What good did we do? Assessing impact with ACRL project outcome toolkit

The assessment of library programs is essential to measure the impact and value of the library within its institution, and it allows library staff to evaluate if programs and services can be maintained at the highest level. ACRL has recently released Project Outcome, a toolkit that provides simple survey instruments that can be used to measure the impact of essential services and programs. Outcome assessment based on standardized tools cannot and should not replace the critical assessment that instruction librarians are always advocating for gathering evidence of learning. Nevertheless, this type of assessment is another piece of the puzzle that can help libraries to take action and to prove their worth to other stakeholders. JCU Library is piloting Project Outcome as a quick and easy tool for assessing programs such as the workshops offered by the Library. This presentation will describe the workshops included in the program, their lesson plans and learning outcomes, and it will outline how Project Outcome has been integrated as an assessment tool to evaluate the impact of this instruction program. Finally preliminary data and findings will be analyzed. The audience will also be able to see the toolkit in action and to explore bench-marking opportunities