I want to communicate what I believe is the single most useful message about library assessment. This is not an announcement of a new data analytic technique or some all-purpose library value calculator. Nor is it advice on the importance of aligning work and measurement with vision and strategy, recognizing the political pitfalls of evaluation, or [...]
Archive for the ‘Library assessment’ Category
Library Assessment 101
Posted in Library assessment, tagged evaluation, learning organization, management decision-making, objectivity, program improvement, self-evaluation on May 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Once Size Doesn’t Fit All
Posted in Library assessment, Research, tagged library evaluation, localism, outcome evaluation on May 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Library assessment has come to rely on outcome assessment as the most appropriate indication of library performance. Yet, outcome studies are difficult to conduct, and are typically funded at regional and national levels. Public libraries, though, claim to deliver services specifically tailored to their communities. Upcoming efforts in library outcome evaluation will need to contend with this contradiction.