Abstract

TARANGO, Javier  and  HERNANDEZ-OROZCO, Guillermo. Assessment of university libraries: a model of advancement and development. Rev. Interam. Bibliot [online]. 2009, vol.32, n.2, pp.147-175. ISSN 0120-0976.

The evaluation of the library system in context of higher education has marked itself quantitatively the operating conditions and the infrastructural development- wrong evidence of progress-. This trend of superficial measurement hindered a more sensitive screening of the library in the modern paradigm context (knowledge society). The theoretical model for the library evaluation that is being proposed in this document represents and innovating alternative to value the library in a more objective dimension, meaningful and functional to respond to institutional expectations and to the new sociocultural order in twilight of traditional systems. Evaluating the library systems in a society characterized by the incessant flow of information and academic production is not a simple position of educational discourse but an unavoidable necessity that justifies the title role of libraries as a cultural reception area. The construction of knowledge in the psycho educational modern paradigms is due in many ways to the role of the library mediator between the knower and the access to information resources. From this perspective it's essential to question if the library system is prepared to overcome challenges imposed upon the new century and if the current evaluation modelsbesides recording the operating conditions- can lead the reinvention of the system and push the complex dynamic of information. The evaluation model of library development that is presented is divided in independent segments that register the key elements of the library: its institutional projection, its development in the educational environment, the historical conditions that have defined the lines of its operation and the influence and impact in the transformation of the users.

Keywords : library evaluation; library growth evaluation; library improvement evaluation; library development evaluation; library evaluation models; library and information intervention models; university academic libraries.

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