Quality Assurance in Academic Libraries

1. Quality Assurance in Academic Libraries I.H.Jahagirdar NAAC, Bangalore

2. Higher Education Trends and Challenges • Demand for education beyond high school is expanding rapidly. • Number of higher education institutions has exploded • Majority of people in India are under the age 20 (54%). Considered as to be engine of global growth. • By 2020, 40% of global work force will be knowledge workers with a need for higher education… (world Bank). • Numerical and Quantitative growth has thrown up several challenges. Quality is the biggest casualty in the entire process.

3. Higher Education Trends and Challenges • In the rapidly expanding scenario the challenge is to achieve right balance between 3 objectives. • To make education accessible to as many as possible. • Ensure Quality of education provided is worthwhile. • To provide education at reasonable (affordable) cost.

4. Key Drivers • Stake holders expectation to produce high quality services (especially funding and regulatory bodies). • High level of accountability – objective performance measures tied to funding … rapid growth in enrolments increasing costs to funding agencies. • Increasing competition – higher education institutions are increasingly required to compete for students and other resources.

5. Quality concept :operational definitions • Quality is an attribute of product or service that can be improved (e.g.: Catalogue, Accession list, Reference service, Alert service) • Convey an assurance of satisfactory service or product. • In management studies conceptualized from two discernible approaches, one based on quality standard other based on client satisfaction. • Compliance with a given standard e.g.: ISO Standard • A process where infinite pursuit of excellence is reflected • Quality in context of higher education refers to the means by which an institution can guarantee with certainty that standards of its education provision are being maintained and enhanced .( Dr. Willie Clark-Okah)COL • Term Quality is used to convey a positive move or up gradation of satisfaction or position from good to better. • Key dimension which underpin quality are Efficiency, Effectiveness, Value , User satisfaction

6. Why Quality • Quality management programs act as catalyst to assure that continuing improvement practices and processes are planned, developed and implemented. • Formal Quality management pragramme provides concrete evidence of organizations commitment to client service and provision of quality service. • Enables the library to reposition to focus on user. • Ensure systematic approach is taken in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of resource management.

7. Assessment ……any activities that seek to measure the library’s impact on teaching, learning and research as well as initiatives that seek to identify user needs or gauge user satisfaction or perceptions with the overall goal being the data-based and user-centered continuous improvement of our collections and services. • Means by which institutions set their programme goals and measure results against goals. • Defined as “the systematic management and assessment procedure adopted by higher education institutions to monitor performance against objectives and to ensure achievement of quality outputs and quality improvements (Harman, 2001) Cont……..

8. Assessment - Purpose • To understand user interaction with library resources and services; and • To capture data that inform the planning, management and implementation of library resources and services. • Quality in the context of Higher education consists of three elements: - Core dimension – Academic study materials learner support, research etc., - Systematic dimension – Governance – policy, leadership, management, planning. - Resource dimension – Infrastructure – resources, networking, ICTs.

9. Types of Assessment • Input & Output • Service Quality • Performance Measures • Outcomes or Impact

10. Types of Assessment – Input & Output • Input measures: expenditures & resources • Funding allocations, No. of registered students, print holdings, etc. • Output measures: activities & service traffic • Reference transactions, lending and borrowing transactions, No. of instruction sessions, program attendance, etc. • Historically assessment or evaluation in libraries was restricted to simple quantification e.g.– No. of book issues, No. of registered users, No. of visitors - more the merrier

11. Types of Assessment – Service Quality • Services defined as all programs, activities, facilities, events, … • Measure capture results from interactions with services • Subjective evaluation of “customer service” • Measure of the affective relationship

12. Types of Assessment - Performance Measures • In the current harsher economic climate era of competition, libraries are called upon to demonstrate value in measurable ways. • As a consequences performance indicators were developed as a key to measurement . • Measures are not standards they only provide objective & descriptive data (desired level of performance). • Goals of library performance measurements are to provide instruments that could measure the impact, efficiency & effectiveness of library operation in order library outputs to be qualified or explained in a meaningful way. Cont……

