Using Evidence to Document Our Value and Impact for Academic and Professional Accreditation Reviews

Objective

The objective was to develop an assessment matrix which correlates evidence and measures of library services with the expectations of academic and professional accrediting review boards concerning library services and resources, and to explore the use of this accreditation evidence to document the value and impact of library services and resources for library promotion and development activities.

 Methods

The first step was to identify relevant institutional accreditation agencies and compile their expectations/standards for library services.  As a library which serves colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, veterinary medicine as well as agriculture and life sciences, relevant accrediting agencies will include: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS—United States regional group) (1), the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME)(2), Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)(3) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc. (NLNAC), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) (4) and the Association of American Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP),the  Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA/COE) (5). 

The next step was to inventory the evidence available and the relevant library resources and services dimensions it documents.  Evidence-based practice information includes LibQUAL+™, OCLC Collection Analysis software, Association of College and Research Libraries’ rankings, Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ annual statistics, core collection development lists from relevant professional associations and numerous local evaluation datasets.  This was used to create a matrix of accreditation standards and the evidences that document compliance and accomplishments.  From this matrix a list of standard library metrics and measurement tools was developed to insure regular reporting and compilation of this data.

Results

An assessment matrix of accreditation standards and the evidences of library practice that document compliance and accomplishments was created.  A listing of evidence and data that could be used in the promotion of library services and resources was compiled.

Discussion

The United States Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which accredits colleges, universities and in this particular case, a health science center, focused on three main areas of standards concerning libraries: learning/information resources and services (collections, physical facilities and services); instruction (use of the library and information resources); qualified staff (education and experience of all staff).  These particular expectations were the most comprehensive.  The more focused accreditation expectations for each of the professional schools (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, veterinary medicine) were met through the metrics developed for the SACS accreditation, with minor adjustments for assessment of particular subject areas of the collections.  Accreditation agencies for some of the particular disciplines expected a report which benchmarked the local collection against a suggested list of resources.  Common expectations across United States health professions accrediting agencies, beyond the statistical data points on collections, facilities services and hours of operation, were that faculty, staff and students had input into library decisions (collections and policies) and that the library instruction program was integrally connected to the professional school curriculum.    

The following is a compilation of the most often requested metrics that were used to satisfy United States accrediting agencies.  In the area of learning/information resources, the case to be made was that the collection size and scope was reasonable for the variety of programs being served, that it had reasonable growth and was well supported.  The metrics used to document those attributes were:

• Collection growth over the past few years by classification ranges
• Physical volume counts for monographs and serials
• Total number of in scope electronic books accessible
• Total number of in scope electronic journals accessible
• Total number of in scope databases accessible
• Print serials currently purchased
• Electronic serials currently purchased
• Expenditure details for each of the above collection material types

Relevancy of the collections to client needs was documented through collection growth statistics by classification mapped to subject areas, through circulation statistics, online use data for all electronic resources, interlibrary loan trends and by LibQUAL+™ survey responses.

In the area of learning/information services, the case to be built was an inventory of physical locations and the seating, group study rooms and other resources available, service points and hours of operation, services provided onsite and hours staffed, services available online and hours of availability, as well as data on use of these services.  Satisfaction with services was primarily evaluated and documented by LibQUAL+™ survey results.  Statistics on use of in-person and online reference services also documented their relevance to clients.

The documentation of instructional efforts was accomplished through the following data:

• Number of library sponsored in-person education sessions
• Number of live online synchronous education sessions
• Credit courses taught by librarians
• In-person or online education sessions provided within a curriculum
• Number of online tutorials or self-paced educational programs
• Total attendance in all education sessions
• Use of reserve materials
• Visits to the library’s website
• Visits to the library’s subject guide pages
• Use of online tutorials and self-paced educational programs

The recent emphasis on learning outcomes is adding another dimension to these efforts to measure and document our worth in the instructional arena. 

The quality of staff was documented through data on advanced degrees, librarian faculty ranks achieved, staff development programs, budgets for staff development and training, and information about the library support staff career ladder expectations and the library faculty promotion and tenure guidelines.

Conclusion

An assessment matrix of accreditation agencies and the library data and other evidences used to document compliance with their standards was developed.  The experience of compiling and presenting this evidence for accrediting agencies led to an enhanced recognition on the part of the professional schools’ administrators of the value and contributions made by the library in the educational enterprise.  This data has become one of the primary tools used to promote and advertise the successes in library resources and services.