New instruments for impact assessment: study of an academic library (original) (raw)
Related papers
Three impact evaluations in the province of Barcelona libraries
2017
In recent years, Barcelona Provincial Council has followed a strategy of evaluating the impact of its library programmes. This article presents the impact evaluation results of three such programmes. The impact evaluation of ‘easy-to-read’ clubs was made using a before-and-after methodology, and it showed a 54% increase in participants’ reading habits, and an 18% increase in their language skills. Digital training courses for over 55s were evaluated through randomized control trials. Participants increased their use of communication apps by 15%, and their use of Internet for leisure purposes and access to media by 18%. Finally, a reading promotion programme called ‘Velocirepte’ was analysed to evaluate its impact on the use of library services, through a quasi-experimental matching methodology. On average, participants took out almost 9 more library books per year than the control group.
Measuring the Impact of Libraries
2017
of paper for the 38th Annual IATUL Conference Measuring the impact of libraries In 2016, our university was asked to provide input to the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research’s white paper on quality in higher education. At a meeting with the pro-rector for education, who is my boss, I said that we should also highlight the importance of the libraries. She answered that it is good to have libraries, but do they actually contribute to the quality of education? If so, how? Of course the libraries contribute to improving the quality of education, I said, there are many surveys documenting the fact. I’ll get back to that, I said! My boss doesn't have a negative attitude to libraries, which she considers to be a good thing, but she doesn't know enough about what contributions a library can make to education and research. Nor do I, for that matter. We lack documentation. Documentation is a crucial factor in an age when many institutions can no longer afford to spend money ...
Assessment of Impact and Value in the Academic Libraries
2019
Librarians and academic libraries managers are questioning the growing risk of the academic library visibility because electronic scientific resources are increasing so fast. This paradigm may make libraries especially vulnerable when institutions have to make difficult financial decisions, such as cuts intended for specific departments or areas of activity. In the current circumstances, it is particularly important for libraries to be able to show that they function efficiently, but also that they provide services with impact and value to the success of institutional goals. There is a lot of literature of assessment academic libraries; here we present a brief literature review. In times of severe economic downturn and budget constraints these methods may still provide useful data for Library Advocacy. Negotiate and defend services by demonstrating their impact and value to the governments and society.
Recent developments in library evaluation, statistics and measurement - and why they are important
2014
This paper identifies six key changes in library evaluation over the past five years and suggests why they may be important for IFLA delegates. Deciding which changes to feature was difficult because library evaluation is a highly contentious area (as is evaluation more generally) and because practice across the world is partial, patchy and uneven. The authors summarize their choices by noting a gradual move in the library evaluation field towards deeper understanding of the nature and significance of evaluation. Their key propositions are that: the demand for evaluation expertise is beginning to outstrip supply; there is a technology-enabled shift in research and evaluation focus from the world of the library to the information world of potential library users; there is growing experience of conducting library impact evaluation across countries; there is a dawning recognition that sustaining impact evaluation efforts is a core element in ensuring sustainability of libraries; there ...
Brazilian Journal of Information Science Research Trends, 2013
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the thematic of customer-centered quality in academic libraries and contribute to the importance of quality evaluations based on the perception of their customers for this type of library. It is especially important in Brazil, where evaluations of higher education institutions and their infrastructure items, including libraries, are compulsory. It highlights a specific methodology, the LibQUAL+®, created in the United States and used in hundreds of libraries around the world, but without any perceptible application in Brazil as yet. From the analysis of LibQUAL+® assessment procedures, the article aims to present the benefits that can be achieved from the application of this methodology as well as it intends to verify the possibilities of using it in academic libraries in Brazil. It concludes that the methodology presents aspects which can support the academic library management, as identifying strong and weak points of the services, becoming closer to the library´s customers' needs, comparing the library performance with other libraries and defining the best practices in the field, besides contributing to a more professional management of the libraries.
ENADE indicators for themanagement of university libraries
Perspectivas Em Ciencia Da Informacao, 2020
As funcoes das bibliotecas universitarias (BUs) sao de fornecer a infraestrutura bibliografica, documentaria e informacional para subsidiar as atividades cientificas, alem de divulgarem o conhecimento produzido por seu corpo academico para a sociedade. Para alcancarem a sua missao as BUs precisam ser avaliadas e, no Brasil, essa avaliacao e feita pelo Exame Nacional de Desempenho de Estudantes (ENADE) por meio do Questionario do Estudante (QE). O presente trabalho avaliou a qualidade dos indicadores utilizados no QE para a avaliacao das BUs. Essa qualidade foi avaliada quanto a presenca das seguintes propriedades essenciais para os bons indicadores: estabilidade, validade e importância dos parâmetros. Para a analise da estabilidade, foi analisada a repeticao das perguntas do QE no periodo de 2004 a 2014. Quanto a validade, foi feita a analise de correlacao entre os resultados obtidos no QE com outro indicador teoricamente relacionado. Ja para a analise da importância, foi formado um...
Adoption of the Guidelines for Higher Education Libraries in Portugal: Contributions to Assessment
LIBER Quarterly, 2020
Three years after the publication and large-scale dissemination of the guideline document "Recommendations for Higher Education Libraries", we seek to understand the extent to which this document has been adopted by librarians and how practices and experiences have been introduced in Portuguese higher education libraries. This paper aims to assess the application of the Recommendations on user training, particularly in information literacy; in digital content management, including data and scientific Adoption of the Guidelines for Higher Education Libraries in Portugal 2 Liber Quarterly Volume 30 2020 production; and in the direct support to students, teachers and researchers, not forgetting topics of space management and information resources as a whole. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was used for higher education libraries in Portugal. The most implemented areas are information literacy and the management of institutional repositories, and support for editorial projects was the one with the lowest level of application.
Innovative impact planning and assessment through Global Libraries
Performance Measurement and Metrics, 2015
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to describe a range of innovative (for public library performance measurement and impact assessment) methods and tools developed by country teams as part of the Global Libraries (GL) initiative. Short reports are provided on: a return on investment study, a simplified data processing system for library managers and an online reporting system for public libraries in Ukraine; a study of the public image of Polish libraries in print mass media, two approaches to sustainability of performance measurement and impact assessment in Romania, through tools to conduct pop-up surveys and use of agricultural subsidies support data, assessments of changes in public library managers' planning efforts in Poland and of their perceptions of libraries and their own role, using Modified Delphi forecasting, in Lithuania, two ways of focussing on the world of public library users by engaging non-profit organizations in library research in Poland and conducting impact studies in virtual environments in Chile. Design/methodology/approach-A range of methods and tools and their uses are described. Findings-No specific research findings are reported. Research limitations/implications-All of these tools and methods have been (or are being) trialed in national public library contexts; some have been developed over several years. Practical implications-Useful for people in other (non-GL) countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation. Social implications-This paper is part of a GL effort to share what participants have learnt about impact planning and assessment in public libraries with the wider international libraries community.