Chapter 14. Standards and Guidelines
Policies:
14.1 Standards & Guidelines-description
14.2 Standards and Accreditation Committee
14.3 ACRL Units with Responsibility for Standards and Guidelines
14.4 Standards for subject-oriented departments
14.5 Relationships with Accrediting Agencies and Higher Education Organizations
14.6 Outcomes Assessment Task Force Recommendations
Procedures:
14.7 Procedures of the Standards and Accreditation Committee
14.8 Development procedures for standards & guidelines
14.9 Expedited review
14.10 Translation of Standards and Guidelines into languages other than English
14.11 Procedures for development and review of policy statements within ACRL
14.12 Procedures for rescinding standards & guidelines
14.13 Procedures for updating standards & guidelines
14.14 Standards & guidelines—current list
14.1 Standards & Guidelines-description
ACRL establishes standards and guidelines for the profession.
Standards are policies that describe shared academic library values and principles of performance for a library serving a Carnegie-classified institution. In order for a document to be classified as a standard it must:
- Be comprehensive
- Present goals for programs, services, and staffing toward which the profession aspires.
- Serve as a rule or model for quantity, quality, extent, and level of suitability.
- Support standards that are qualitative and/or quantitative, both of which are in the process of continuing review.
- Act as a criterion for decision and actions in the academic community, confirming the planning and administration of library service with regard to value, quality, and suitability.
- Include statements expressed in relative terms, relating performance to norms derived from a reference population.
- Suggest outcomes to be achieved by academic libraries in the areas described in the standard.
Guidelines consist of procedures that will prove useful in meeting the standards. In order for a document to be classified as a guideline it must:
- Be specific to programs, service, or staffing.
- Identify a framework for developing service policies and procedures.
- Define qualitative criteria; generally exclude quantitative criteria.
- Identify factors contributing to program effectiveness.
- Incorporate benchmarks by which a particular library and information service, resource, or material may be judged.
All final versions of approved standards and guidelines are printed in C&RL News and are available free-of-charge from our Web site. Source: ACRL Board, June 1994
14.2 Standards and Accreditation Committee
SAC is a standing committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. It is the umbrella Committee to which the ACRL Board of Directors has delegated the responsibility for the development of standards and guidelines adopted and promoted by the Association, and for establishing and maintaining appropriate liaisons with accrediting agencies and other organizations that monitor and evaluate the performance of academic libraries. (ALA Handbook of Organization) The authority to adopt, revise, or rescind standards and guidelines resides with the ACRL Board of Directors.
14.2.1 Tasks:
- Monitors existing ACRL standards and guidelines and recommends revision or rescission when appropriate to the ACRL Board.
- Recommends new standards or guidelines as needed.
- Assists units of ACRL in developing standards and guidelines.
- Recommends to the ACRL Board the acceptability of proposed standards, guidelines, and related documents.
- Holds or delegates the holding of open hearings and/or electronic dissemination and commentary on ACRL standards and guidelines before they are recommended to the ACRL Board.
- Develops and implements plans to improve the quality of academic libraries through the publication and implementation of ACRL standards and guidelines.
- Works with organizations and accrediting bodies to strengthen and sustain the quality and significance of academic libraries.
Charge adopted: ACRL Board of Directors, 1984. Revised, 1987. Revised 2003.
14.2.2 Committee Membership
Eleven members serving three-year rotating terms, appointed by the ACRL President. The names and contact information of those individuals who chair and are members of the current Committee can be obtained from the ACRL Web site.
The Executive Director of the Association of College and Research Libraries is an ex-officio member of the Committee.
14.3 ACRL Units with Responsibility for Standards and Guidlines
In addition to SAC, the following ACRL units have responsibilities for the development and promotion of standards and guidelines:
Academic Librarians Status Committee
College Libraries Section
Community and Junior College Libraries Section
Distance Learning Section
Instruction Section
Media Resources Committee
Rare Books and Manuscripts Section
University Libraries Section
Consult the current edition of the ACRL Web site for the names and addresses of the section and committee chairs.
SAC may also request the ACRL Board to appoint ad hoc task forces to review and revise standards for which there is no unit that can be readily assigned responsibility.
