ASSESSMENT AT NUL: AN OVERVIEW
1986 ICAM, the Illinois Collection Assessment Matrix. Participates in project which uses LCS shelflist tapes. Results delivered as printouts.
1997 CACD, the Collection Analysis CD. In conjunction with other IL libraries, purchases this OCLC/Amigos product on a shared CD-Rom. Computerization is its advantage; sharing the disks between libraries and program failure whenever changes to default parameters were attempted are its disadvantages. OCLC discontinued product in 1998 due to increasing difficulty in maintaining it.
1999 iCAS, the Interactive Collection Analysis System. Searchable CD-Rom. With eighty libraries and the Illinois Cooperative Collection Management Program (ICCMP), NUL joins the Illinois Statewide Assessment Project. Before the data using iCAS is systematically analyzed, iCAS is re-configured as a Web product (below).
2000 ACAS, the Automated Collection Assessment and Analysis Services. Along with eighty-two others, NUL engages in the statewide study using ACAS, which contains bibliographic records for monographs published up to early 2001. After the statewide study, NUL continues to use ACAS for internal projects until the end of 2008.
2003 Assessment Librarian. NUL hires Bibliographer for Collection Analysis & Planning.
2004 Report of the Center for Research Libraries/GWLA. Publication describing quantitative methods of analysis is co-authored by NUL Bibliographer for Collection Analysis & Planning. "Measuring Success of Cooperative Collection Development: Report of the Center for Research Libraries/Greater Western Library Alliance Working Group for Quantitative Evaluation of Cooperative Collection Development Projects," Collection Management, 28/3.
2005 Published Assessment of Assessment Tool. Publication examining the strengths and limitations of assessment tool is authored by NUL Collection Analysis & Planning. "A Critical Examination of the Assessment Analysis Capabilities of OCLC ACAS," Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31/6: 506-516.
2006 Best Practices Presentation. Upon the request of the Education and the Quantitative Measures committees of the Collection Management & Development Section of ALCTS, "Methodologies for the Analysis of Monograph Collections: From the Technologically Advanced to the Cost-Effective and Expedient" is presented by Bibliographer for Collection Analysis & Planning as NUL representative to 200+ attendees. Panel title: "Collection Assessment - Best Practices in the 21st Century."
2007 ERaCA, the Electronic Resources & Collection Analysis Department established. The "Office of Assessment & Research" to "facilitate a culture of assessment by which the Library can measure its success in fulfilling its mission to provide resources and services of the highest quality" is forwarded in the call for reorganization proposals. The assessment proposal and the proposal on the need for an analysis-based approach to fund allocation successfully contribute to reorganization and the creation of ERaCA. Assessment and budget analysis move from being the primary responsibility of one individual working on special projects to become a departmental unit with a mission to support decision making with data.
2008 Google Collection Team, Collection Analysis Working Group. ERaCA conducts assessment and analysis of collections for Google-CIC digitization project.
Library Assessment Conference, "Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment." NUL is represented by Coordinator for Collection Analysis.
2009 NUL Data Bank. Designed and constructed to gather data together and to make metrics, assessment tools and methodologies accessible and understandable. Transforms NUL's system of separate data silos into a single convenient portal. Encourages and supports, at NUL and within the broader library community, the practice of assessment by providing training modules on bibliometrics, qualitative methods and other tools of analysis.
Publication of "Collection Evaluation: Selecting the Right Tools and Methods for Your Library." In Library Data: Empowering Practice and Persuasion, Libraries Unlimited: Santa Barbara, CA.
Publication of "Cultural Shifts in Academe: ISA Talks Assessment," LPSSNews, Spring.
2010 Honored by CARLI. The Collections Working Group of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) honors ERaCA by nominating the Coordinator for Collection Analysis to Keynote Speaker at the Spring conference. Title: "Spring into Assessment: Using Tools Creatively for Collection Analysis."
Collection Management Committee endorses formation of assessment group to "develop, coordinate, and promote these assessment activities across departments/divisions."
Documents "Assessment and NUL" and "Proposal for a Report Depot Managed by ERaCA" are submitted for presentation to the Administrative Committee.
Library Assessment Conference, "Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment." NUL is represented by Coordinator for Collection Analysis.
2011 Comprehensive Collection Analysis. ERaCA completes the multi-year task of designing and building an assessment methodology that can more fully represent contemporary collections and interests, which are marked by interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, electronic resources, and outdated but in-use classification systems. The new methodology includes mapping collections to academic departments. See Map of NU and How to Map.
"How to Map Collections to Academic Departments" is disseminated via the ARL assessment blog.
2012 Data & Methods Bank. Over a span of about four years, the Bank evolved and expanded,and migrated from Dreamweaver (2009) to Drupal (2010) to LibGuide (2012) platforms. More importantly, the scope and number of resources substantially increased. This year, two new areas added: tips and tools for using assessment in fund management, and instructions and instruments related to altmetrics, article-, journal-, and database-level metrics.
Library Assessment Committee created: a cross-divisional standing committee charged with coordination, promotion, and support of assessment activities.
Publication by ERaCA synthesizes assessment with budget analysis to form the comprehensive allocation process system. "An Analysis and Allocation System for Library Collections Budgets: The Comprehensive Allocation Process (CAP)," Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38/5: 294-310.
2013 Expansions and additions. Built the Archives of Collection Assessments and Archives of Collections Budget Analysis and, with the Center for Scholarly Communications and Digital Curation, the Scholarly Metrics site.
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