HEIRALLIANCE EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR
INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES
July 1995
from the Higher Education Information Resources Alliance
of ARL, CAUSE, and Educom
Documents related to this report are available and described at the end of this report.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for
evaluating information resources that colleges and
universities can use when doing institutional self-
assessments, and that regional accrediting associations can
consider as part of the accrediting process. After a brief
introduction, a set of general requirements and related
questions, based in part upon accreditation team experiences,
outline areas that need to be addressed to ensure that
information resources support the mission and administration
of the institution.
The term "information resources" as used in this set of
guidelines encompasses information technologies (computing
and voice, video, and data communications), information
services, and information itself.[1] While most accrediting agencies offer standards for libraries which primarily
address information in print form, these guidelines are
intended to address a growing area of common concern for both
libraries and information technology organizations-access to
and delivery of information through computing and
communications technology (electronic information resources).
These guidelines have been developed, reviewed, and endorsed
by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), CAUSE, and
Educom, three key organizations encouraging and providing
support for effective planning, management, and use of
information resources in higher education. The three
organizations conduct cooperative initiatives through the
Higher Education Information Resources Alliance
(HEIRAlliance).
INTRODUCTION
Institutions of higher education continue to invest heavily
in information resources-information, technology, and
services. The technology continues to change at a rapid rate,
as evidenced by the increasing power of the desktop
workstation, the emphasis on distributed computing, the use
of classroom technology and video conferencing, the ubiquity
of electronic servers for text, numeric, and graphic
information, the need of the business community for colleges
and universities to produce information-literate graduates,
and the evolution of the Internet toward a national and
global information infrastructure.
In this environment many opportunities arise-and in fact
strong forces are already at work-to change instructional
methods, research approaches, and administrative processes.
Institutions of higher education need to be aware of the
importance of their investment in information resources and
to have means to assess their progress in providing them.
Traditional requirements for review, combined with increasing
public demands for accountability in higher education,
necessitate continued development of good tools for
assessment. One of the primary approaches to evaluation in
higher education is institutional self-study to review
progress in a particular area; another is the regional
accreditation process. This set of guidelines aims to
facilitate and support each of these important mechanisms.
Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental effort by
institutions. Its basic goals are to:
- assure the educational community, the governing board, and the public that an institution has clearly defined educational objectives and has developed an environment that supports achieving those objectives according to agreed standards, and
- encourage educational improvement by self-study and
periodic evaluation by qualified professionals.
The accreditation process is overseen through regional
and specialized agencies (such as for engineering and
business administration) which develop accreditation
guidelines and standards and administer periodic team
visits. An accreditation review is often preceded by the
institution's own extensive self-study that uses
accreditation guidelines and standards published by its
accrediting agency. As the model for accessing and
delivering information increasingly becomes one of a
networked information environment, electronic
information resources especially need to be addressed as
an integral part of the self-study or accreditation
process.
Thus, we offer these guidelines in the hope of assisting the
evaluation process, whether as part of the formal
accreditation process or an internal institutional review.
Not every question will apply to every institution; what is
important in the evaluation is seeking the match between the
institution's stated mission and the observed environment.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Information resources-including such electronic resources as
computer hardware and software, communications networks,
databases, scholarly information in electronic form, access
and delivery systems, transaction processing systems,
computer applications, computer and information
professionals, and other related resources-are of the
quality, depth, and currentness necessary to support the
institution's articulated mission, strategies, directions,
and goals for academic programs and institutional management.Information in electronic form is made available to the
campus community and, where appropriate, to the local,
national, and/or international networked community. Such
information is selected, delivered, and managed to support
the institution's academic and community service mission and
administrative requirements; it includes institutional
administrative and academic databases and their content,
electronic scholarly information and other electronic text
and images, communications between colleagues locally and
elsewhere, indexing and abstracting services, bulletin
boards, and access to commercial and non-commercial online
resources.
What follow are some key guidelines for effective planning,
management, and use of institutional information resources.
Rather than being prescriptive, the questions highlight areas
that should be explored to better understand the requirements
for integrating information resources into the fabric of the
institution.
Academic Program Support
Academic programs are supported by appropriate electronic information resources.
These comprise, for example, high-speed communications
networks, computing hardware and software, access to external
networked resources, electronic scholarly information,
library search engines and digital repositories, indexing and
text and data services, high-technology classrooms,
electronic conferencing facilities, multimedia instructional
development labs, administrative databases, and the like. The
institutional environment encourages faculty to make
appropriate and innovative uses of electronic information
resources to improve academic programs and to publish
scholarly information, and encourages students to make
appropriate and innovative uses of such resources to further
their learning. A locus of responsibility for the
institution's digital academic information has been
identified.
- Are software, hardware, and network resources appropriate in quantity and quality to meet academic program needs?
- Are such resources regularly updated to meet current and emerging academic program needs?
- Are available scholarly information resources provided in electronic form where appropriate, and are they selected through an organized planning process, guided by written policies and procedures that include collaboration among users and library and computing professionals?