14.4 Standards for subject-oriented departments
"Standards for subject-oriented divisions, departments, or branches of college or research libraries will not be adopted. The ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee believes that the ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education can be successfully applied to most evaluations for accreditation by either regional or subject-oriented bodies." Source: ACRL Board, June 1984; revised 2006
14.5 Relationships with Accrediting Agencies and Higher Education Organizations
Since ACRL standards and guidelines are considered by the academic library community to be authoritative, and since paraphrases or models of these documents by external organizations may cause the academic community to question the jurisdiction and application of them, the SAC encourages external organizations to:
- Endorse, and when appropriate, adopt an ACRL standard or guideline for use by their constituencies.
- Develop additional statements respecting specific concerns and publish these statements when the endorsed or adopted ACRL statement does not address these concerns.
- Consider working with SAC on the development of standards and guidelines.
14.5.1 Procedures
All requests from organizations or accrediting bodies needing help or cooperation in establishing standards or guidelines for academic libraries in their areas of concern, or needing help or cooperation in related activities, shall be forwarded by the ACRL Office to the chair of SAC. If for any reason the chair is unavailable for a period of time, he or she designates another member of the Committee to conduct necessary business. Such requests go to that person during the designated period.
If the request does not require an immediate answer, the chair or designee responds that the matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee, and a response can be expected following that meeting.
Should the request be of some urgency, the chair sends copies to Committee members so that members may forward to the chair their concerns or suggestions. The chair may also wish to contact members prior to responding. The matter is placed on the agenda for the next Committee meeting.
14.5.2 External Dissemination
Upon final approval by the ACRL Board, ACRL Headquarters distributes all new or revised ACRL standards to each of the members of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
14.6 Outcomes Assessment Task Force recommendations
ACRL recognizes the assessment of outcomes as an integral means of determining the adequacy and quality of libraries and their programs. The association directs its constituent bodies to incorporate this concept into their various activities and policies, including the drafting of ACRL standards and guidelines.
Source: ACRL Board, June 1998
14.7 Procedures of the Standards and Accreditation Committee
- SAC fulfills its charge by ensuring that every standard and guideline document approved by ACRL is reviewed every five years.
- SAC assigns a liaison to the section or committee of ACRL that is responsible for the preparation of the standard or guideline.
- When the standard or guideline is submitted to SAC, the approval process is aided by attaching the SAC Transmittal Sheet to the draft document following the steps listed on the Transmittal Sheet, and adding the date when each step is completed. Careful record keeping assists the originating unit, SAC, and the ACRL Board.
- Upon receipt of a new or revised standard or guideline from an ACRL section or committee, SAC reviews the document and the Transmittal Sheet to determine if it is consistent with other ACRL standards and guidelines. If SAC has any concerns, it responds to the section or committee with specific comments or suggestions before the next ALA conference.
- Upon receipt of a final draft of a standard or guideline, and after a final review in relation to current ACRL standards and guidelines, SAC recommends acceptance or non-acceptance of the standard or guideline to the ACRL Board and, at the same time, notifies the section or committee that initiated the standard or guideline.
- The ACRL Board either approves the standard or guideline or returns it for revision.
- When the ACRL Board approves, the standard or guideline is published officially in C&RL News and is listed on the ACRL Web site.
14.8 Development procedures for standards and guidelines
These procedures are defined to help ACRL committees and sections develop standards and guidelines documents. They describe a process that is based on an identification of needs and an attempt to maintain contact with the audience to whom the document is directed. This step-by-step outline focuses on the tasks of the group developing new standards or guidelines. To develop or revise standards or guidelines, committees are expected to:
- Identify the audience to be served by the standard or guideline and its needs.
- Conduct a point-by-point review of existing standards and guidelines for coverage related to needs.
- Collect and analyze field experiences and evaluations of existing standards and guidelines.
- Review research covering existing standards and guidelines.
- Contact the chair of the Standards and Accreditation Committee for the name of the committee member who is the liaison in this project.
- Develop a working paper defining the goals of the standards or guidelines project, the structure of the proposed document, the timetable for its development, and its supporting requirements (staff, funding, etc.). Topics often addressed in this draft include purpose, audience, type of standard (service, performance, procedural), content and organizational outlines, methodology, terminology, qualitative principles, quantifiable instruments, performance measures, levels of detail and key references.
- Distribute the working paper for comment in section and committee publications where applicable, or in other venues appropriate to the specific standard or guideline. Include the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee and the ACRL office in this distribution.
- Review comments and determine project's feasibility.
- Prepare a schedule and assign responsibilities for producing a draft.
- Prepare the draft.
- Distribute the draft to the group(s) that will be affected for comment. Include the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee and the ACRL office in this distribution. Contact the liaison from the Standards and Accreditation Committee and review future plans.
