[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Outcomes Assessment



Our library got caught up in this "outcomes assessment" several years
ago.  At first we drafted a set of expected outcomes "the user found their
information" or "the user received friendly service."   That was the easy
part, but we could not create feedback to determine these.   For example,
it was suggested that Special Collections outcome was "the user found
the information they were looking for"... meaning that we had met our
purpose, but if they didn't find it, we needed to look at why and solve the
problem.

For a week, we had users fill out little feedback cards.   Many said that
they did not find the information they needed.... under "why"  they listed
what they were looking for.     Several comments complained that we
didn't have the archives of Czechoslovakia on microfilm; one complained
that our Spanish archival records on microfilm were in SPANISH!

If a genealogist, after looking through all of our cemetery records, didn't
find the burial of an ancestor, that led to a negative outcome.   Some
complained they couldn't eat or drink while working.

In short, we (with the library blessing) abandoned the whole assessment
project.  We still try to get feedback, have a suggestion box, etc. though.

Dean

Dean DeBolt
University Librarian
Special Collections and West Florida Archives
John C. Pace Library
University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
Tele:  850-474-2213;   Fax:  850-474-3338

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
     In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                   *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
    http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>