Cultural Heritage Institutions
Assessment of library, museum, or archival services, tools, products, or collections
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Assessment and Evaluation in Cultural Heritage Institutions
What is Assessment and Evaluation in Cultural Heritage Institutions?
In Assessment and Evaluation in Cultural Heritage Institutions, second year master's-level graduate students work in small teams on a project relating to the assessment of a cultural heritage service, tool, product, or collection. The students will first design an assessment tool (i.e. community survey, interview protocol, etc.), implement the assessment tool, and then evaluate results to provide recommendations for the client organization.
Deliverables
What do clients receive for participating in this course?
Deliverables for this course will include:
An assessment design and/or tool (i.e. survey, interview protocol, etc.)
Raw data from assessment
Recommendations based on the assessment for the institution to implement
Project types that may be successful include:
Diversity and inclusion assessment of a collection
Assessing the user experience of an online library system
Community needs assessment
Archival accessibility assessment
Eligibility
Who can participate?
Potential clients should meet the following criteria:
Be a cultural institution
Able to meet virtually with the student team regularly throughout the duration of the project
Able to provide the student team with necessary access and materials to complete the project
Eligible cultural institutions include the following:
Special libraries
Academic libraries
Public libraries
Historical societies
Museums
Archives
What do the students do during the project?
How many projects are selected for this course?
Winter 2022: 5 projects needed*
Winter 2021: 5 projects selected
* Due to variability in the number of enrolled students each year, these numbers are subject to change and can be used as a rough estimate.
Timeline
This course occurs in the Winter semester (January–April)
June – November
Client submits project idea
Client Engagement Team (CET) reviews project idea and requests full project proposal
CET works with client to scope and refine proposal
January
Faculty choose proposals to present to students
Students choose their project
January – February
Students begin project
April
Students finish project and provide deliverable(s) to client
Participate
How do I become a client?
Potential clients should complete this brief form with their contact information and a short summary of their project idea. Our Client Engagement Team will review your submission and reach out to you within 3 business days with next steps.
What if I don't have a project right now, but I'm interested in future opportunities or want to learn more?
If you don't have a specific project in mind for the upcoming semester, but would like to stay informed about future opportunities to work with students through our client-based courses or other programs, complete this registration form to be added to our mailing list.