Assessment

LibQUAL+ will award up to three institutions in-kind grants to participate in the 2014 LibQUAL+ survey, with a goal of offering one grant for every 50 libraries registered. This will be the ninth year LibQUAL+ has sponsored an in-kind grant program. There are two application deadlines for the 2014 grant program: June 14, 2013, and December 13, 2013. (The early deadline allows the LibQUAL+ team to plan for translations in new languages with an adequate planning cycle.)

This webcast, recorded March 21, 2013, describes research conducted at the University of Tennessee on the value of the information commons. Presenters include Steven Smith, Professor and Dean of Libraries; Gayle Baker, Professor and Electronic Resources Coordinator; and Teresa Walker, Associate Professor and Head of Integrated User Services.

The LibValue project (http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/) is a three-year study funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to define and measure ways in which libraries create value through teaching and learning, research, and social, professional, and public engagement. LibValue is a collaboration among the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Libraries; and the Association of Research Libraries, with partners at Syracuse University and Bryant University.

This is the second in a series of six free webcasts on LibValue to be held in 2013.

ARL has issued a call for participation in the third Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Initiative cohort. The year-long initiative will engage a small number of research libraries in a systematic way to consider the benefits of applying a locally developed library scorecard. Libraries with a keen interest in continuous improvement and strategic assessment are invited to apply.

image © David Paul OhmerARL and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) are pleased to announce the participants in the 2013 Service Quality Evaluation Academy, to be held March 11–15 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The academy is an intensive five-day program cosponsored by ARL and CARL that focuses on introductory qualitative and quantitative methods for collecting and analyzing library service quality data. It is designed for librarians across library types and organizational structures who have a strong commitment to service quality assessment efforts. A talented group of colleagues are in the 2013 class:

image © John SchniebelRegistration is now open for a workshop on library value, to be hosted by ARL on Monday, July 1, 2013, in conjunction with the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. Megan Oakleaf, associate professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University, will lead the half-day event, “Library Value: Conceptualizing, Capturing & Communicating Impact.”

LibQUAL+ is pleased to announce that three libraries have been selected to receive in-kind grants in 2013. The selection of grantees was based on financial need, contribution to the growth of LibQUAL+, and potential for surfacing best practices in the area of library service improvements.

ARL Statistics® Interactive Analytics is a subscription-based service for non-ARL member libraries, for-profit and not-for-profit entities, and researchers who want interactive access to over 100 years’ worth of ARL Statistics® data. ARL Statistics® Interactive Analytics allows you to:

• review the library data collected by ARL
• generate rankings of institutions by selected criteria
• create graphs from the data
• generate summary statistics for all ARL libraries
• download the data by year in spreadsheet format
• review the ARL indices

ARL is offering this subscription service to non-member organizations and individuals who are interested in accessing the final verified data through an interactive interface. (All ARL member libraries have access to the ARL Statistics® Analytics as soon as the data are submitted through the StatsQUAL® password-protected gateway at arlstatistics.org).

The subscription fee is $750 for for-profit organizations and $500 for non-profit organizations. Download the arl-statistics-interactive-pricing-2013.pdf  for complete pricing and purchase options information.

This webcast from Feb. 14, 2013, describes LibValue research conducted at the University of Tennessee assessing to the library's role in undergraduate student success. Presenters include Rachel Fleming-May, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences; Regina Mays, Assistant Professor and Assessment Librarian, University of Tennessee Libraries; and Teresa Walker, Associate Professor and Head, Integrated User Services, University of Tennessee Libraries.

The LibValue project (http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/) is a three-year study funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to define and measure ways in which libraries create value through teaching and learning, research, and social, professional, and public engagement. LibValue is a collaboration among the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Libraries; and the Association of Research Libraries, with partners at Syracuse University and Bryant University.

This is the first in a series of six free webcasts on LibValue to be held in 2013.

ARL is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Library Assessment Conference poster session. The awards were presented on October 29, 2012, at the conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. The winning posters, along with all poster session submissions, are now available on the conference website.

ARL has released YouTube videos of presentations honoring the 2012 Library Assessment Career Achievement Award Winners, along with transcripts of the awardees’ acceptance speeches. These awards recognize individuals with substantial contributions to effective, sustainable, and practical library assessment as evidenced through presentations, publications, methods, service, advocacy, and other work. The 2012 awardees are Karin De Jager and Joan Rapp from South Africa, Sam Kalb from Canada, and Donald W. King from the United States.