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Module A > A tale of two programs 

A tale of a library program

Let’s see what a typical small program involves — one for a library — without worrying about outcome-based planning and evaluation. Then let's consider what Outcomes Based Planning and Evaluation might add.

Procedure:

• You get an idea
• You plan the program, budgeting resources and costs, and argue successfully for modest funding.
• You offer the services and monitor the results.
  

Library scenario

Let's explore a library example. What happened?

You get an idea -
Your library owns a collection of documents concerning Tibetans. Local schools often have lessons on local cultures, and state educational standards now require use of primary materials.

You plan the program, budget resources and costs, and get funding -
You make documents available on the Web and get a modest allocation of funds to develop study modules for teachers.

You offer the services and monitor results -
You promote the availability of the items with local teachers  and check to see how many web hits your site gets.

What difference did your program make? How do you know? -
“We got over 2,000 hits on our website in the three month period .”

But this describes the effect on the library. What difference does the program make in the lives of the visitors? How can you show your program contributes to the public good in support of the institution’s mission?

Library scenario with Outcomes Based Planning and Evaluation added: documents about Tibetans

Let's explore the library example again. This time we've added the Outcomes Based Planning and Evaluation. What outcome do you want? Your mission statement gives one of your institutional goals: “Serving as an educational and cultural resource to the people of the northeastern State region”

What happened when Outcomes Based Planning and Evaluation was applied?

You get an idea -
Your library owns a collection of documents concerning Tibetans. State educational standards now require use of primary materials and teachers who do lessons on local cultures may want to include some of your documents.

You plan the program, budget resources and costs, and get funding -
You identify interesting documents, get local Tibetan groups to partner with you and school teachers to develop sample packs of materials, get modest funding from a grant and mount materials on your website.

You offer the services and monitor results -
The Tibetan group schedules a ceremony for the opening and local representatives speak when school groups visit. Your school administration is pleased at increased attendance figures. Your website hits increase 25%. The local school administrators and your grant funders are especially pleased to hear that children participating in the program have incorporated documents into their history fair projects. Results of the pre- and post-visit surveys show an increased level of knowledge about local cultures and an awareness of how Tibetans live today (= outcomes, changes in target audience).

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