Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine aspects of measuring the impact of new innovations in Finnish libraries.

Along with the change of paradigm of libraries’ ways of action toward more networked and with the developing of new innovative services, new evaluation methods and indicators will be needed to show the value and impact of the operation of these services.

To measure the impact of services produced by the networking of several organizations and the added value perceived by the patrons, new methods of impact assessment are needed, as well as change in the way of thinking.

In the libraries, there is only a little if at all discussion about the need and means of showing the results, impact and value of the library services to their clientele, their frame organizations or the society. This is the first article to examine aspects of measuring the impact of new innovations in Finnish libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss emerging practices in open evaluation, namely, the concept of co-evaluation and how research on evaluation developed within information science can contribute to enhance stakeholders and citizens’ involvement in open science.

A meta-evaluative and transdisciplinary approach – directed toward the intersection between information science, evaluation, competences management, sustainability transitions management and participatory methodologies – provided the basis for the identification and subsequent reflection on the levels of stakeholder participation embedded into ISO 16439’s (2014) methods for assessing the impact of libraries and on the domains and competences to be mobilized for (co)evaluation. The contributions of Engaged 2020 Action Catalogue, as well as several taxonomies of evaluator competences and the Council of Europe’s (2016) conceptual model of competences for a democratic culture were particularly relevant for this (re)construction process.

Two results of the line of research carried out since 2012 at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Portugal) can significantly contribute to improve stakeholders’ participation in Open Science: ISO 16439’s systematization of methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries and the (co-)evaluation competency framework.

This paper presents the transdisciplinary concept of co-evaluation and examines the current epistemological challenges to science by analyzing the general tendency to openness through the lens of research on evaluation and participatory methods developed within information science.

The balanced scorecard is gaining momentum as an assessment framework for academic libraries in North America. The purpose of this paper is to examine locally designed assessments available on Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members’ web sites and maps the data to the standard ISO 11620 – Library Performance Indicators (PIs), which is a version of the balanced scorecard. The questions are: first, does data from ARL member web sites cluster round certain ISO 11620 PIs? Second, what implications does data clustering have on internal planning and cross-institutional collaborations? Third, will future standards such as ISO 16439 complement the framework and methods in ISO 11620?

Using the quantitative content inventory and qualitative content audit method, this research analyzes ARL members’ locally designed assessment data. The data grouped within a library category, such as collections, is mapped to PIs found in the ISO 11620.

The locally designed assessment data covers a variety of library processes and maps to many ISO 11620 PIs. From this research libraries can develop methods for tying assessment activities into a comprehensive framework like the balanced scorecard. Using ISO 11620 can advance assessment planning. Implementing this standard can lay the foundation for activities that might arise from standards under development such as ISO 16439 – Library Impact Standard.

This is the first research to gather, exam, and map ARL members’ assessment data to the framework of the ISO 11620 standard.

Library impact and how to evaluate it has been debated for a number of years. While the activity – the busy-ness – of the library is now routinely measured and described, the difference the library makes is less tangible and harder to measure. Libraries in all sectors and worldwide are grappling with this issue, and the purpose of this paper is to summarise international standards available to support them.

The first international standard concerning library impact, ISO 16439 Information and documentation – methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries, was published in 2014 after several years in development.

The standard describes a range of methods for assessing library impact which have been used across the world in a variety of libraries in all sectors.

This paper summarises the key methods described in the standard, and gives references for further reading.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with actually available and potential methods for identifying, verifying and quantifying the influence of libraries on individuals and society.

The paper gives an overview of methods and procedures that have been used for demonstrating the social, educational or economic impact of libraries. It points to validity problems and to labor costs of specified procedures and shows examples of simple methods that might be applied by most libraries.

Various projects worldwide have tried to develop and test such methods, and the discussion has reached a stage where a first aggregation in an International Standard seems possible and expedient. ISO therefore started a working group in December 2010.

This is the first report concerning ISO 16439.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview, including methodology and preliminary findings, of a current and ongoing doctoral research study of the impact of national library associations. The study uses the impact assessment framework provided by ISO16439:2014 Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries.

If the professional associations supporting the profession are to become sustainable we need to understand the difference they make to the individual members of the profession, to the employers of those individuals and to the profession of librarianship. This study applies the framework provided by ISO 16439:2014 to the national library association environment to explore and gather evidence of impact. To align with the ISO model, impact is differentiated into impact on individuals; social impact – institution (library or employing organization); and social impact – community (the profession). Preliminary findings show evidence of impact in all categories.

Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews that were conducted with members of national library associations in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA during the third quarter of 2013.

