Library assessment is a process undertaken by libraries to learn about the needs of users (and non-users) and to evaluate how well they support these needs, in order to improve library facilities, services and resources. In many libraries successful library assessment is dependent on the existence of a 'culture of assessment' in the library[1] whose goal is to involve the entire library staff in the assessment process and to improve customer service.
Although most academic libraries have collected data on the size and use of their collections for decades, it is only since the late 1990s that many have embarked on a systematic process of assessment (see sample workplans)[2][3] by surveying their users as well as their collections.[4] Today, many academic libraries have created the position of Library Assessment Manager[5] in order to coordinate and oversee their assessment activities. In addition, many libraries publish on their web sites the improvements that were implemented following their surveys[6][7][8][9] as a way of demonstrating accountability to survey participants.
Several libraries have undertaken renovation or expansion projects as a result of their assessment activities[10] as well as enhance resource discovery tools, improve web site usability and stop redundant services.[11]
One notable exception is Israel whose University of HaifaYounes and Soraya Nazarian Library began a systematic process of library assessment in 2007, and has been conducting a Hebrew version of the University of Washington's 'In-Library Use' survey[25] since 2008, and LibQUAL+ Lite (also in Hebrew)[26][27] since 2009 in three-yearly cycles.
University of Haifa, Library Assessment Team receiving the Finkler Prize for Information, 2012
^Lakos, A. (2002). Culture of assessment as a catalyst for organizational culture change in libraries. In J. Stein, M. Kyrillidou, & D. Davis (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services: Meaningful Measures for Emerging Realities, (pp. 311-319). Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.
^Gerke, J. & Maness, J. M. (2010). The physical and the virtual: The relationship between library as place and electronic collections. College & Research Libraries, 71(1), 20-31.
^Hernon, P. & Calvert, P. J. (1996). Methods for measuring service quality in university libraries in New Zealand. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 22(5), 387-391.
^Nitecki, D. A. (2001). Quality assessment measures in libraries, Advances in Librarianship, 25, 133-162.
^Martensen, A. & Gronholdt, L.. (2003). Improving library users perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty: an integrated measurement and management system. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 29(3), 140-147.
^Wright, S. P. & Association of Research Libraries. (2007) Library Assessment: SPEC Kit 303, Washington, D.C., Association of Research Libraries.
^"Best Practice". Council of Australian University Libraries (CAUL). Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
^"Library Assessment". Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library - University of Haifa. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
^Falk, E. & Gorenstein, L. (2010). The academic library as seen by researchers: An evaluation of the satisfaction of faculty members and PhD students with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's library services Meidat, 6, 31-45. (in Hebrew)
^Porat, Lynne (August 17, 2009). "LibQUAL+ Lite in Hebrew"(PDF). 8th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
Hernon, P. & Altman, E. (2010). Assessing Service Quality: Satisfying the Expectations of Library Customers. Chicago, American Library Association.
Hiller, S. & Porat, L. (2009). Academic library as place: Users and uses. 8th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services, Florence, Italy.
