Abstract

There will be a time when your library will need to evaluate all of your electronic resources. How would you do it? In response to a cut to our materials budget, we have developed a method that condenses a large amount of information into a few select criteria. In this day‐long workshop, we walked through the process using the Decision Grid process developed at the University of Maryland at College Park (Foudy and McManus, p. 533‐538) as a starting point. The workshop leaders first demonstrated each step of our process, and then the participants worked in small groups (5‐7) using their own experiences and a sample data set of their own. The steps covered included selecting and defining the criteria, gathering and analyzing the data, and determining how to make final decisions. We covered some technical aspects of gathering and analyzing data, including using Excel functions. We also included discussions about the criteria and ways of eliciting honest and useful feedback from librarians and patrons. The participants received a flash drive with Excel templates that included formulas, as well as completed sheets with sample data, and the presentation files.

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Keeping it Real: A Comprehensive and Transparent Evaluation of Electronic Resources

There will be a time when your library will need to evaluate all of your electronic resources. How would you do it? In response to a cut to our materials budget, we have developed a method that condenses a large amount of information into a few select criteria. In this day‐long workshop, we walked through the process using the Decision Grid process developed at the University of Maryland at College Park (Foudy and McManus, p. 533‐538) as a starting point. The workshop leaders first demonstrated each step of our process, and then the participants worked in small groups (5‐7) using their own experiences and a sample data set of their own. The steps covered included selecting and defining the criteria, gathering and analyzing the data, and determining how to make final decisions. We covered some technical aspects of gathering and analyzing data, including using Excel functions. We also included discussions about the criteria and ways of eliciting honest and useful feedback from librarians and patrons. The participants received a flash drive with Excel templates that included formulas, as well as completed sheets with sample data, and the presentation files.