- Ensure wide and timely distribution through appropriate vehicles to provide ample opportunity for comments from all interested parties. For example, the draft may be published in full in C&RL News, or it may be published on the ACRL Web site and a notice may be published in C&RL News publicizing the URL of the draft;and/or the draft may be distributed through email distribution lists (listservs) consulted by practitioners in the area covered by the standard or guideline. If desired, hearings may be held at ALA conferences. The liaison from the Standards and Accreditation Committee will attend this session along with the other members of the review committee.
- Review comments and identify revisions requirements.
- Prepare a schedule and make assignments for producing the second draft.
- Prepare the second draft. If second draft represents a substantial departure from the first, steps 11-15 should be repeated, and a third draft prepared.
- When the committee is confident that the draft is acceptable to the audience it serves, submit the draft together with a summary of its proceedings, and where a revision is involved, a statement of justification for changes made to the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee for action. The ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee will submit the document to the ACRL Board with its recommendation.
- A final copy of the approved standard or guideline should be forwarded to the ACRL Publications Manager for distribution.
14.9 Expedited review
When a standard or guideline is referred by the Standards and Accreditation Committee (SAC) to an ACRL section or committee for review and the unit concludes that the document can be renewed with only minor changes, the unit may request expedited review. Source: ACRL Board, June 1994
Expedited review is intended for limited changes to ACRL standards and guidelines which do not, in the view of SAC or the ACRL Board, modify the intent or focus of the existing document. Expedited review is appropriate for minor wording or editorial changes, clarification of errors in syntax that may make interpretation difficult, adding new wording to clarify the text, adding references to other documents, updating editions of references, and other changes that make the standard or guideline easier to use and interpret. Both SAC and the ACRL Board retain the right to deny the use of Expedited Review.
14.9.1 Procedures
The chair of an ACRL section or committee desiring to use expedited review forwards a proposal to the chair of SAC outlining the changes to be made to the policy or guideline and listing the persons and groups consulted in making the determination that only minor revision is needed. This proposal also includes a description of how the unit intends to notify the membership of the changes and collect their comments.
After the chair of SAC determines that the changes warrant or do not warrant expedited review, the chair notifies the originating unit of the decision. The chair may decide to confer first with the SAC membership either via email or at the next SAC meeting. The chair of SAC has full discretion to make this decision.
The section or committee seeking expedited review notifies the membership of the proposed changes by publishing the revised version in C&RL News and on the ACRL Website with a brief background statement which also explains how the membership may comment. Feedback may take any form, including a formal hearing, mail, email, or discussion on an Internet list.
Using gathered comments, the section or committee prepares a second draft if necessary. If the second draft is very different, the chair of SAC may determine that expedited review is not indicated and the full review procedure will be followed.
SAC reviews the final draft and makes its recommendation to the ACRL Board .
The ACRL Board either approves the standard or guideline or returns it for revision.
When the ACRL Board approves, the standard or guideline is published officially in C&RL News and is listed on the ACRL Web site.
14.10 Translation of Standards and Guidelines into languages other than English.
ACRL encourages dissemination of its standards and guidelines, including translation into languages other than English. Requests to translate standards and guidelines and to obtain current English copies should be made to the ACRL Executive Director or the ACRL Publications Manager. Translations will be made according to the following policy guidelines:
- No financial profit will derive from the translation and publication of ACRL standards and guidelines.
- It must be specified where the translations are to be published.
- Full credit must be given to ACRL/ALA copyright and an accurate citation of the source.
- Translations must be accurate and approved by the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee.
- Letters of agreement between ACRL and potential publishers of ACRL Standards and Guidelines must specify the exact standards and guidelines to be translated.
- A final copy of the translated Standard or Guideline must be provided to ACRL.
Source: ACRL Executive Committee, Fall 2004
14.10.1 Procedures
- Requests for ACRL approval of translations of standards and guidelines should be made to the ACRL Executive Director or the ACRL Publications Manager.
- The Executive Director or the Publications Manager provides the translator or sponsoring organization with a submission packet and an outline of the procedures to be followed.
- A Translation Coversheet including:
- Title of the standard or guideline being translated, including the date on which it was approved by the ACRL Board
- Language of the translation
- Name of the translator and contact information (email address, phone number, fax number, postal address)
- Name of the organization or association sponsoring the translation and its contact information
- Where the translation is to be published and anticipated date of publication
- Copy of the English original from which the translation was made
- Copy of the translation either in print form or digital. Print copies should be double-spaced. Digital copies should be accompanied by all pertinent information about the files (e.g., file format, special character sets).
