Author Archives: Nancy Turner

Planning Assessment within the Institutional Context

Last week I was privileged to conduct an assessment workshop with two gurus in the field: Danuta Nitecki, Dean of Libraries and Professor, College of Computing and Informatics at Drexel University and Robert E. Dugan, Dean of Libraries at the … Continue reading

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Drexel’s Service Quality Improvement Initiative Reaps Benefits for Users

John Wiggins, Director of Library Services and Quality, has been engaged with implementing service quality at Drexel University Libraries since 2012. This more systematic attention to quality improvement was initiated by the dean, Danuta Nitecki, and John has steadily built … Continue reading

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A Culture of Assessment: The Bryn Mawr Example

This month I had the pleasure of visiting Bryn Mawr College as part of a staff development event hosted by the Assessment Working Group for Library & Information Technology Services (LITS). The group is convened this year by Olivia Castello, … Continue reading

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Improving the Discoverability of our Digital Collections

Doreva Belfiore, Digital Projects Librarian, invests much of her time improving access to digital collections and making these collections findable on the open web. I talked with her recently about how her work helps to enhance the discoverability of Temple’s … Continue reading

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Report from ARCS: Perspectives on Alternative Assessment Metrics

This month I had the good fortune to attend the inaugural Advancing Research Communication and Scholarship meeting here in Philadelphia. The best panels brought together researchers, publishers, service providers and librarians with contrasting, yet complementary perspectives on how best to … Continue reading

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Library Assessment Goings-on in the Neighborhood

Philadelphia-area librarians practicing assessment have a rich assessment resource here in our own backyard. The PLAD (Philadelphia Library Assessment Discussion) is a network of librarians who meet in person and virtually  to connect with and learn from one another. We … Continue reading

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How Are Our Books Being Used?

Last week’s final Assessment in the Real World workshop began with a report of book circulation – ¼ million data points detailing the circulation of books published in English and purchased from 2003 to 2013. Fred Rowland (RIS librarian for … Continue reading

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Gathering Feedback on the Library’s Public Programs

The latest Assessment in the Real World discussion focused on the feedback survey that goes out to attendees at the Libraries’ Beyond the Page public programs. 11 library staff members participated in a discussion with Nicole Restaino (Manager, Library Communications … Continue reading

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Assessment in the Real World

This post was made possible by the excellent notes and input from Laura Chance, temporary art librarian at Paley. Thanks, Laura! Last Friday 12 librarians gathered to talk about feedback received from students participating in the Analytical Reading and Writing … Continue reading

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There’s a Blizzard but Library Assessment Slogs On

It’s good to be back home from the ALA Midwinter conference.  Chicago was not only windy last weekend but also snowy and awfully cold! Well, it is winter…and librarians can not be stopped. The meetings are always informative and it’s … Continue reading

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