Supported self‐evaluation in assessing the impact of HE libraries

The purpose of this paper is to describe the progress made in developing mechanisms for self‐supported impact assessment for a range of library service providers in the UK, and higher education libraries in particular. There is no established tradition for the higher education libraries to evaluate the impact that they have within their organisations.

The authors have created and developed a range of techniques which have been applied across the United Kingdom in school, health, public and higher education libraries, refining the techniques over the last decade.

The impact initiative so far is reviewed and areas for further promotion and development identified.

The work described is one of few that has achieved impact assessment across a wide range of libraries and over a significant period.