This study contributes to research methodologies by testing the use of a qualitative assessment tool in a way that could be transferable to other associations both within and external to the library environment and to enable it to be adapted more broadly for other purposes within the library and information environment.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the place of assessment of the impact of libraries in the overall quality evaluation of these institutions. In the paper, an attempt has been made to separate the concepts of the impact and values of library services and, according to the designated scope, the most important areas of research, methods and indicators for the assessment of the impact of academic libraries were characterized. The focus was on the most important areas, i.e. on the impact of libraries on didactics and academic research, information literacy and on its assessment in the cultural and environmental aspect.

A literature-based overview of actual insights on tasks and areas, methods, indicators research on the impact of academic is provided.

The author has determined that the analysis of the impact of academic libraries can mainly concern the following areas: information (influence on didactics, research and information competence of users), cultural and environmental. That is why it is worth analyzing the most important methods and indicators of research on the impact of academic libraries in these areas. The best way to research the quality of libraries, and especially to determine its impact on users and the environment, is to use a mixed methodology – a whole set of quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques. Triangulation can involve the use of both qualitative and quantitative data or the use of multiple methods to develop one type of data.

However, these methods were used to study the impact of academic libraries, whose results do not determine the financial value.

The paper shows the methods of research on the quality of the functioning of academic libraries with a special emphasis on the study of their impact on users and the social environment.

The paper shows the methodology of determining the social role of academic libraries.

The paper intends to add to the body of knowledge about the research methodology for the impact of academic libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to present the methodological issues around developing a quantitative research instrument of the social impact of Polish public libraries. The results of the use of this instrument to survey users of Mazovian Province, Poland, are summarized as an example of its use.

The research focused on informational, educational and participatory aspects of social impact on the sidelines leaving cultural heritage issues. “Impact” and “social impact” were defined according to ISO 16439:2014. Information and documentation – methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries. The research instrument included questions both about the activities taken in libraries by its users and the benefits they gained. The questionnaire also contained questions which allowed to control the variables such as frequency of using libraries, socioeconomic factors and cultural practices. To describe dependencies, various statistical tests were applied. The study was conducted on the group of 1,098 users of 38 public libraries between February and June 2017.

Younger and people from smaller towns felt more benefits from using libraries. There are significant differences between types of benefits people of various age, financial status and household size experienced. People who went to libraries and other cultural institutions often experienced more benefits. The more a person performs activities in libraries, the more benefits he or she has. Some added value of particular activities is also visible.

Despite the efforts and the size of the sample, it is not representative of the population of library users in the Mazovian Province (mainly due to the data collection method – auditory survey).

Studying the social impact of the libraries in Poland is still at its beginning. The presented research is, therefore, exploratory in terms of cognitive and methodological value.

The purpose of this paper is to define quality criteria for museum work and try to identify indicators for assessing such quality, using the well-known quality indicators for libraries as basis of comparison.

In 2016, the first international standard for museum statistics was published (ISO 18461). At the same time, the museum community realized the need to proceed from statistics to quality assessment in order to prove the effectiveness and efficiency of museum performance and finally also the influence of museums on society. The paper analyses the existing literature on museum quality and museum evaluation and compares the findings to the established methods in the library sector.

Comparison of quality criteria and quality evaluation in museums and libraries shows not only many similarities in what is regarded as quality, but also considerable differences in the options for assessment.

The paper shows a tentative selection of potential quality indicators and quality assessment methods for museums. Further work and practical expertise will be needed for developing and testing a reliable set of methods. The new ISO project 21246 key indicators for museums will further this development.

There is an evident similarity in the mission and goals of cultural institutions such as archives, libraries and museums. Methods already in use in libraries for assessing performance quality and library impact can therefore also be useful in the museum sector. But the immense variety of museums requires an adaptation of existing methods and a number of new indicators especially devised for museum tasks.

The paper describes possible solutions for evaluating the quality of museums. As quality criteria are similar in museums and libraries, new quality indicators for museums may in turn become useful in the library sector.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the aims and contents of the ISO Report ISO/TR 14873.

For more than a decade, libraries have started to “collect the web”. National libraries in particular select, collect and store publications and websites from their national domain, seeing this as a task similar to traditional legal deposit. The collection policies and collecting methods vary, so that it is difficult to compare the quantity and quality of the respective web archives.

In order to harmonize the evaluation of web archives, ISO TC 46 SC 8 has produced a Technical Report that standardizes the terminology and statistics and offers tested indicators for assessing the quality of web archiving.

This paper describes the shortly to be published ISO/TR 14873, a potentially vital guide to harmonize web archive collection internationally.