The ARL Library Scorecard Pilot: Using the Balanced Scorecard in Research Libraries Martha Kyrillidou, Senior Director, Statistics and Service Quality Programs, ARL A RL has built a program of assessment over time and continues to seek opportunities to develop this capacity in research libraries. In 2009, the Association launched a new initiative to help libraries make a stronger case for the value they deliver through services and programs by developing metrics that are directly tied to strategic goals. ARL invited interested libraries to participate in a pilot effort to develop library scorecards along the lines of the Balanced Scorecard approach created by Harvard business professors Kaplan and Norton.1 The ARL initiative began as a collaborative project with external consultant Ascendant Strategy Management Group and four participating libraries: Johns Hopkins University, McMaster University, University of Virginia, and University of Washington. At this early stage the project had two primary goals: to assist, train, and facilitate the use of the scorecard in a small number of ARL libraries and to test the value of a collaborative model for learning about and implementing the new tool. The Ascendant Strategy Management Group brought deep expertise in the application of the Balanced Scorecard to these four-mission driven organizations that are facing challenges to demonstrate their impact, increase leadership and management effectiveness, leverage networks of stakeholders, and ensure organizational capacity for growth. The consultants were also strongly advocating, “the cornerstone of an effective Balanced Scorecard, or any strategic measurement system, is to identify strategic priorities and clarify the cause-and- effect linkages among them.”2 Many ARL member libraries have long shown an interest in the Balanced Scorecard, as they have closely watched the scorecard’s application for almost a decade at the University of Virginia. Jim Self described the University of RLI 271 33 AUGUST 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC
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