of Library Networked Services and Resources Statistics which resulted in EMIS (E-metrics Instructional System) training modules related to networked statistics available on the Institute website in. The second study is Integrating Public Library Databases onto a Nationwide Digital Basemap for Enhanced Library Services: The U.S. Public Library Geographic Database which resulted in an online public access GIS for public library descriptive data. During 2005-2008 he is serving as the Co-Principal Investigator on a study also funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, Increasing the Effectiveness of Evaluation for Improved Public Library Decision Making.

Government Service

He has served as the principal investigator for studies related to the management of government information and information policy by agencies such as the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, the Government Printing Office, the National Technical Information Service, the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services, the National Science Foundation, the Government Accountability Office, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He has written extensively on topics related to U. S. government information, information resources management (IRM), and information policy including the co-authored works Federal Information Policies in the 1990's: Conflicts and Issues and Public Access to Government Information, 2nd ed. He is a frequent participant in executive and congressional briefing sessions and other meetings related to U.S. information policy. In 1997 he completed the study Evaluation of the Federal Government's Implementation of the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) funded by the U.S. General Services Administration. He was a Co-Principal investigator for a study assessing Federal electronic records management issues, funded by the National Archives in 2001. In January 2002 he completed (with others) a policy analysis of selected issues related to privacy for the U.S. Congress. During 2004 he completed a study assessing records management for the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Editorship

McClure is the founding Editor of Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy. He was a co-founder of Government Information Quarterly, has served as its Associate Editor since 1984 and has edited and participated in a number of theme issues on information policy issues related to Universal Service in the Global Networked Environment. During 2004 he served as the editor of Journal of Government Information.

Awards

His research has won a number of awards.

Information Management Consultant Services, Inc.

As president of Information Management Consultant Services, Inc., he consults with a number of academic, public, and special libraries; government agencies; professional associations; networks and electronic service providers; and corporations regarding the design, planning, implementation, management, and evaluation of information services. He is also a frequent speaker at professional meetings and conferences. For additional information contact Dr. McClure cmcclure@lis.fsu.edu