The data framework: A collaborative tool for assessment at the UNLV libraries

Abstract

Keeping track of the data that academic libraries capture is a massive task. The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries developed a data framework as a tracking tool for data points. This framework is both a data dictionary and a manual that records data-gathering procedures. This ensures that the data is continually gathered and reported in the same way, and also ensures that institutional memory of those procedures is preserved, regardless of staff turnover. Additionally, the revised Data Framework, and the revision process, transformed staff attitudes about data reporting and strengthened the libraries' culture of assessment.