Using a Needs Assessment to Develop an Institutional Repository

Needs assessments can help librarians gain a better understanding of the scholarly communication practices and opinions of faculty within their communities, but they can also provide additional benefits. In the fall of 2016, two librarians at an R2 institution that had just started a scholarly communications program led a qualitative study of 18 faculty members at their institution in which liaison librarians conducted interviews with faculty in their departments. Although the main intent of the assessment was to better learn faculty views and opinions on scholarly communications-related issues such as open access, the librarians also used the study for several other purposes. First, the interviews became a mean of helping to raise awareness about the university’s new institutional repository and other scholarly communications services. Second, the interviews helped librarians discover potential projects that could become part of the institutional repository. Third, the interviews provided a tool for initiating liaison librarians to scholarly communications issues by having them conduct the surveys. Finally, results from the needs assessment have helped inform how the library’s new scholarly communications librarian conducts not only outreach to faculty and students but also training to the entire library staff to take part in these efforts, including promoting and supporting the institutional repository. Attendees will learn details of the faculty study and how librarians used it to meet multiple goals that helped to promote use of the institutional repository and other scholarly communication services offered by the library