The Library Assessment Cookbook

by Aaron W. Dobbs (Editor)

Assessment examines how library services and resources impact and are perceived by users, and guides strategic planning discussions and development of future acquisitions and services. Assessment is fundamental to positioning your library within your organization and effectively demonstrating how it furthers your institution’s goals. And it can be more of an art than a science, using the qualitative and quantitative data available to you to show your library’s alignment with the needs and mission of your organization.

The Library Assessment Cookbook features 80 practical, easy-to-implement recipes divided into nine sections:

- Data Preparation for Assessments
- Traditional and Online Collections Assessments
- Instruction Programs Assessments
- Outreach and Programming Assessment
- Assessments Assessment
- Strategic Planning Assessment
- Service Points and Services Assessment
- Equipment, Building, and Space Assessment
- Website and Web Services Assessment

This Cookbook will help librarians of all levels of experience measure and demonstrate their institutional value.

192 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2017

Reviews

[Ruth]

I have used another book in this series -- the one on Discovery Tools. But the format bothered me a little bit at that time--it seemed needlessly "precious", but the information was useful. This topic, however, is completely inappropriate to this style and I simply stopped trying to get look at it. I want practical ideas that I can consider, but I don't want them dressed up in something cute that actually makes it difficult to understand what the idea is. I'm sure some people find the metaphor makes the hard work of assessment easier, but in this case it REALLY didn't work for me.

[Mallory]

Some good ideas here, but the format wasn’t my favorite. I liked the short chapters, but would have preferred more straightforward writing instead of trying to make these topics fit into the recipe format. It seemed like a bit of a stretch for assessment topics.

[Mills College Library]

027.0029 L6972 2017