University Libraries in the Context of Institutional Accreditation and Quality Assurance

Abstract

University libraries are positioned as essential facilities for education and research under the Standards for Establishment of Universities, which require systematic collection and provision of materials as well as the placement of professional staff. While university accreditation serves as a vital process for quality assurance and social accountability, the relative weight of library evaluation has been decreasing due to structural changes in assessment criteria. Focusing on pharmaceutical universities, this paper examines the current status of library evaluation in both institutional and field-specific accreditation. By highlighting specific issues in self-study reports from an evaluator’s perspective, it proposes that libraries must proactively participate in the evaluation process, use data to visualize their contributions to educational outcomes, and demonstrate their value as intellectual infrastructure.