Project Outcome for Academic Libraries, acrl.projectoutcome.org, is a free toolkit from the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) designed to help academic libraries understand and share the impact of essential library programs and services. The toolkit provides simple surveys and an easy-to-use process for measuring and analyzing outcomes. The standardized surveys allow libraries to aggregate their outcome data, compare against similar institutions, and analyze trends over time by service topic and program type.
 
In celebration of Project Outcome’s fifth anniversary, Assessment and Advocacy: Using Project Outcome for Academic Libraries collects case studies demonstrating how a variety of libraries have used Project Outcome to make improvements in their practice and highlighting the value the toolkit has brought to institutions and the academic library profession. Chapters capture ways to use Project Outcome to make small changes, like the optimal arrangement of a library’s study room furniture, to using Project Outcome data in conversation with datasets from other sources to provide greater insights into the contributions of academic libraries to student learning and success, as well as evidence that can be used in advocating for institutional, state, and federal funding.
 
Academic librarians know that their work makes a difference. You set students on the road to success and researchers on the road to results, providing valuable skills and access to knowledge that help our colleges and universities thrive. The challenge for libraries can be capturing meaningful data to support that story. Since 2019, the Project Outcome for Academic Libraries toolkit has helped library workers measure learning outcomes to drive change, make data-informed decisions, and demonstrate the impact and value of academic libraries. Learn how to use this data in your library, institution, and the profession with Assessment and Advocacy, all proceeds of which go to keeping Project Outcome free.
 

Gena Parsons-Diamond is the program manager, data and research at the Association of College and Research Libraries and supports ACRL’s data products: Project Outcome for Academic Libraries, Benchmark: Library Metrics and Trends, and the Threshold Achievement Test for Information Literacy. She holds a Masters in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago.
 

Acknowledgements
 
Foreword
Leo S. Lo
 
Introduction
Gena Parsons-Diamond
 
Chapter 1. Characteristics of Academic Libraries, Library Instruction, and Student Outcomes: A Descriptive Analysis Focusing on Minority-Serving and Rural Institutions
Kara Malenfant and Sara Goek
 
Case Studies
Chapter 2. Three Newly Joined Libraries Seeking to Better Serve Students and Grow Advocacy Efforts
Joe Pirillo
 
Chapter 3. Collecting Iowa State University Library Spaces Feedback Using Project Outcome
Greg Davis
 
Chapter 4. Using Project Outcome as Part of a Three-Tiered Approach to Information Literacy Instruction Assessment
Karoline Manny
 
Chapter 5. Two Academic Libraries, One Study: Using Project Outcome for Assessment and Advocacy across Partner Institutions
Rachel E. Trnka, Karen F. Kaufmann, and Katy Miller
 
Chapter 6. Small Changes, Big Impact: Assessing Group Study Rooms Using the Space Survey
Jennifer Arnold, Christy Case, and Retha Hall
 
Chapter 7. Revitalizing our Instructional Assessment: Embracing a New Approach using Project Outcome
Martha Hood and Juliana Espinosa
 
Chapter 8. Establishing Baseline Data for Library Instruction Improvement
Laura D’Aveta
 
Chapter 9. Using the Instruction Follow-Up Survey to Advance Library Integration in the First-Year Experience Program
Courtney Drysdale and Paul Betty
 
Chapter 10. Using Project Outcome for an Undergraduate Library Orientation
Kaitlyn Clohosey
 
Chapter 11. Assessing Information Literacy Programs for First-Year Writing Courses at a Public University
Kate Langan, LuMarie Guth, and Dylan McGlothlin
 
Appendices
Appendix A. Project Outcome 101
Appendix B. Introduction to Project Outcome
Appendix C. Survey Text (Immediate Surveys)
Appendix D. Survey Text (Follow-Up Surveys)
Appendix E. List of Schools Who Have Used Project Outcome
About the Authors