What are the characteristics of good reporting?

In presenting the findings of an evaluation, remember that most stakeholders want more than “just the facts.” They expect you to explain how you have collected the data and how you arrived at the interpretations and recommendations in your report. Reporting an evaluation is as much about telling the “story” of the evaluation in a convincing manner as it is about rendering sophisticated tables, charts, and statistical analyses. Frankly, people seldom remember figures and graphs, but they do recall stories. Moreover, they are much more likely to share stories, and thus, in turn, influence other stakeholders.

Traditional stories have plot components, and so do evaluation reports. Your evaluation report should include a rich description of the context for the evaluation. It should explain the unique nature of the digital library being evaluated. Include hot links to the library if the report is digital or screen captures that illustrate its features if the report is a print document. Strive to give the reader a feel for the digital library. At a minimum, an evaluation report should answer the following stakeholder questions:

• What is the background of this digital library? Who created it? How is it funded? Who does it serve? What are its unique affordances? What are its future prospects?
• Why is the purpose of the evaluation? What decisions are the results intended to inform? What questions were addressed?
• What methods were used? What is the alignment among decisions, questions, and methods? How were evaluation participants recruited?
• What worked as planned? What was changed during the implementation of the evaluation? What limitations exist that must be taken into account when reviewing the results?
• What were the results? How do the results align with the questions and decisions? How do different groups of stakeholders interpret the results?
• What recommendations can be made based upon the results? What are the anticipated outcomes of making different decisions? What trade-offs, if any, are evident?