Introduction

Without evaluations we would not have a clear understanding or definition of success. To know if something succeeded we must identify the original objective, define success with clear markers using milestones and timelines and then assess if we obtained our original goal and if it was worth the time, budget and effort. As Lankes says in The Atlas of New Librarianship: “The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities.” This means keeping end users and service outcomes in mind while evaluating and assessing how relevant and capably we met our goals and served our community. To question ourselves and our services is to build the best user experiences and end product along with curating trust and relationships between all stakeholders- internal and external (McDonald, 2018. p180).  

Statement of Competency

Many of my classes at SJSU prepared my understanding of this competency: in INFO 210 I evaluated and analyzed multiple information transactions using the RUSA guidelines by visiting different libraries, observing and evaluating their services. In INFO 285 I created a research paper focused on evaluating the efficacy of a reading program that utilized canines. In INFO 204 we created a SWOT and Environmental Scan with specified goals, and evaluation measures using the mission and vision statements as grounding points. For INFO 202 my group evaluated and did a re-design of a library website, looking at the end user needs as one of the evaluation criteria, and for INFO 282 Project Management I evaluated the efficacy of PM software assessing it as a tool for organizing, while comparing it to the ultimate goal of a successful project. Evaluation is something I will continually do, and having this process of identifying original goals, having those milestones and timelines as markers and mission and vision statements as standards is something I can now do going forward.   

Theory

Why Evaluate

As Barefoot (2018) talks about a leader’s self diagnosis during a change in management, evaluation is as an organization’s self diagnostics to make sure things are running smoothly and effectively to ensure the end goal and outcomes are being met. It is also an opportunity to explore if there are ways to improve services or work product, serve a wider audience, fill in gaps, and streamline outdated processes (Barefoot, 2018. P 253). To best serve all patrons as well as all staff members, while creating the best work product and a healthy work environment evaluation and assessment must take place. This includes assessment with criteria tying in mission and vision of the organization, and agreed upon measurable data points. According to Gilman, there are two primary duties of assessment for academic libraries: quality assurance, and institutional improvement (2018. p 90). We must have continuous assessment to remain relevant to our communities and each other and usually these assessment efforts in academic libraries are focused on: reference, information and technology literacies, collections, research needs, programs and services (Gilman, 2018).  

How We Evaluate 

To evaluate anything we must have agreed upon set standards, preordained to measure and compare with past and future data collected. The process starts with identifying the purpose of the service, assessing the user’s needs, designing a service to meet that need, assigning criteria to measure how the need was met, the level of user satisfaction, and how effective the service was. One of these examples is the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) guidelines to better serve end-users by continuously evaluating services in the world of information that is continually evolving (ALA, 2023). RUSA breaks their guildines down to general, in person, and remote interactions with five key criteria markers: visibility/approachability, interest, listening/inquiring, searching, and follow-up. Measurements for success can be gathered with many different tools ranging from surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, feedback cards, and usability statistics to name a few. The ACRL and ALA approved a set of standardized statistical measures and metrics in 2017 for archivists and special collection libraries for public service data, to have some commonly accepted measures to evaluate best practices. These standards go over user demographics, reference transactions, collection use, and events (ALA, 2018). There are also set procedures for evaluating an employee, and performance evaluations are common among all information professions. To conduct a performance evaluation I would start with the job description and duties, the “goal” of the job, have a formalized set of criteria including attendance, punctuality, completion of day to day tasks, work product completion and participation in group projects. There should be clear transparent goals, and rewards based on merit to motivate, along with clear stated outcomes for future action (Goch et al., 2018. P 271). Regardless of if the evaluation is being done internally with fellow employees, or externally on a service with the end user in mind, the reality is that feedback is essential for all of us. Evaluation is essential to our continual evolution as an industry and as individuals.  

Conclusion 

Evaluation is essential to the growth and evolution of all organizations. Without it libraries will cease to be relevant or useful to their people. Feedback and assessment of what we do not only can act as a foundation for advocating for future budgets, but also to see where and how we can best meet the needs of our community and how we can do better. 

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