Library assessment is a process undertaken by libraries to learn about the needs of users (and non-users) and to evaluate how well they support these needs, in order to improve library facilities, services and resources. In many libraries successful library assessment is dependent on the existence of a 'culture of assessment' in the library whose goal is to involve the entire library staff in the assessment process and to improve
customer service.
Although most
academic libraries have collected data on the size and use of their collections for decades, it is only since the late 1990s that many have embarked on a
systematic process of assessment (see sample workplans) by surveying their users as well as their collections. Today, many academic libraries have created the position of Library Assessment Manager in order to coordinate and oversee their assessment activities. In addition, many libraries publish on their web sites the improvements that were implemented following their surveys as a way of demonstrating accountability to survey participants.
Several libraries have undertaken
renovation
Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...
or expansion projects as a result of their assessment activities as well as enhance resource discovery tools, improve web site usability and stop redundant services.
Tools
In order to determine what is important to library users and how satisfied they are with services, resources and physical space, library assessment utilizes a variety of research methods such as:
website usability testing,
observation
Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. Th ...
, 'In-Library Use' surveys,
focus groups,
interviews,
wayfinding,
balanced scorecard
A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well structured report, that can be used by managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their control and to monitor the consequences arising from t ...
, furniture usability,
photo
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
and
mapping surveys,
organizational climate Organizational climate (sometimes known as corporate climate) is a concept that has academic meaning in the fields of organizational behavior and I/O psychology as well as practical meaning in the business world There is continued scholarly debate ...
,
statistics and satisfaction surveys. The most widely used library satisfaction survey is LibQUAL+, a service quality
evaluation survey developed by the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL) based on
ServQUAL
SERVQUAL is a multi-dimensional research instrument designed to capture consumer expectations and perceptions of a service along five dimensions that are believed to represent service quality. SERVQUAL is built on the expectancy-disconfirmation p ...
. Other satisfaction surveys are: the
SCONUL Satisfaction Survey, Insync Surveys (formerly Rodski), and Counting Opinions LibSat survey.
During last decades
diffusion of
public sector evaluation culture created prerequisites for libraries to guide
public administration principles. It enables public administration institutions and libraries among them to activate assessment of their activities. Even some authors suggested
public administration approach for assessment of the
library performance, that based on the following criteria's: (i) library
infrastructure; (ii)
innovations
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...
; (iii)
human resources; (iv) quality of the place.
USA, UK, Australia and Israel
Although library assessment has become almost ubiquitous in United States, Australia, UK and some European countries such as Italy and Denmark since 2000, it is still relatively uncommon elsewhere. Below are a selection of library assessment sites that show the multitude of activities undertaken by assessment teams:
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle ...
, USA;
University of Virginia, USA;
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
, UK,
Council of Australian University Libraries (CAUL).
One notable exception is Israel whose
University of Haifa Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library is a central academic library of the University of Haifa, and one of the largest in Israel. It is also one of the most progressive Israeli libraries in terms of service, collection, physical space, and lib ...
began a systematic process of library assessment in 2007, and has been conducting a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
version of the University of Washington's 'In-Library Use' survey since 2008, and LibQUAL+ Lite (also in Hebrew) since 2009 in three-yearly cycles.
Conferences
The library assessment community holds two
biennial
Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years.
In particular, it can refer to:
* Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...
conferences: the ''Library Assessment Conference (LAC)'' in USA and the
Library Performance Measurement Conference' (LibPMC), formerly the ''
Northumbria Performance Measurement
Performance measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and/or reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component.
Definitions of performance measurement tend to be predicated upon an ...
Conference'' which is generally held in
Europe. Also relevant are the annual ''
Qualitative and
Quantitative
Quantitative may refer to:
* Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties
* Quantitative analysis (disambiguation)
* Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry
* Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis
...
Methods in Libraries Conference'' (QQML) and the annual ''
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference'' (EBLIP).
Courses
Although courses on library assessment are not commonplace on the
curricula of
library schools Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from ...
, in the past few years several schools have opened courses, such as: the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science and the joint
Digital Library
A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital m ...
Program of
Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
Oslo and Akershus University College ( no, Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, abbr. HiOA) was the largest state university college in Norway from its establishment in 2011 until 2018, when it was transformed into Oslo Metropolitan University, the yo ...
, Norway,
Tallinn University,
Estonia, and the
University of Parma
The University of Parma ( it, Università degli Studi di Parma, UNIPR) is a public university in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is organised in nine departments. As of 2016 the University of Parma has about 26,000 students.
History
During the ...
, Italy.
University of Parma, Library Assessment course
References
Further reading
*Hernon, P. & Altman, E. (2010). ''Assessing Service Quality: Satisfying the Expectations of Library Customers''. Chicago, American Library Association.
*Hiller, S. & Porat, L. (2009)
Academic library as place: Users and uses
''8th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services'', Florence, Italy.
*Kyrillidou, M. (2009).
Item Sampling in Service Quality Assessment Surveys to Improve Response Rates and Reduce Respondent Burden: The 'LibQUAL+ Lite' Randomized Control Trial (RCT)
'. Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universi ...
, Illinois, USA.
*Matthews, J. (2007). ''The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services''. Westport, CN., Libraries Unlimited.
*Poll, R. & Boekhorst, P. T. (Eds.). (2007) ''Measuring Quality: Performance Measurement in Libraries''. 2nd rev. ed. Munich: K.G. Saur.
*Porat, L. (2010)
Marketing and assessment in academic libraries: A marriage of convenience or true love?
''3rd Library Assessment Conference'', Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, USA.
External links
ARL library assessment blog
{{Libraries and library science
Library management