International Journal of Action Research, 2007, vol. 3, issue 1+2, pages 131 - 148
"AR is not just one more social science "method"; it is a fundamentally different way of conducting research and social change work together. Participation in AR is not just a moral value but essential to successful AR because the complexities of the problems addressed require the knowledge and experience of a broad and diverse array of stakeholders. I argue that there is no one ideal form of AR and that what is useful is situationally dependent which is also why AR cannot respect or operate within the disciplinary boundaries or departmental structures of academic. For these reasons, Morten Levin and I prefer to call our work "pragmatic AR". To complete the paper, I present two cases, one from industry and one from community development, to show how I practice pragmatic AR in context."
What is LibQUAL+®?
LibQUAL+® is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users' opinions of service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The program's centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey bundled with training that helps libraries assess and improve library services
Having used this for 5 years in Canada at McGill University, we found it an extremely useful tool for checking service delivery and making improvements.