Assessment in Academic Research Libraries

Abstract

Academic research libraries are facing a significant challenge because of competition posed by new disruptive technologies such as Google and Amazon，and need to find ways to justify their existence. In the past many academic research libraries relied on quantitative data like ARL's annual statistics for assessment. At the University of Rochester, River Campus Libraries it is qualitative, internally-focused and frequent assessment methods that have proven most useful and effective. This article introduces some of these methods.