- Are support and training provided to help faculty and students learn to use and effectively apply such resources?
- Are the campuswide computing and telecommunications centers, library technological infrastructure, and computing laboratories appropriate for the academic programs and nature of the institution?
- Are procedures and incentives in place to encourage faculty to make appropriate and innovative use of electronic information resources to improve the
academic program and publish scholarly information, and
to encourage student use?
- Does the institution, consistent with its size and mission, utilize the national and international information infrastructure to extend educational and academic opportunities to non-local and non-traditional students? to promote faculty and student recruitment? to make appropriate information available on the network as well as accessing it elsewhere?
Administrative Support
The institution's operations and management are supported by appropriate information resources. Initiatives that make use of information resources
to provide better administrative services and savings are
encouraged and supported by senior administrators and
information resources organizations. Information resources
are viewed as having the potential to improve business
processes for greater efficiency and effectiveness.
- Are administrative information resources provided
electronically so as to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of the institution?
- Are access privileges to administrative information
resources assigned to individuals commensurate with
their scope of responsibility and need for such
information to do their jobs effectively?
- Are software, hardware, and network resources
appropriate in quantity and quality to meet the needs
of institutional management and operations?
- Are such resources regularly updated to meet current
and emerging administrative and operations needs?
- Are incentives and procedures in place to encourage
administrators and staff to make appropriate and
innovative uses of electronic information resources to
improve the operation, management, and decision-making
of the institution?
- Are support and training provided to help
administrators and staff learn to use and effectively
apply such resources?
Access
A variety of electronic information resources, both on and off campus, is readily accessible by faculty, staff, and students so that they may accomplish their work independent of their location. Electronic information
resources and provision for electronic access to information
are allocated among central and distributed suppliers and
users within the institution according to understood plans
and procedures.
- Is there ready electronic access to information
resources such as bulletin boards, information
repositories, and colleagues on campus and elsewhere,
with sufficient capacity to supply high-volume data
where appropriate, and with local support for
establishing such resources on campus for access by
others?
- Does on-campus access to information technologies and
services include classrooms, offices, residence halls,
kiosks, and other public facilities that are convenient
and appropriate to faculty, staff, students, and
visitors?
- Is there equitable access to electronic information
resources for the institutional community, with access
facilities provided for those who do not have their own
equipment?
- Is there appropriate access to external electronic
information resources for faculty, students, and staff?
- Have the needs of persons with disabilities been taken
into account in providing access to internal and
external electronic information resources?
Extended Boundaries
The institution is moving to exploit technology to extend the traditional boundaries of the campus by providing educational and research
opportunities and services in the home, at the worksite, or
wherever faculty and potential students may be.
- Do students and faculty have adequate and convenient
access to electronic information resources from off-
campus locations?
- Where off-campus electronic information resources are
used as part of the institution's programs, are
students and faculty provided convenient and
appropriate access to these resources?
Institutionwide Planning
The institution considers
among its important information resources such organizations
as libraries, academic and administrative computing support
groups, telecommunications and networking services,
audiovisual and multimedia facilities, printing facilities,
and university presses. The institution recognizes the need
for ongoing partnerships and joint planning among these
groups, as well as management and technical linkages among
them, so as to benefit from their synergy and to avoid
duplicative effort. A well-developed planning process which
is tied to the institutional budgeting process is in place
for information resources, involving faculty, senior
administrators, librarians, information technology
professionals, students, and others as needed.
- Does the institution's mission and vision statement
articulate the role and degree of importance
information resources play in its academic and
administrative programs?
- Is the planning for information resources incorporated
into the institutionwide strategic planning process?
- Is there a campuswide plan for information resources
that not only addresses the communication paths such as
voice, video, and data communications, but addresses as
well the information content that travels over these
paths?
- Does the planning process include participation of user
communities, and are users or potential users of
applications meaningfully involved when such
applications are developed or reengineered?
- Are administrators responsible for information
resources management included in executive-level
strategic planning and direction-setting for these
resources?
- Does campus space/facilities planning incorporate the
needs and standards for electronic information
resources?
- Is there adequate and stable funding to support the
institution's continuing commitments to electronic
information resources, including capital replacement
funding and annual budget allocations for upgrading and
maintenance?
- Where information is valuable to the institution over
time, are there procedures and planning for backup,
migration and refreshing, technology upgrades, and
long-term information integrity and archiving?
- Are mission-critical information systems regularly
evaluated to ensure that they continue to meet the
changing needs of the institution, in light of
opportunities presented by emerging technologies?
- Is there a plan in place to recover electronic
information resources in the event of a disaster?
- Are the acquisitions and gifts of software, hardware,
and other electronic information resources consistent
with articulated academic and administrative program
directions and needs?
- Is there institutionwide coordination of the process of
evaluating and acquiring emerging technologies?
- If the institution relies on the computing resources of
other institutions or organizations, does it have a
well-conceptualized rationale specifying the roles of
both on- and off-campus computing resources?
