Introduction to Evaluation

This course is suitable for people who are new to evaluation and wish to learn core concepts and tools for undertaking evaluation work.

Evaluation is the assessment of an activity, project, or service to determine its value, quality or effectiveness. It enables you to identify what is working well, things you would like to do better, and demonstrate the difference your work makes to funders, decision makers and other stakeholders. Increasingly, archives are expected to undertake evaluation on projects, especially for externally funded projects (e.g. National Lottery Heritage Fund), and also at a service level to demonstrate impact.

This course is suitable for people who are new to evaluation and wish to learn core concepts and tools for undertaking evaluation work. Whilst it is based around evaluation for archives it will be suitable for anyone in the cultural and heritage sectors.

The course includes handouts to help consolidate your learning and signposting to other resources.

Overview of Course content

· Defining what evaluation is

· The stages of evaluation

· Evaluation planning

· Types of evaluation methods and tools

· Evaluation reporting and sharing

Course learning outcomes

· Understanding the different types of evaluation and key stages

· Developing the skills to plan an evaluation and create a simple evaluation plan

· Understanding what evaluation methods and tools you can use

· Understanding how to create a good evaluation or impact report and share the key messages

The learning outcomes map to the following areas of ARA’s Archivist competency framework:

· A2 Plans, policies and procedures

· A5 Legislation and regulation

· A8 Performance and impact

· A12 Collections development

· A14 Appraisal, retention, selection and disposal

· A22. Activities to support users and stakeholders

· A23 Inclusive environments

· A25 Education and learning opportunities

· A26 Collaborating and building relationships

· A27 Marketing, advocacy and outreach

About our trainer: Kevin Bolton is a Director of Kazky, a consultancy specialising in archives, libraries, heritage and evaluation.

Booking and delegate fee: £50 for ARA members, £100 corporate members, £150 for non-members

Eventbrite bookings close 12pm on Friday 26th June 2026. Joining instructions will be emailed 24 hours before the event. Please check you have received these in advance of the start time so you’re ready to join on the day.