Introduction and explanatory notes
CoLRiC has always been interested in finding some qualitative performance and impact indicators that reflect the core objectives and activities of learning resources services, and we believe that the indicators we outline below will prove useful for comparison and planning.
CoLRiC was founded to improve and maintain services to the highest quality, and so it is on the qualitative aspects that the performance and impact indicators concentrate. No set of performance indicators is perfect, but the intention is to give a picture that represents the quality of the service’s performance, that can be compared over time and place.
We have not dealt with quantitative measures, even though we understand their interest and importance to all learning resources managers. We are interested in the qualitative aspects of the service’s performance, and so we shall leave the collection and number crunching of the quantitative measures to other organisations.
A note of explanation needs to be given about our attitude to indicators of impact. We believe that learning resources services exist because they contribute to learning and the delivery of the curriculum. Any usage of the service by students for purposes of studying their subject is enough to confirm its impact on their learning. Therefore, all students who use the service and succeed in their programme of study are as much a success for the learning resources service as for the lecturers and any other contribution to their success.
Having examined the core objectives, we decided that there are five areas about which we could ask a simple, but significant, question for each. These five areas are:
- Service usage
- User attitudes to satisfaction
- User-service interface (quality control)
- Finding and using information
- Integration of the LRS with curriculum delivery in the college
These will give a pattern of usage and success of the service in each college, and, when brought together, add up to an overall picture of college learning resources services throughout the country.
The questions below are incorporated in usual questionnaires where possible. The results are returned to CoLRiC for analysis by the end of each academic year (i.e. by August) for publication in November.
CoLRiC’s Performance and Impact Indicators
PII 1. Questions for learning resources centre managers/librarians: Are you involved in curriculum related meetings?
a) Academic board Yes | No | Not applicable
b) Departmental and/or course team meetings Yes | Some | No
c) Curriculum development policy/strategy meetings (e.g. for VLE, ILT, EO) Yes | Some | No
d) Other (please specify):
PII 2. The number of users in relation to the number of study spaces
This is a count of the number of users in the learning resources centre/library area (including those standing at shelves or the counter area, etc.), related to the number of study spaces available (including those at ICT/ILT areas and study rooms) – i.e. this latter figure will probably be a constant. Each site should be carried out, analysed and recorded separately.
As this is a snapshot at a particular time, we would like the exercise to be carried out over two weeks (Monday to Friday) in March, with counting taking place every hour in the middle of the teaching periods between 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m.
The results can be returned to CoLRiC as raw numbers, or an average hourly percentage of the usage, with the number of study spaces and the number of days the exercise was carried out (it should be 10, but circumstances may change that).
PII 3. Question for students: Does your use of the learning resources centre/library help with your course(s)?
This question, like similar ones below, may need re-phrasing according to the name of the service. It is a question that needs to be incorporated into any questionnaire that is handed to students who use the LLRC, preferably towards the end of the academic year. It will need to have the following scale attached to it, with them asked to circle the appropriate response:
Not at all |
Not really |
Partly |
Very much |
PII 4. Question for students: How approachable do you find the staff of the learning resources centre/library?
Again, this is a question that needs to be incorporated into any questionnaire handed out to students who use the LLRC. It will need to have the following scale attached to it, with a request to circle the appropriate response
Not at all approachable |
Not particularly approachable |
Quite approachable |
Very approachable |
PII 5. Question for students: How often do you find the information you need for your projects and essays in the learning resources centre/library?
This is also a question for incorporating in a questionnaire to students who use the LLRC. It will need to have the following scale attached to it, with a request to circle the appropriate response
Never |
Not often |
Often |
Always |
PII 6. Question for students: Do you usually get the help you need from members of the learning resources centre/library staff?
This is another question for the same questionnaire. It will need to have the following scale attached to it, with a request to circle the appropriate response:
Never |
Not often |
Often |
Always |
The survey is carried out annually, and over time we hope to build up a picture of the sector, and how it is changing. The results will be collated each year and published for distribution to CoLRiC members.
The results of the latest survey can be found in the members' area of this site.