What's the best way to evaluate library services and programs when you're on a budget?

1 Define your evaluation questions and indicators

Before you start collecting any data, you need to clearly define what you want to evaluate and how you will measure it. What are the goals and objectives of your library services and programs? What are the expected outputs, outcomes, and impacts? What are the indicators that will show whether you have achieved them or not? These questions will help you focus your evaluation on the most relevant and meaningful aspects of your library services and programs, and avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary or irrelevant data.

2 Choose appropriate and affordable data collection methods

There are many ways to collect data for your evaluation, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, tests, document reviews, and more. However, not all methods are equally suitable and affordable for your evaluation purposes. You need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each method, such as the validity, reliability, feasibility, cost, time, and ethical implications. You also need to balance the quantity and quality of data, and avoid collecting more data than you can analyze and use. Some examples of low-cost and effective data collection methods are online surveys, email interviews, web analytics, feedback forms, and existing records.

3 Analyze and interpret your data with caution and creativity

Once you have collected your data, you need to analyze and interpret them to answer your evaluation questions and indicators. You can use various tools and techniques to organize, summarize, compare, and visualize your data, such as spreadsheets, charts, graphs, tables, and dashboards. However, you also need to be careful and critical when analyzing and interpreting your data, and avoid making assumptions, biases, errors, or generalizations that might compromise the validity and reliability of your evaluation. You also need to be creative and flexible when dealing with challenges or limitations in your data, such as missing values, outliers, or discrepancies, and look for alternative or complementary sources of evidence.

4 Communicate and disseminate your evaluation results and recommendations

The final step of your evaluation is to communicate and disseminate your results and recommendations to your intended audiences, such as library staff, users, stakeholders, funders, and partners. You need to tailor your communication and dissemination strategies to the needs, preferences, and expectations of each audience, and use appropriate and accessible formats, such as reports, presentations, infographics, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, or social media. You also need to highlight the main findings, conclusions, and implications of your evaluation, and provide clear and actionable recommendations for improvement or change. Moreover, you need to invite feedback and dialogue from your audiences, and use their input to inform your future library services and programs.

5 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?