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Library Impact Practice Brief: Supporting Library Spaces Research in the Iowa State University Library with Project Outcome

In the busy world of academic research library assessment work, can simple and easy-to-use outcome-based assessment tools contribute in meaningful and actionable ways to library decision-making? This was the question at the center of a project conducted by staff in the Iowa State University (ISU) Library’s Assessment and Planning unit as part of the library’s participation in the ARL Research Library Impact Framework initiative. The ISU project was done in support of the ARL research question, “How do library spaces facilitate innovative research, creative thinking, and problem-solving?” The ISU research project was based on the use of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Project Outcome for Academic Libraries survey tool. In the ISU project, data was collected and analyzed using the Project Outcome spaces survey, once every semester, from the fall of 2018 through the fall of 2021. The ISU project was designed to identify benefits of the Project Outcome survey through the hands-on use of the Project Outcome tool kit and to share those findings. This practice brief also provides information on how to use Project Outcome. A goal of the project was to support and encourage other ARL libraries in their own use of the Project Outcome resources.