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Impact measures for libraries and information services

Bielefeld 2006. Impact measures for libraries and information services. Roswitha Poll Münster. Bielefeld 2006. The importance of libraries. What libraries ensure (IFLA). Democratic values. Cultural diversity. Libraries make a difference But who will believe it?.

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Impact measures for libraries and information services

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  1. Bielefeld 2006 Impact measures for libraries and information services Roswitha Poll Münster

  2. Bielefeld 2006 The importance of libraries What libraries ensure (IFLA) Democratic values Cultural diversity Libraries make a difference But who will believe it? The open information society Intellectual freedom Economic progress Information equality Information literacy Reduction of poverty

  3. impact outcome value Bielefeld 2006 input a contribution of work, information, or material activities activities change input into output output the amount produced, the results supplied the effect or influence of one person, thing, oraction, on another the consequence, visible or practical result oreffect of an event or activity outcome the importance or preciousness of something,the perception of actual or potential benefit

  4. Bielefeld 2006 Don Revill ACRL

  5. Bielefeld 2006 Differentoutcomes positive — negative direct/immediate — long-term actual — potential intended — unexpected Don Revill ACRL Peter Brophy

  6. Bielefeld 2006 Impact/outcome of cultural institutions changes in skills, competences, attitudes, behaviour • knowledge • information literacy • academic or professional success • social inclusion • individual well-being

  7. Bielefeld 2006 Outcomes of universities • recruitment and retention of students and excellent academic staff • effective teaching- high graduation rates - high grades in examinations - high employment rates after examination • effective research- high renown and use of research results and publications - high amount of special grants - awards, honours Evidence needed: The library supports these goals

  8. Bielefeld 2006 Problems of assessing outcome • Value and outcome of a service can differ between user groups • Data may not be available because of data protection rules • Results of projects are often not comparable because of different data collection methods • Long-term effects cannot be assessed as persons are no more available • All tested methods are time-consuming Influences on individuals are manifold

  9. Bielefeld 2006 Methods for assessing impact Quantitative measures "Surrogate measures" have to be used • tests assessing user skills before and after training on a service • performance monitoring / data mining • observation (unobtrusive) • analysis of documents and bibliographies compiled by users • correlation between library use and success

  10. Bielefeld 2006 Methods for assessing impact Qualitative measures • Surveys (print, telephone, online) • Interviews • Focus groups, discussion groups • Self-assessment of users • Facts and stories must be organized to show patterns The "anecdotal evidence" supports data

  11. Bielefeld 2006 User satisfaction as outcome measure? ACRL A change of behaviour? Or a basis for such change? Jennifer Cram

  12. Bielefeld 2006 Assessing impact Correlation of library use and academic success Library use, expressed by • Frequency (loans, visits) • Range of services used (reference service, user training, ILL) • Range of collections used (undergraduate collection, E-journals, special material) • Attendance at training sessions Success, expressed by • Duration of studies • Grades in exams • Student retention • Employment rate after exam • Quality of publications (impact factor,peer-review journals)

  13. Bielefeld 2006 Assessing impact The library's impact on information literacy Outcome of a specific training or series of trainings • surveys after instruction • pretest / posttest • self-assessment of users • behavioural observation • transaction logs • longitudinal studies • assessing changes in students' bibliographies

  14. Bielefeld 2006 Assessing impact Importance of the local library for research 3 • Percentage of material cited in academic publications • that was (could have been) retrieved via the local library. • Citations in • dissertations • student papers • publications of a faculty • 2 Estimated percentage of the information needed • for a publication / paper / report found via the local library • questionnaire/interview after publication

  15. Bielefeld 2006 Assessing impact Impact on social inclusion and community life 4 • Does the existence of a specific library / of libraries further • individual well-being • the quality of life in a society • - democracy • - social inclusion • - cultural life • - local identity • - life-long learning • Method: Assessing public opinion (users and / or non-users) as to the benefits of libraries and special library services • to the population (indirect benefit) • to the individual user (direct benefit)

  16. Bielefeld 2006 Assessing impact The financial value of libraries 5 • For every £1 of public funding • the British Library receives each year, • £4.4 is generated for the economy Assessing time costs (replacement value of a client's time) Users invest time and effort in order to use library services. The value that they - or their institution - place on that use must be at least as high as their „sacrifice“ of time. (Costs are calculated by time and average salary) Using the contingent valuation method • Willingness-to-pay What would users pay for the maintenance of a service? • Willingness-to-accept Which sum would users accept as equivalent for the deletion of a service?

  17. Bielefeld 2006 Using the results Libraries on the agenda (Claudia Lux) • accountability • decision making • resource management • improvement of services • promotion of the library's role

  18. Bielefeld 2006 Outcome projects eVALUEd: in "evidence base", University of Central England: Toolkit for evaluating electronic information serviceshttp://www.evalued.uce.uk/index.htm IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services): outcome-based evaluation of projectshttp://www.imls.gov/index.htm ARL New Measures Initiative: several projects - Learning outcomes - Higher education outcomes research review - MINES (Measuring the impact of networked electronic services)http://www.arl.org/stats/newmeas/index.html

  19. Bielefeld 2006 Outcome projects IBEC: Information School of the University of Washington and University of Michigan School of Information: Toolkit for assessing the impact of information in communitieshttp://ibec.ischool.washington.edu/default1024.aspx SCONUL and LIRG (Library and Information Research Group): impact initiative and mailing listhttp://www.sconul.ac.uk/activities/performance/impact.html IFLA Section Statistics and Evaluation: working group on outcome/impact; bibliography of literature and projects worldwide http://www.ulb.uni-muenster.de/outcome.html

  20. (Goethe: Faust)

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