Collaborative Assessment and Survey Administration

Abstract

The Managing Information Services Outcomes (MISO) Survey was originally developed in 2005 at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, USA by staff from a consortium of higher education institutions to assess library and technology services using a single instrument. Since then, the survey has grown and changed under the collaborative management of an all-volunteer team of library and IT professionals from various participating institutions throughout the United States. The survey has been implemented at 171 institutions. This chapter reviews the guiding principles, ongoing partnerships, and the value of working across departments, across campuses, and across cohorts of participating institutions to leverage local expertise, reduce costs, and create a culture of collaboration and assessment. In an environment where libraries are increasingly dependent on information technology, assessing library services in the context of IT brings layered intelligence to data-informed decision making.