Developing a generic tool to routinely measure the impact of health libraries

Ayre, S; Brettle, AJ; Gilroy, D; Knock, D; Pattinson, S; Smith, S; Turner, J

Abstract

Background – Health libraries contribute to many activities of a healthcare organization.
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.

Citation

Ayre, S., Brettle, A., Gilroy, D., Knock, D., Pattinson, S., Smith, S., & Turner, J. (2018). Developing a generic tool to routinely measure the impact of health libraries. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 35(3), 227-245. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12223

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 7, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 18, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 10, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 18, 2018
• Journal: Health Information and Libraries Journal
• Print ISSN: 1471-1834
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 227-245
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12223
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12223
• Related Public URLs: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14711842
• Additional Information: Projects : Value and Impact Toolkit