Many academic libraries have actively sought to articulate their value to campus stakeholders for well over a decade, and this demonstration of utility has become even more necessary as college and university budgets are scrutinized and even imperiled. This article will examine the experience of several academic libraries that have sought multiple…

Systematic evaluation of a library's collection can be a useful tool for collection development. After reviewing three evaluation methods and their usefulness for our small academic library, I undertook a usage-based evaluation, focusing on narrow segments of our collection that served specific undergraduate courses. For each section, I collected…

In an age of assessment and accountability, academic libraries feel much pressure to prove their value according to new university measurements of student success. This study describes a methodology for how libraries may examine student interactions with services to assess whether library usage impacts student grade point averages (GPAs) and…

Demonstrating the value of library and information services has been a theme in library discussions in recent years. The application of many different approaches to evaluation has waxed and waned together with the development of theories of evaluation across the humanities and social sciences. Over the past two decades research and activity on…

This article discusses a project undertaken to assess the journals in a Big Deal package by applying a weighted value algorithm measuring quality, utility, and value of individual titles. Carried out by a national library consortium in Canada, the project confirmed the value of the Big Deal package while providing a quantitative approach for…

Presents an overview of library collection evaluation techniques described in the literature--list-checking, quantitative analysis, use studies, and subject specialist review--and offers suggestions to the librarian for the application of these methods in an art library. Twenty-five references are provided. (EJS)

Reviews research on impact assessment of libraries and considers potentially useful methodologies for measuring the impact of university libraries, i.e., how library use affects students' academic performance. Topics discussed include categories of library use, purposes of library use, and indicators of library impact. The user panel methodology…

Intended to provide a guide to the most useful, practical, and relevant methodologies developed and implemented over the past 20 years for assessing a library's effectiveness, this bibliography provides citations to 72 selected studies evaluating the use, collections, and services of academic libraries. The citations are organized into three major…

Describes a study that compared figures derived from a questionnaire-based, book availability survey and from computer records of the use of the library's catalog. Although differences emerged, it was concluded that the computer monitoring technique could act as a surrogate for availability surveys. (AEF)

Faculty at Western Illinois University were asked to share in the library's journal deselection responsibility by ranking the library's journals by importance. These rankings were then compared to student use of the same journals. Results indicate that journals that were frequently cited or retrieved by students were highly ranked by the faculty.…

The study packs, videocartridges, microfiche, tape/slide sequences, and audiocassettes available at the University of Bath Library were evaluated in terms of use, costs, and user satisfaction. (Note: Page f. . .=fiche number.) (BW)

Describes the management and collection of standardized educational and psychological tests at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and analyzes the use patterns of patron request cards. Current electronic test locators and evaluation services are indicated as well. (Author/LRW)

Reports on a usability evaluation of the wide area networked database used in the library system of the City University of New York (CUNY). Describes use of the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) criteria in student surveys and interviews that considered affect, efficiency, learnability, control, and helpfulness. Survey is appended.…

Most institutions of higher education have a mission that specifically addresses three areas: instruction, research, and service. The repertoire of activities and the complexity of the goals of the University Library mirror the goals of the institution, the academic units, and the faculty. The clients of the library are the students, the faculty,…

Based on responses to a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members in March 1988, this Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) flyer and kit are designed to assist administrators of large academic libraries in the selection of useful methods of conducting user surveys for particular library concerns. The flyer provides a brief…