libraryassessment.info

For a description of the poster, please see the abstract (#7, page 13).

You can view the poster here.

For those interested in the progress of the process described in the poster, you may contact Kay (kay.chapa@utsouthwestern.edu) or Scott (scott.carpenter@utsouthwestern.edu).

On a related matter, an “Affinity Lunch Group” met on the last day of the conference to share issues and concerns pertaining to creating a centralized “data repository.” A summary of the discussion will be posted soon by Holly Eggleston, USCD Libraries (heggleston@ucsd.edu).

This year UVic Libraries are looking into conducting a survey of all our distance ed students, as we noticed that their responses to LibQUAL+ indicated that they had concerns that were not being evaluated by that survey. I am just wondering if anyone has implemented a survey of distance ed students and if so is there any advice or information that you would consider passing on to me? I’d really appreciate it. Please leave a comment here or reply by email to cgarside at uvic.ca. Thanks in advance!

Chelsea Garside, UVic

Amos Lakos has generously shared his photos from this year’s conference.  For those who attended, take a look and relive the experience.  For those who couldn’t make it, get a sense of the week (without having had to endure the unusual Seattle heat).

See these links for a description of the Library Assessment Conference through Wanda Dole’s eyes as she shares the experience with her staff in her library’s blog:

http://blog.zsr.wfu.edu/pd/2008/08/05/library-assessment-conference/

http://blog.zsr.wfu.edu/pd/2008/08/06/library-assessment-conference-contd/

And, also … another blog posting:

Should we serve bagels or croissants? An irreverent look at library assessment

A blog posting by Maira Bundza:

http://mairaslibraryblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/library-assessment-conference-08.html

For public libraries in the USA, a primary assessment model is the Public Library Association’s planning-for-results program, an approach quite similar to performance measurement practice in municipal management and public administration. The National Center for Public Productivity (http://www.ncpp.us) promotes government performance assessment by offering manuals, bibliographies, survey instruments, best practice resources, and distance learning courses. They operate an e-government institute and provide certification in public performance measurement. They emphasize citizen-driven performance measurement.

A topic I hope we can explore further in 2010 is credibility of assessment data, a recent emphasis in performance measurement in the federal government: The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires federal agencies to assess completeness and reliability of performance data (i.e. data created in compliance with the Govt. Performance and Results Act of 1993). The GAO wants agencies to “foster transparency to the public and assist decision makers in understanding the quality of an agency’s data.” (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0438.pdf, p. 66) GAO also recommends that agencies identify data limitations and possible actions to remedy these, and to report data verification procedures as well as efforts to improve the procedures.

We have posted a web page that includes contact information for the panelists along with links to some of the documents we have available to share.
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/atatarka/aplans.html

We welcome any comments or questions.

Regards,
Agnes Tatarka, University of Chicago

We have posted a web page with links to our wayfinding powerpoint presentation, our full study instrument from the 2007 follow-up study, and the paper we wrote for the 2006 Library Assessment Conference. We welcome any questions or news about your wayfinding study. http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/atatarka/wayfinding.html

Agnes Tatarka and David Larsen, University of Chicago

In an effort to be a little “green” at this conference, Columbia is posting a link to its poster session, “Building an Assessment Program at Columbia University Libraries: Year One,” rather than producing handouts.

This poster session highlights early successes of the assessment program, describes the process of researching and writing an assessment plan, illustrates the structure and mission of the Assessment Working Group (AWG), discusses the challenges the AWG faced in its first year, and outlines goals for the assessment program in year two.

Please leave a comment or question about the poster here on the blog, we’re looking forward to feedback!