Library Assessment in North America

1
Library Assessment in North America

• Stephanie Wright, University of Washington
• Lynda S. White, University of Virginia
• American Library Association
• Mid-Winter Conference
• January 11, 2008
• Association of Research Libraries Sessions

2
Background

• May-June 2007
• 74 respondents (60)
• 85 from US academic libraries
• 12 from Canadian academic libraries
• 3 from public libraries

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In the beginning
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Impetus for Assessment
Desire to know more about your customers 91.3
Investigation of possible new library services or resources 71.0
Desire to know more about your processes 65.2
Desire to identify library performance objectives 62.3
Need to reallocate library resources 55.1
Accountability requirements from your parent institution 37.7
Institutional or programmatic accreditation process 29.0
Other (please specify) 23.2
Proposal from staff member with assessment knowledge 17.4
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Assessment Methods
Used Currently Used Previously
Statistics gathering (e.g., e-resource usage, gate counts, ARL statistics, etc.) 98.6 1.4
Suggestion Box 82.2 8.2
Web usability testing 80.8 12.3
User interface usability 78.1 12.3
Surveys developed elsewhere (e.g., CSEQ, LibQUAL) 75.3 20.5
Focus Groups 69.9 21.9
Data mining and analysis 58.9 8.2
Facilities use studies 56.2 30.1
Statistics inventory 54.8 12.3
Student learning outcomes evaluations 54.8 15.1
Interviews 52.1 30.1
Online user feedback (pop-up windows, etc.) 52.1 24.7
Observation 50.7 30.1
Benchmarking 50.7 15.1
Locally designed user satisfaction survey 49.3 42.5
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Areas Assessed gt80
Website 100.0
Electronic Resources 98.4
User Instruction 97.6
Collections 97.6
Reference 96.0
Online Catalog 94.6
Facilities 94.0
Circulation/Reserve 93.8
Interlibrary Loan 93.4
Branch Libraries 88.5
Digital Initiatives 85.7
Shelving 84.8
Acquisitions 84.5
Selectors/Subject Liaisons 81.8
Cataloging 80.5
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Areas Assessed lt80
Staff Training/Development 79.8
Special Collections 77.9
IT Systems 76.7
Preservation 74.0
Work Climate 69.3
Other 57.1
Administration 56.3
Financial/Business Services 52.9
Development/Fundraising 45.5
Human Resources 43.1
Publicity/Marketing 37.3
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Responsibility for Assessment
9
Growth of Assessment
10
Importance of Assessment
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Assessment Tasks
Analyzes, interprets, and reports on data collected in assessment activities 95.9
Consults with staff on assessment methods and needs 93.9
Performs assessment activities 87.8
Monitors/coordinates assessment projects throughout the library 77.6
Coordinates collection of data across the library 75.5
Submits external surveys (ARL, ALS, NATC, American Library Directory, etc.) 69.4
Coordinates the reporting/archiving of the librarys statistical data 67.3
Fills requests for library data 67.3
Provides training on assessment topics 55.1
Other (please specify) 26.5
Approves assessment projects throughout the library 24.5
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Distribution of Results
Library Staff Parent Institution General Public
Web site 81 58 57
Library newsletter articles 65 51 39
Print reports (e.g., annual report) 71 57 26
Presentations 84 46 16
E-mail announcements 84 23 6
Campus newsletter articles 23 45 20
Other 6 0 0
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Assessment Website Content
answer options Staff-only Website Publicly Accessible Website N
General library statistics 69 53 71
Analysis of assessment activity results 62 47 63
Assessment data 55 28 48
Presentations 52 31 48
Publications 34 43 45
Online assessment tools (e.g., surveys) 45 21 38
Links to other library assessment sites or information 38 22 35
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Coordination with Other Units
Full-time Full-time Part-time Part-time Department Department Standing Committee Standing Committee Ad hoc Committee Ad hoc Committee
Yes 72.73 8 69.23 9 88.89 8 41.67 5 75.00 3
No 27.27 3 30.77 4 11.11 1 58.33 7 25.00 1
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Training for Assessment
answer options N
Yes, support is given for training provided outside of our institution 61.8 42
Yes, support is given for training provided by our parent institution 32.4 22
No, there is no particular training provided 29.4 20
Yes, training is provided by the library 27.9 19
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Training Programs
answer options N
Assessment methods 58.33 14
Basic statistics 45.83 11
Survey construction 45.83 11
Value of assessment 41.67 10
Data analysis 37.50 9
Other (please specify) 29.17 7
Data presentation 29.17 7
Sampling techniques 25.00 6
Report writing 12.50 3
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Assessment Networking
Who Have Attended Who Recommend Venue
ARL assessment-related meetings 83.6 100.0
Library Assessment Conference (e.g., Charlottesville 2006) 58.2 100.0
Other 20.9 100.0
ALA/LAMA sessions/discussion groups on assessment 52.2 97.1
ALA/ACRL sessions/discussion groups on assessment 59.7 92.5
Northumbria International Conferences on Performance Measurement in Libraries 16.4 90.0
Evidenced-Based Library and Information Practice Conference 16.4 81.8
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Culture of Assessment
Agreeing at 4 or 5 (1-5 scale)
Library administrators are committed to supporting assessment 79.4
Assessment results are used to improve my library 76.5
Assessment is evident in our library planning documents such as the strategic plan 73.5
My library evaluates its operations and programs for service quality 72.1
Assessment is a library priority 67.6
My library has local assessment resources and experts 50.0
There is support and/or rewards for staff who engage in assessment activities 42.6
Staff accepts responsibility for assessment activities 30.9
Staff have the necessary assessment expertise and skills 19.1
Staff development in assessment is adequate 16.2
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Assessment Plans
N
No, the library has no assessment plan 53.7 36
Yes, the library has a library-wide assessment plan 29.9 20
Yes, the library has an assessment plan for some departments/units 19.4 13
Yes, the library has an assessment plan for every department/unit 4.5 3
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Outcomes
Website 31 49
Facilities 23 37
Collection Development 19 30
Services 17 27
Access Services 14 22
Hours 14 22
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Web

• Redesign
• Usability
• Content
• Online catalog (29)
• Methods
• LibQUAL / surveys (26)
• Usability studies (16)
• Focus groups / interviews (10)

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Facilities

• Changing spaces
• Expanding / renovating old spaces
• Creating new spaces
• Repurposing
• Branch closures / consolidations
• Methods
• LibQUAL / surveys (35)
• Focus groups / interviews (17)

23
Services

• Getting out there
• Going virtual
• Liaisons
• Quality of service
• Methods
• Surveys
• Reference stats
• Focus groups / interviews

24
Collection Development

• Focusing the collection
• Going e
• Cancellations/subscriptions
• Subject areas
• Methods
• Usage stats (26)
• Surveys
• Focus groups / interviews

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Everything Else

• Hours
• Extended during interims/finals
• LibQUAL/surveys, focus groups gate counts
• Access Services
• Processes circ shelving
• ILL / document delivery
• Off-site storage
• Surveys, stats

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Everything Else

• Organizational Development (16)
• Equipment (13)
• Computers
• Photocopy / print
• Training (14)
• Instruction (6)
• Marketing (5)

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ARL SPEC Kit 303

• Stephanie Wright
• University of Washington
• swright_at_u.washington.edu
• Lynda S. White
• University of Virginia
• lsw6y_at_virginia.edu