Advisory and Policy Structure
Appropriate user,
provider, and institutional structures (e.g., advisory and
policy committees) exist to provide guidance and direction in
the development and use of institutional information
resources. These structures are supported by the institution
and are made up of members who are knowledgeable about the
enabling capabilities of electronic information resources.
Policies and procedures are in place to promote responsible
use of such resources by individuals, by campus
organizations, and by the institution.
- Do written policies and procedures exist regarding
appropriate and authorized use of computing resources
and network access, such as a rights and
responsibilities statement?
- Do policies and procedures exist to ensure the
integrity and security of information used by faculty,
staff, and students?
- Do the institution's access and delivery systems have
appropriate measures in place to assure data integrity,
security, and access control, including the fulfillment
of legal requirements (including copyright),
regulations, and commercial agreements?
- Do policies and procedures exist that encourage the
legal and ethical uses of electronic information
resources by all members of the institutional
community, and, where sanctions are applied, are
principles of due process followed?
- Do rules and procedures regarding access and use of
data strike an appropriate balance among an
individual's right to privacy, the institution's
imperative to operate efficiently, and, in the case of
public institutions, the rights of citizens to
information about their government?
- Are the written policies and procedures for the
acquisition of hardware, software, and other electronic
information resources kept current and are they widely
circulated among academic and administrative
departments?
- Are procedures for gaining or granting access to
information clearly stated and consistently and
equitably applied?
- Are information technology standards in place and are
members of the campus community aware of these so that
they can make an informed choice when making technology
purchases?
Staffing
Professional staff with appropriate expertise
are available-both centrally and in divisional, school, or
department units close to users-to support faculty, students,
administrators, and staff and to maintain services. Such
staff have adopted a customer-service orientation in the
delivery of information services to the campus. Acquisition
of new technologies is timely, and related support services
(documentation, development, consultation, training,
maintenance) meet the needs of institutional users.
- Are sufficient resources (staff, equipment, and
facilities) available for network planning, operation,
and ongoing support?
- Are there sufficient staff and funding for the
identification of scholarly information resources, for
their being made available, and for the assistance of
students and faculty in locating and using them?
- Do students, faculty, and staff have adequate support
services (training, consultation, documentation,
development, maintenance, help systems, and so forth)
to meet their academic and administrative program
needs?
- Is there an ongoing, comprehensive training program in
the use of electronic information resources for
faculty, staff, and students, including those in
continuing education and off-campus programs?
- Do training programs address differing skill levels of
users, and are there strategies for providing online
help and support facilities?
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See Patricia Battin, "New Ways of Thinking about Financing
Information Services," in Brian Hawkins (ed.), Organizing
and Managing Information Resources on Campus (McKinney,
Texas: Academic Computing Publications, Inc., 1989), pp. 369-
383.
Back to the text
DEVELOPMENT OF THESE GUIDELINES
The Higher Education Information Resources Alliance
(HEIRAlliance) is a vehicle for cooperative projects between
the Association of Research Libraries, CAUSE, and Educom. In
1994, the HEIRAlliance appointed a committee to update the
CAUSE/Educom Evaluation Guidelines for Institutional
Information Technology Resources (published in 1988). This
committee comprised Peter Graham, Associate University
Librarian, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey;
Christine Haile, Associate Vice Chancellor, Technology
Services, State University of New York Central
Administration; and Norma Holland, Associate Director,
University Computing Services, Indiana University.
Representing respectively ARL, Educom, and CAUSE, this
committee made recommendations to the parent organizations
which approved these new guidelines in the spring of 1995.
The original document was based on the work of a committee
made up of David L. Smallen, Hamilton College; Thomas W.
West, The California State University System; James Moss,
Naval Academy; and Robert G. Gillespie, now with Robert
Gillespie Associates. Special thanks are due to several readers, whose comments and
perspectives were valuable in ensuring that the document was
broadly framed to serve all types and sizes of colleges and
universities: David Smallen, Hamilton College; Albert L.
LeDuc, Miami-Dade Community College; and Gerald Bernbom,
Indiana University.
This document was edited and prepared on behalf of the
HEIRAlliance by CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E,
Boulder, CO 80301-6114; phone 303-449-4430.
A related document developed by the HEIRAlliance committee as
part of this project provides an example of what the
information technology environment might look like at an
information-resources-intensive institution.
Print copies of this document are available from
EDUCAUSE at $5.00 each (orders@educause.edu or 303-939-
0310).
Copyright (C) 1995 HEIRA. These guidelines may be reproduced
for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credit to the
HEIRAlliance.
ARL, the Association of Research Libraries, is an
organization of 119 major research libraries in the U.S. and
Canada whose mission is to shape and influence forces
affecting the future of research libraries in the process of
scholarly communication. 202-296-2296
CAUSE, the association for managing and using information
resources in higher education, is a nonprofit association
whose mission is to enhance the administration and delivery
of higher education through the effective management and use
of information resources. 303-449-4430
Educom is a non-profit consortium of leading colleges and
universities seeking to transform education through the use
of information technology. Its programs focus primarily on
networking and integrating computing into the curriculum.
202-872-4200
Related documents available: