Demonstrating Results Workshop

I’ve spent the morning in the Demonstrating Results Workshop.

The primary presenter, Rhea Joyce Rubin, has been a library consultant since the 1980’s. She is a former library director and is the author of the new PLA book- Demonstrating Results. The secondary presenter, Yolanda Cuesta, has a background in multicultural services. They are engaging speakers with a good sense of humor and the pace of the program has been just right – fast enough to stay interested, slow enough to keep up.

We spent the morning being introduced the concept of Outcome Measurement. In the Library profession, we don’t normally use Outcome Measurement to show our achievement. The United Way uses this phrase which encapsulates why Libraries should be doing Outcome Measurement – “It’s not how many worms the bird feeds its young. Its how far the fledgling can fly.” There are many benefits to Outcome Measurement, but the most compelling are:

Customers understand when we present the Library in terms of Outcomes (i.e.: 80% of people who attended a job program at the Library got jobs)

Quantifies the anecdotes and success stories. Puts a human face on statistics – the real stuff that happens to real people. Politicians and funders really respond to this

In a nutshell, Outcome Measurement is a user-centered (not library centered) approach to planning and assessment of programs/services that are provided to address particular user needs and designed to achieve change for the user.

We also went over the bibliography for the workshop, which is extensive.

Throughout the afternoon, we worked on sample programs in small groups to practice the process. This was a good way to the spend the afternoon, in discussion with peers about the difference between outputs and outcomes and how to demonstrate that a program is achieving the results desired based on data.