13. Cont….. • Performance Indicator (PI) as contrast from statistics is quantitative expression of use or value of an aspect of library service. • PI is derived by combining two statistics to form ratio. e.g. No. of book issues, No. of registered users is statistics and No. of issues divided by No. of users gives ratio or value of average loans per borrower – an indicator for effectiveness. • PI should reflect totality of library activity & encompass all the role which the library performs - library as a physical system - library as a collection (size, currency, scope) • Library as information gateway – use of IT to access remote databases & to help user navigator through maze of information.

14. Types of Assessment - Outcomes or Impacts “the ways in which library users are changed as a result of their interaction with the Library's resources and programs” Association of College & Research Libraries Task Force on Academic Library Outcomes Assessment Report, 1998

15. Cont….. PI - Model - Inputs – staff, materials, budget etc. - Output – number of loan transactions, enquiries answered, materials catalogued, exhibition held - Outcomes – Use made by consumer of a given output & degree of satisfaction. Inputs Outputs Outcomes

16. Outcomes • The library helps me stay abreast of developments in my field(s) of interest. • The library aids my advancement in my academic discipline. • The library enables me to be more efficient in my academic pursuits. • The library helps me distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy information.

17. Examples • The electronic journals were used by 65 scholars in the successful pursuit of a total of $1.7 million in research grants in 2004. • In a 2003 study, eighty-five percent of new faculty reported that library collections were a key factor in their recruitment.

18. Assessment tools • Gathering meaningful data • Acquiring methodological skills • Managing assessment data • Organizing assessment as a core activity • Interpreting data within the context of user behaviours and constraints. (Troll Covey, 2002)

19. Assessment Tools • Transactional surveys • Mystery shopping • New, declining, and lost-customer surveys • Focus group interviews • Customer advisory panels • Service reviews • Customer complaint, comment, and inquiry capture • Total market surveys • Employee field reporting • Employee surveys • Service operating data capture

20. Assessment tools - Electronic resources assessment • statistics not being systematically captured for digital collections or services • need for standard measures for use of digital collections is increasingly important: • to justify huge expenses of electronic collections • decline in use of traditional services (reference, ILL)

21. Assessment tools - Electronic resources assessment COUNTER: Real-time acquisition of usage statistics: • imports usage statistics from content vendors in a uniform format (COUNTER - Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) • reduces need to retrieve statistical data on a resource-by-resource basis • can compare usage statistics with cost information to evaluate service benefits of e-resources

23. NAAC - Vision • To make quality the defining element of • higher education in India through a • combination of self and external • quality evaluation, promotion and • sustenance initiatives

24. NAAC- Mission • To arrange for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programmes or projects; • To stimulate the academic environment for promotion of quality of teaching-learning and research in higher education institutions; • To encourage self-evaluation, accountability autonomy and innovations in higher education; • To undertake quality-related research studies, consultancy and training programmes, and • To collaborate with other stakeholders of higher education for quality evaluation, promotion and sustenance.

25. Key Operations of NAAC • Quality Promotion • Encourage HEIs to undergo Assessment and Accreditation. Promotion by publication, Awareness programmes and Workshops with State/University co-operation • Quality Evaluation • Conduct the Assessment by developing instrument, Training the peers, Facilitate the process and Appeals Mechanism • Quality Sustenance • Advocacy by Publications, IQAC, AQAR and sponsoring workshops/seminars

26. Methodology Nationally evolved criteria Route 2 Route 1 IEQA Status Self-study report by the institution In-house analysis by NAAC Assessment by Peer Team Accreditation by EC of NAAC Accreditation outcome – grading and peer team report

27. Assessment Process • Responsibility to ensure academic quality & standards rests with specialized bodies • Conducted in cycles of fixed periods • Widely used approach is through a set of PIs • Three phases of institutional audit .Pre-audit phase - self study by the institution 1. Data 2. Descriptive analysis based on data .Audit phase – Peer team visit - validate claims based on evidence . Post audit phase – review reports & awards grade • Combines self assessment with a peer review • Paves way for continuous improvement, by bridging quality gaps. • Lends credibility

