Bricoleurs: exploring digital library evaluation as participant interactions, research, and processes

The NSF-funded National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is working to develop community-based processes for implementing shared evaluation goals and instruments among its distributed library network to examine library usage, collections growth, and library governance processes. The bricoleur modality of evaluation research is one that integrates scientific methods as well as humanistic values. These activities are helping to provide the foundation for the development of a scientific program of digital library evaluation that crosses disciplinary boundaries.