An Assessment Strategy for the UFV Library: Faculty Sabbatical Leave Report for the Period January 1 - April 30, 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This project advocates the development of library assessment as a key function of the UFV Library. The underlying premise of this project is that assessment in libraries is a good and necessary thing. Four primary arguments - accountability, benchmarking, professional values, and, perhaps the most compelling, communicating value – outline the rationale behind this assertion. Assessment in academic libraries has matured to the point where it has become an area of specialization; libraries have developed programs of library assessment and position titles of the librarians and staff engaged primarily in assessment work reflect that emphasis. The literature on assessment is rich and can be categorized across a number of themes: assessment climate and culture; collections; student learning; methods; organizational performance; services; space; user experience and usability; and value. UFV’s strategic framework offers additional context for an assessment program within its library. Site visits to UBC Okanagan, Thompson Rivers University, and (virtually) Capilano University offer insight into how we might develop such a program. A survey of assessment activities in the UFV Library rounds out the environmental scan. There are a range of technologies, tools, and systems that support assessment work; this project explored four of them, largely because they were readily available: BlueCloud Analytics, a product provided by SirsiDynix and designed to analyze data from our integrated library system; Tableau, data visualization software; Dedoose, web-based software for analyzing qualitative data; and LibInsight, a system for consolidating and analyzing library data. Finally, this project offers a plan of action for establishing a program of library assessment as we move forward with strategic planning. Keywords: library assessment; academic library value; library impact; outcomes; library collections; library services; library operations; library facilities; assessment strategy; strategic planning; data analytics; data audit; environmental scan; library metrics