Developing a generic tool to routinely measure the impact of health libraries
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Authors
Ayre, Stephen
Brettle, Alison
Gilroy, Dominic
Knock, Douglas
Mitchelmore, Rebecca
Pattison, Sophie
Smith, Susan
Turner, Jenny
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Issue Date
2018
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Article
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BACKGROUND: Health libraries contribute to many activities of a health care organisation. Impact assessment needs to capture that range of contributions. OBJECTIVES: To develop and pilot a generic impact questionnaire that: (1) could be used routinely across all English NHS libraries; (2) built on previous impact surveys; and (3) was reliable and robust. METHODS: This collaborative project involved: (1) literature search; (2) analysis of current best practice and baseline survey of use of current tools and requirements; (3) drafting and piloting the questionnaire; and (4) analysis of the results, revision and plans for roll out. FINDINGS: The framework selected was the International Standard Methods And Procedures For Assessing The Impact Of Libraries (ISO 16439). The baseline survey (n = 136 library managers) showed that existing tools were not used, and impact assessment was variable. The generic questionnaire developed used a Critical Incident Technique. Analysis of the findings (n = 214 health staff and students), plus comparisons with previous impact studies indicated that the questionnaire should capture the impact for all types of health libraries. CONCLUSIONS: The collaborative project successfully piloted a generic impact questionnaire that, subject to further validation, should apply to many types of health library and information services.
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Journal
Health Information & Libraries Journal
Volume
35
Issue
3