28. Quality indicators for LIS : NAAC model • Seven criteria developed by NAAC to measure excellence in University/Colleges are the main processes for developing the capabilities of an institution. 1. Curricular aspects 2. Teaching, learning, evaluation& research 3. Consultancy and extension 4. Infrastructure and learning resources 5. Student support and progression 6. Organization and management 7. Healthy practices

29. Quality indicators for LIS : NAAC model • LIS forms part of Infrastructure and Learning resources. • Two different sets of indicators; • One for university level institutions (Universities, autonomous colleges, deemed to be universities) • Colleges (Affiliated/Constituent colleges) • Indicators are grouped into 4 main headings 1. Management of LIS 2. Collection and services 3. Extent of use of service 4. Best practices

30. Quality indicators for LIS : NAAC model • All the parameters are developed around the core objective of the library to support academic programme. • Derived from the understanding of global developments in LIS, national environment. • Assigned a score of 35 in the over all score of 100 allotted to Criteria IV (Infrastructure & learning resources) • Assessment of quality is focused on four key variables stock, staff, services and user. And on ‘measuring right things and measuring of things rightly’.

31. Role of Librarian • Librarian should participate in campus preparation for accreditation to understand the role of library in the context of overall institutional mission & goals. • Understand standards that are established & enforced. • Should develop working knowledge of basic evaluation techniques such as user surveys, focus group interviews, sampling, citation patterns and bibliometrics. • Use the opportunity to increase the visibility & lobby for resources to meet expectations for their performance. • Demonstrate how provision of library materials & services affect improvement learning outcomes & educational experiences.

32. Strategies for successful implementation of Quality Management • Integration with College/University planning process leading to clear articulation of mission or purpose, values & goals. • Seek commitment from senior & middle management. • Set realistic goals and expectations. • Ensure participation of Stakeholders in the process. • Provide qualitative information to support submission & funding recommendations. • Ensure continuous improvement by appropriate feedback • Effective training pragramme to staff to ensure commitment to continuous improvement.

33. Benefits of NAAC Accreditation • Helps the institution to know its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities through an informed review process. • To identify internal areas of planning and resource allocation. Enhances collegiality on the campus. • Outcome provides funding agencies objective data for Performance funding. • Initiates institutions into innovative and modern methods of pedagogy. • Gives institutions a new sense of direction and identity. • Provides society with reliable information on quality of education offered. • Employers have access to information on the quality of education offered to potential recruitees. • Promotes intra and inter-institutional interactions. • Provide students informed choice. • International Currency - For Students - For Institution

34. Impact • Triggered several quality initiatives • Concept of self-evaluation and peer evaluation introduced • More than 2000 Internal quality assurance cells [IQAC]established • Many policymakers used accreditation results for funding and other decisions • Nationally acceptable quality criteria evolved and applied in a complex and diverse HE system • Despite accreditation being voluntary 140 Universities and 4000 colleges came forward for quality assurance. • A significant progress toward instilling Quality culture across the sector • Created a pool of about 1500 trained quality assurance professionals • Now UGC to fund IQACs of accredited HEIs to sustain QA culture • Concepts of benchmarking, best practices, student participation in quality etc popularized among HEIs • Exponential growth in publications on quality in HE, Seminars and conferences[ NAAC itself sponsored about 80 seminars in a year.

35. Conclusion Rampant changes precipitated by new technologies are making traditional performance measures less effective in demonstrating the value of the library. Library philosophy has changed from purchasing materials to offering services. In the changed scenario, libraries do not physically own but license access to collection making redundant traditional input and output measures like No. of Books/users etc. There is a need to constantly review – methods, techniques, standards, services and to re-invent librarianship. This will help us, to turn challenges of environment into opportunity and foster new image for librarianship.