Library involvement in academic program review: an exploratory survey of the Canadian perspective

What the paper says

Purpose This research explores how Canadian university libraries participate in program review, a key component of quality assurance in post-secondary institutions and an important way for libraries to show their value. To become aware of how libraries provide impact, it is necessary to understand what other libraries are doing with processes occurring at a university-wide level. Design/methodology/approach The researcher sent an exploratory survey to university librarians across Canada asking who played a main role in program review tasks, how coordination worked and what was going well and could use improvement in the overall process. Findings Themes emerged on workflow, visibility, schedule, feedback and effects on library work. Although there are different ways of reaching the same goal, academic libraries are involved in helping reach the university’s mission. Originality/value Very little is written about this in the literature (library or otherwise). Most research is not current or only looks at specific components of library involvement (i.e. collection assessment). Not only is this helpful strategically for libraries but getting a sense of how other libraries engage with university and library colleagues will benefit those operationally tasked with supporting academic program review.