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Research Library Impact Framework Initiative and Pilots


ARL’s Research Library Impact Framework (RLIF) initiative was established in 2019 with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and extends the recommendations developed by the Assessment Program Visioning Task Force in 2017. The task force outlined a series of recommendations aimed at aligning the research and analytics work of the Association with the goals and needs of members. Among the recommendations was to create a Research Library Impact Framework that explored library services, operations, impact, and alignment with institutional mission and goals across four critical areas: (1) Research and Scholarly Life Cycle; (2) Teaching, Learning, and Student Success; (3) Collections; (4) Physical Space.

In August 2018, the ARL Assessment Committee (now called the Research and Analytics Committee) identified five research questions from the framework as high-priority based on extensive feedback from ARL library directors and assessment practitioners. The five questions were intended to help ARL members “set the context for understanding and communicating the stories of the research library to external stakeholders and to provide the tools for members to tell this story locally.” The overall goal of the RLIF initiative was to help ARL members communicate the impact and relevance of research libraries’ and archives’ activities in ways that resonate with budget holders and stakeholders through the piloted research projects.

ARL released the final report of the RLIF pilot initiative, Building a Community of Assessment, in March 2023. The report details the research projects, findings, and lessons learned conducted under the pilot phase of this framework. It also includes information about the framework itself as a means to explore and learn about research library impacts. Finally, the report identifies next steps and potential considerations for any future implementation.

Contact Kevin Borden (kborden@arl.org) with questions.


RLIF Pilot Project Reports and Presentations

Eighteen teams from ARL libraries developed a pilot project in response to one of the five research questions. The pilots are two types of research activities: a project that is...

Research and Assessment Cycle Toolkit

The Research and Assessment Cycle Toolkit is a resource for library assessment practitioners to access information about assessment processes in libraries. The toolkit includes 23 training videos and supporting materials...

Framework Background Materials

For more information about the Research Library Impact Framework Pilots, see this document with FAQs, the five research topics, and a brief version of the framework. The full Research Library...

Additional RLIF Training Materials & Poster Sessions

RLIF project team members from the University of Florida and Iowa State University  developed workshops based on their projects. The workshops were made possible with funds from the IMLS RLIF...


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