Project Outcome for Academic Libraries announces the publication of two new resources in the toolkit: “Measuring Virtual Programs” and “Impact Measurement Beyond Outcomes.” Login to your free Project Outcome account to read the full resources.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries closed their physical spaces and shifted focus to virtual programs and services. While the change took place under unique and stressful circumstances, expanded support for online and remote services may be here to stay. This raises new challenges for both planning and evaluation.
If your library previously relied on handing out paper surveys to your patrons at the end of in-person programs, that won’t work for online programs. However, there are still many ways to gather feedback from patrons and use it to inform changes to programs and services.
This resource outlines general strategies for survey distribution that can help increase response rates, and examples of how those could be applied to a few types of online and remote programs and services that libraries offer.
Impact Measurement Beyond Outcomes
Outcomes are a valuable form of assessment data that can help a library demonstrate its impact, but they are not the only type of measure. Complementing outcomes with measurement of needs, patron satisfaction, and outputs, can help the library make an effective case for its impact.
Project Outcome is a FREE online toolkit designed to help libraries understand and share the impact of essential library programs and services by providing simple surveys and an easy-to-use process for measuring and analyzing outcomes. Participating libraries are also provided with the resources and training support needed to apply their results and confidently advocate for their library’s future. Project Outcome’s standardized surveys allow libraries to aggregate their outcome data and analyze trends by service topic, program type, and over time. For the first time, academic libraries can see how the outcomes of their programs and services compare across their institution, Carnegie Class, and nation.
To start measuring the impact of your library, register for Project Outcome for Academic Libraries for free today!