What are the best methods to evaluate digital library collections for higher education?

1 Define your evaluation goals

Before you start evaluating your digital library collections, you need to define your evaluation goals and questions. What are you trying to measure and why? Who are your stakeholders and what are their expectations? How will you use the evaluation results and communicate them? Your evaluation goals should be clear, specific, relevant and achievable, and aligned with your institution's mission and vision.

2 Choose your evaluation methods

There are various methods to evaluate digital library collections, depending on the evaluation goals and questions. Usage statistics, for example, measure how often and how long users access the digital library collections and what types of resources they use. This can help identify the most popular and useful collections, as well as gaps and needs for improvement. User feedback is another method, which involves collecting opinions and suggestions from users through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other tools. This can help understand user satisfaction, preferences, needs, and challenges related to the digital library collections. Additionally, benchmarking involves comparing your digital library collections with those of other similar institutions or standards. This can help identify the strengths and weaknesses of your collections, as well as opportunities and threats for development. Finally, impact assessment measures the outcomes and benefits of the digital library collections for users and the institution. This can help demonstrate the value and relevance of your collections, as well as justify the investment and resources allocated to them.

3 Select your evaluation criteria and indicators

Once you have chosen your evaluation methods, you need to select your evaluation criteria and indicators. These are the aspects and measures that you will use to evaluate the quality and performance of your digital library collections. For example, content refers to the quantity, quality, diversity, and currency of the resources in the digital library collections, such as the number of titles, subjects, formats, languages, or sources of the resources, as well as their accuracy, reliability, relevance, and timeliness. Access refers to the availability, accessibility, and usability of the digital library collections for users; this includes the number of users, sessions, downloads or views of the resources, as well as the ease of navigation, search, retrieval or delivery of the resources. Services refer to the support and guidance that the digital library provides to users to enhance their experience and learning; this is measured by the number and types of services offered such as reference, instruction, consultation or collaboration as well as user satisfaction, feedback or learning outcomes related to these services. Finally, management refers to the planning, organization and administration of the digital library collections; this includes policies, procedures standards and best practices governing selection acquisition preservation and evaluation of resources as well as budget staff infrastructure and technology supporting these collections.

4 Collect and analyze your evaluation data

After you have selected your evaluation criteria and indicators, you need to collect and analyze your evaluation data. This involves gathering the relevant information and evidence from various sources and tools, such as usage logs, user surveys, peer reviews, or impact studies. You also need to process, organize, and interpret the data using appropriate methods and techniques, such as descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, or qualitative analysis. You should aim to produce accurate, reliable, and valid data that can answer your evaluation questions and support your evaluation goals.

5 Report and communicate your evaluation results

The final step of evaluating your digital library collections is to report and communicate your evaluation results. This involves presenting and explaining your findings and conclusions, as well as your recommendations and implications for improvement. You should tailor your report and communication to your target audience and purpose, using clear, concise, and engaging language and visuals. You should also share your report and communication with your stakeholders and users, and solicit their feedback and suggestions for future evaluation and development.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?