For immediate release:
August 13, 2008

For more information, contact:
Kristina Justh
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296 ext. 136
kristina@arl.org

Library Assessment Conference Draws Hundreds of Attendees

Presentations Available Online

Washington DC—The 2008 Library Assessment Conference—cosponsored by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the University of Virginia Library, and the University of Washington Libraries—convened in Seattle, August 4–7, 2008. The event, which built upon the success of the 2006 Charlottesville conference, attracted 375 professionals interested in library assessment.

The robust program opened with a plenary session on the biggest challenges in library assessment, addressed by Betsy Wilson (Dean of University Libraries, University of Washington), Rick Luce (Vice Provost and Director of University Libraries, Emory University), and Susan Gibbons (Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester) and discussed by Joan Rapp (Executive Director of Libraries, University of Cape Town) and Stephen Town (Director of Library & Archives, University of York, UK). The program offered more than 60 papers and panels presented in eight parallel sessions, over 35 poster presentations, and six half-day workshops. Topics included impact and evaluation, organizational culture, information literacy, qualitative methods, reference, LibQUAL+^®, management information, and much more.

The first Library Assessment Career Achievement awards were presented to three pioneers in the field—Amos Lakos, Shelley Phipps, and Duane Webster—during a spectacular reception in the Olympic Sculpture Park overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

Multiple post-conference workshops focused on such specific issues as the Balanced Scorecard, visualization of data, usability, learning outcomes, and space planning.

Conference presentations and related materials are available on the conference Web site http://libraryassessment.org/. ARL will publish the conference proceedings.

The next Library Assessment Conference is being planned for fall 2010 in the Washington DC area.

The 2008 Library Assessment Conference Planning Committee wishes to thank all of the presenters and participants for an engaging, productive, and gratifying conference.

Conference Co-Chairs

Steve Hiller, University of Washington Libraries
Martha Kyrillidou, Association of Research Libraries
Jim Self, University of Virginia

2008 Conference Planning Committee

Colleen Cook, Texas A&M University
Francine DeFranco, University of Connecticut
Margaret Martin Gardiner, University of Western Ontario
Debra Gilchrist, Pierce College
Irene Hoffman, OCLC Eastern
Kristina Justh, Association of Research Libraries
Megan Oakleaf, Syracuse University
Joan Stein, Carnegie Mellon University
Stephen Town, University of York (UK)
Stephanie Wright, University of Washington

For more information about the Library Assessment Conference, visit http://libraryassessment.org/.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.