The Assessment Environment in North American Research Libraries

1
The Assessment Environment in North American
Research Libraries

• Stephanie Wright, University of Washington
• Lynda S. White, University of Virginia
• 7th Northumbria Conference
• August 16, 2007

2
Background

• Annual statistical surveys
• Many other programs LibQUAL, stats training,
  Scholarly Communication, salary data
• SPEC Kits http//www.arl.org/resources/pubs/spec/
• complete.shtml

3
Response by Type of Library
US public 2.7
Canadian academic (public) 12.3
US academic (private) 21.9
US academic (public) 63
4
Survey Information

• May-June 2007
• 60 response rate
• 99 do assessment other than routine ARL
  statistics

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Assessment Methods Used by 80
6
Assessment Methods Less Used
7
When Assessment Began
8
Growth of Assessment
9
Impetus for Assessment
10
Year Current Programs Were Established
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Responsibility for Assessment
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Assessment Tasks
13
Assessment Tasks
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Units Assessed
15
Use of Assessment Results
16
Culture of Assessment
17
Staff Abilities

• Strengths
• Formal presentations
• Formal reports
• Draw conclusions
• Make recommendations
• Project management
• Facilitate focus groups

• Weaknesses
• Sampling
• Research design
• Focus group research
• Survey design
• Qualitative analysis

McKenna, J. and Jordan, I. (2007) Assessment
Strategies for Library Services. Presented at
Ontario Library Associations Super Conference,
Toronto, Ontario.
18
Training for Assessment
19
Assessment Venues
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Training Needs

• Training in the basics
• Hands-on training
• Training on specific tools and techniques

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Professional Development Needs
More practical instruction on how to formulate
survey and interview questions. Theres a lot of
discussion about dos and donts, but no
opportunity to learn in a collaborative, hands on
environment. Practical level assessment
training for staff at all levels of the library.
When you dont have an expert on staff where do
you begin with assessment.
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Contact Information

• http//lib.washington.edu/assessment/
• 2007NorthumbriaLWSW.pps
• Stephanie Wright, University of Washington
• swright_at_u.washington.edu
• Lynda S. White, University of Virginia
• lsw6y_at_virginia.edu