What is Assessment Plan

Assessment is increasingly important for libraries to address, as it speaks to justification for funding and support from the larger university. Many university budget models now require departments and colleges to be self-funding, whereas the library does not have traditional revenue sources. Statistics, including retention impact, encourage faculty and staff to promote library use to their students and encourage departments and colleges to support funding the library. This chapter explores best practices for assessing social media use in the context of instruction and marketing. It outlines the reasons for implementing an assessment plan as well as the steps necessary to successfully assess social media use, starting with outlining the specific goals for social media use, all the way through review and modification of the social media plan.