SPEC Kit 303: Library Assessment (December 2007)

Wright, Stephanie; White, Lynda S.

doi:10.29242/spec.303

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…In 2007, Wright and White, as members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), surveyed ARL member libraries and developed a SPEC Kit that examined the state of library assessment in ARL libraries. 6 They found that assessment activities had increased significantly among member libraries, though how assessment activities were coordinated organizationally varied widely. They found that 46 percent of responding libraries had an assessment plan but that only 19 percent believed their staff had the necessary assessment skills and expertise and 11 percent believed their staff development programs in assessment were adequate.…”

Section: March 2015mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The same characteristics were analyzed to determine the most significant hindering factors shown in table 6. Column 1 shows those facilitating factors whose absence is Access to professional development/training/ education (15) Assessment is a priority of library administration (85% report it as a facilitating factor) associated with the greatest number of libraries without a culture of assessment.…”

Section: Most Significant Facilitating and Hindering Factors For Builmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Libraries

Farkas¹,

Hinchliffe²,

Houk³

2015

CRL

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In an environment in which libraries need to demonstrate value, illustrating how the library contributes to student learning is critical. Gathering and analyzing data to tell the library's story as well as identify areas for improvement require commitment, time, effort, and resources-all components of a culture of assessment. This paper presents the results of a survey designed to understand what factors facilitate the development of a culture of assessment of student learning in academic libraries and what factors may hinder it. Unlike previous research in this area, which has focused on case studies and surveys with nonrepresentative samples, the authors conducted a systematic survey of academic libraries at four-year institutions in the United States and achieved a 42 percent response rate. The results suggest certain factors are highly associated with a culture of assessment and provide guidance to administrators and front-line librarians working to build such a culture.n Lakos and Phipps' seminal work on creating an assessment culture in academic libraries, they included a definition of a culture of assessment from a presentation given by Lakos, Phipps, and Wilson, which is often quoted:A Culture of Assessment is an organizational environment in which decisions are based on facts, research, and analysis, and where services are planned and delivered in ways that maximize positive outcomes and impacts for customers and stakeholders. A Culture of Assessment exists in organizations where staff care to know what results they produce and how those results relate to customers' expectations. Organizational mission, values, structures, and systems support behavior that is performance and learning focused. By this definition, a culture of assessment is conceived of at the organizational level and is largely fostered by the leadership. The description also suggests that, in some

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Section: March 2015mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Most Significant Facilitating and Hindering Factors For Builmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Libraries

Farkas¹,

Hinchliffe²,

Houk³

2015

CRL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Implementing them effectively requires training in methods that are also used for research. 99 What librarians may need to consider is operating as practitioner-researchers, using research methods to inform their problem solving and assessments to confirm them. In her article about this approach, Watson-Boone indicates that this approach doesn't have to be followed by publication.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Research and Publication in Academic Libraries

Sassen

Wahl²

2014

CRL

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This study concerns administrative support provided to encourage the research and publishing activities of academic librarians working in Association of Research Libraries member libraries. Deans and directors of these libraries were asked to respond to an online survey concerning the support measures that their libraries provide, as well as their thoughts on support measures that academic libraries should provide. When compared to earlier studies, the survey results indicate that most support measures have grown over time. Results also suggest increases in the requirements for publication in academic libraries, as well as in the number of libraries at which librarians have faculty status.esearch and publication are included in the requirements for promotion and tenure or continuing appointment at many academic libraries. However, not all academic librarians are prepared to meet these requirements because of time constraints and a lack of training. In many cases, academic librarians received little or no training in research methodology or scholarly writing in their graduate library education.1 A 2010 study of 49 library and information sciences programs accredited by the American Library Association revealed that only 61 percent of the programs required their students to take a research methods course. 2An academic librarian who has not written a thesis or dissertation almost certainly has a less rigorous educational background in research methods than the typical teaching faculty member. In most cases, the typical teaching faculty member acquired research skills by designing and conducting research, and then by documenting and defending this research in a doctoral dissertation. A faculty member who has gone through this process benefits in several ways.3 The process of preparing a dissertation provides experience in research, writing, and scholarship that is much more extensive than the usual graduate school research paper. The dissertation may be reworked into a series of articles and may serve as a platform for further research. The dissertation advisors help the student assimilate into academia by serving as writing and research mentors as well as academic coaches. This graduate education experience prepares students for the rights and responsibilities of faculty membership by stressing the values of academic freedom, scientific norms, research methodology, and the ethics of scholarship.

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“…4 Wright and White conducted a research project for ARL on the topic of library assessment, which was published as a SPEC kit in 2007. 5 One question they asked was which units were assessed during the five years before the survey's distribution. Of the sixty-seven libraries that responded to this question, 75.8 percent indicated that they had done some form of assessment of cataloging; 79 percent had done some form of assessment of acquisitions and 67.2 percent had done some form of assessment of preservation.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Services Assessment

Mugridge¹

2014

LRTS

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Academic libraries regularly conduct assessment of library services through the use of rubrics or assessment tools such as LibQUAL (www.libqual.org/home). Technical services activities are frequently assessed; however, the assessment is typically limited to the evaluation of specific processes. This study was designed to explore assessment activities in Pennsylvania’s academic libraries. The author designed a survey to investigate whether technical services activities are assessed, how they are assessed, who is responsible for assessment, how the results of assessment activities are shared with others, and how those results are used to improve services or for other purposes. Sixty-three libraries responded to the survey (a 53 percent response rate). Survey results show that 90 percent of academic libraries in Pennsylvania have conducted some form of assessment of technical services activities but that most of that assessment is quantitative in nature.

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SPEC Kit 303: Library Assessment (December 2007)

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Libraries

Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Libraries

Fostering Research and Publication in Academic Libraries

Technical Services Assessment

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