New
“Using LibQUAL+® Effectively” Workshop to Be Held October 27 in Washington DC—Register by September 29 (May 9, '08)
Service Quality Evaluation Academy Now Accepting Nominations for 2009—Deadline October 27, '08 (May 5, '08)
Library Assessment Conference 2008 Detailed Program Now Available (April 30, '08)
Library Assessment Conference 2008 Registration Now Open—Deadline May 30 (Apr. 15, '08)
LibQUAL+® Update [PDF] (Apr. 15, '08)
Highlights
ARL Statistics 2005–06 Now Online [PDF] (Mar. 18, '08)
Proceedings of Library Assessment Conference Held in Thessaloniki, Greece, Now Available (Jan. 25, '08)
LibQUAL+® Seeks Applicants for 2009 In-Kind Grant Program (Jan. 22, '08)
Reshaping ARL Statistics to Capture the New Environment [PDF] (Jan. 18, '08)
Library Assessment, SPEC Kit 303 (Dec. 21, '07)
Overview
The ARL Statistics and Measurement program focuses on describing and measuring the performance of research libraries and their contributions to research, scholarship, and community service. ARL serves a leadership role in the development, testing, and application of academic library performance measures, statistics, and management tools. Grounded in the tradition of the North American research library environment, the program provides analysis and reports of quantitative and qualitative indicators of library collections, personnel, and services by using a variety of evidence gathering mechanisms, and tools.
Library assessment is gaining in prominence as institutional calls for greater accountability abound. The first Library Assessment Conference was offered in September 2006 in Charlottesville, VA. Post-conference discussion on library assessment issues takes place in the Library Assessment Blog and at the ARL-ASSESS email list. Building "Effective, Sustainable, and Practical Library Assessment" is an ongoing ARL-sponsored service. Skills and methods training services are also available, such as the Service Quality Evaluation Academy.