- Glossary including, but not limited to, English expressions that have no exact translation in the target language; on a separate sheet in alphabetical order by English term.
- Appendix. New footnotes or other notes must not be added to the translated text. A bracketed reference in the text may refer to an appendix.
- Letters from the organization or association sponsoring the translation and cosponsors.
- The translator or sponsoring organization returns the submission packet having completed the submission requirements.The Executive Director of the Publications Manager identifies a qualified evaluator for the translation and forwards the submission packet and evaluation sheet to the evaluator.
- The evaluator returns the submission packet to the Executive Director or the Publications Manager with comments and recommendations.
- The Executive Director or the Publications Manager forwards the entire packet to the Chair of the Standards and Accreditation Committee.
- The Standards and Accreditation Committee considers the entire packet and makes a recommendation to the ACRL Board of Directors for the translation’s approval or rejection
- The ACRL Board of Directors either approves the translation or returns it to the translator or sponsoring organization for revision.
- When the ACRL Board approves, the translation is listed on the ACRL Website together with the original.
14.11 Procedures for development and review of policy statements within ACRL
ACRL has well-established procedures for the development and maintenance of standards and guidelines documents. There are, however, a number of statements that have been developed by ACRL units that articulate a policy statement, or serve as a checklist or a model statement. The Standards and Accreditation Committee recommends the following process for development and maintenance of statements that are neither standards nor guidelines:
- Committees developing documents specify the purpose and audience for the document. The committee should decide early on in the process whether it is developing a standard, guideline, or policy statement. If there is doubt as to whether the document might be a standard or guideline, the committee should consult the Standards and Accreditation Committee.
- If the document is to be a standard or guideline, the procedure in the ACRL Guide to Policies and Procedures, section 14.8 should be followed.
- The committee prepares the first draft and distributes it to affected groups for comments.
- After the review period, the draft is revised and prepared for publication and final approval by the unit.
- Once the policy statement has been approved by the unit, it should be sent to the Standards and Accreditation Committee for review.
- a. After review the Standards and Accreditation Committee will send the document, along with recommended action, to the ACRL Board of Directors.
- b. Each policy statement approved by ACRL is reviewed every five years for currency. After review, the statement may be (1) continued in force without change, (2) revised to address current needs, or (3) rescinded.
Source: ACRL Executive Committee, Spring 2007
14.12 Procedures for rescinding standards & guidelines
When a section or committee of ACRL determines that the useful life of an ACRL standard or guideline has ended, the following procedures are used to officially rescind the document. These procedures apply only to rescinding a standard or guideline when no revision of the existing document is planned.
- The committee or section that promulgated the standard or guideline forwards a request to rescind the document to the chair of the Standards and Accreditation Committee.
- Before the next ALA conference, the committee or section executive committee distributes the announcement of the intended rescission through those email distribution lists consulted by practitioners in the area covered by the standard or guideline. Should the committee or section chose to do so, it may also schedule a discussion period at its meeting at the next ALA conference.
- The Standards and Accreditation Committee assigns a committee member as liaison.
- To ensure wide and timely notice to the membership, the committee or section seeking rescission will publish an announcement of its intent in C&RL News including: (1) the reasons for the decision to rescind, (2) the name and email address of a contact person to receive comment in advance of the next ALA conference, and (3), should the committee or section choose to hold a hearing, an invitation for comment at the hearing during the next ALA conference.
- Having gathered member comments in this manner, the committee or section forwards a report of the discussion with a final recommendation to the chair and liaison member of the Standards and Accreditation Committee.
- The Standards and Accreditation Committee acts on the request for rescission at the next ALA conference. If the Standards and Accreditation Committee approves the rescission, this recommendation is forwarded to the ACRL Board of Directors for final approval.
- The ACRL Board either approves the rescission, or the Board directs SAC to work with the responsible ACRL unit to ensure that the information in the standard or guideline is somehow retained, publicized, and made available.
14.13 Procedures for updating standards & guidelines
Each standard and guideline document approved by ACRL is reviewed every five years for currency. After review, the document may be (1) continued in force without change, (2) revised to address current needs, or (3) rescinded.
The procedure for review enlists the advice and assistance of the ACRL committee or section whose primary interests are covered by the document. A review document eliciting response to a series of questions must be completed by the section or committee.
14.14 Standards & guidelines—current list
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