Impact Assessment of University Libraries: A Consideration of Issues and Research Methodologies.

For years, librarians and researchers have been attempting to develop more meaningful techniques for assessing the effectiveness of libraries resources and services. The earliest attempts tended to focus on inputs or measures of resources. More recently, the emphasis has been on measures of library performance or output. However, with the growing need for accountability, there is increasing concern that even output measures do not adequately indicate the real value of a library. What is needed are credible measures of the actual impact of libraries. In an academic library context, this means we need to know how students'use of libraries affects their academic performance