AHP-based evaluation for the performance of digital libraries in China

Digital Library (DL) has dramatically changed the way in which a traditional library functions and has become one of the main research hotspots in library development. DL is now undergoing rapid growth in China, and it has already been effectively used in a lot of Chinese libraries. However, there has been scant research into verifying the present performance of these DLs. This paper aims to suggest an evaluation method for DLs in China using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (ARP) method. This paper proposes a hierarchy evaluation structure composed of five modules, twelve evaluation factors, and applies the Non-dimension Standardization Method and Fuzzy Evaluation Method to value quantitative and qualitative factors, respectively. This evaluation method will assist DL managers to find out the performance level of a DL and further identify areas for improvement and future work.