Conducting a User Needs Assessment through the Consortia: Pooling Resources to Examine Student and Faculty Habits

Abstract

From 2016 to 2020, ten smaller schools in one regional library consortium participated in a user needs assessment project. This article documents the process for implementing a collaborative user needs assessment by utilizing the shared interest and enthusiasm of a team of librarians to create a consortial toolkit. The toolkit supplied direction and leverage to conduct ethnographic research at consortial schools while providing clarity and consistency for testing across multiple sites.