From vision to success: Assessment workflows for major strategic initiatives

Purpose:In October 2016, Chris Bourg, director of MIT Libraries, released the preliminary report of the Task Force on the Future of Academic Libraries (https://future-of-libraries.mit.edu). The report is a first step in... [ view full abstract ]

Purpose:

In October 2016, Chris Bourg, director of MIT Libraries, released the preliminary report of the Task Force on the Future of Academic Libraries (https://future-of-libraries.mit.edu). The report is a first step in describing "how the MIT Libraries ought to evolve to best advance the creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge; and to serve as a leader in the reinvention of research libraries."

The report’s value is not only in its thought-provoking propositions and impacts in implementation, but in the underlying necessity that in order to work, its assessment must be forward-thinking, not simply evaluations of current activities. At the same time, librarians and library staff who are accustomed to working in a very tactical operational environment where practical considerations are first and foremost (how can we better serve the customer with our reference service? how can we improve our current processes for handling reserves materials? what is the best training that we can offer our staff so that they can support our new GIS lab? etc.) can sometimes struggle to translate the not-so-tangible implications of strategic visions and plans like this one into measureable action.

In this lightning talk, participants will hear

• how to apply assessment principles to help staff understand how to get from an 80,000 foot big-picture vision to a practical determination of what makes that vision successful;
• how to break down a vision into clear descriptive implementable goals that can be measured to show that progress is being made or success has been achieved;
• how to think about outcomes as distinct from deliverables, which allows flexibility to change goals based on new information or activities while still focusing on the original vision. 

The talk will end with some suggestions for how libraries can work together to develop assessment tools and models to make intangible strategic visions like social justice, diversity and inclusion, or open access for all, into goals that are measurable, in order to enable libraries to offer evidence to the world of our impact on society.