Georg Romero Library Director Cabrillo College Library December 3, 2010 (lib

Georg RomeroLibrary Director

Cabrillo College LibraryDecember 3, 2010

(libwww.cabrillo.edu/staff/slo/carldig2010.ppt)

Or, How we eagerly embraced service assessments from the start…

They’re not serious about assessing services!

This will only apply to the classroom, right? Another fad – it’ll pass…

How can they possibly expect us to assess our services?

It’s impossible – we can’t do it! Those meddling dunderheads at WASC…

What if we just say we’re going to do it? Couldn’t we just describe how much we

benefit students? Could I at least use all these wonderful

library statistics, somehow?

We’re never going to figure this out. We’re going to lose our accreditation, and

I’m going to lose my job…

OK. Fine. So, how could we assess our services? 

This is when it got interesting…

What kinds of student learning could we definitely claim a causative role in?

How much time do we want to spend on this?

How to attribute specific learning outcomes to transaction services?

Can we separate what we teach outside the classroom from what classroom faculty teach?

Do library service users succeed because of the library, or do successful students simply know the benefits of the library?

Is it worth the time and effort to produce potentially very tenuous findings?

Should we focus on simple, practical approaches, but risk not meeting the requirements?

Leave the detailed studies for another day Streamline, and focus on the practical and

immediately relevant We will make this useful for us

 Community college librarians are a pragmatic

bunch!

Narrative descriptions Statistical measures Student self-assessment Focus groups Post-transaction sampling surveys/interviews Surveys

Easy to write – we know this stuff Widely used among academic institutions (

example) Descriptive, not usually very measurable Tend to be global, and not as relevant to

individual transactions Useful for internal communication and

mindset

We have lots of these… Reflect quantity and usage, not quality

or effectiveness Most likely useful statistics would need to

be created and cross-correlated:◦ Track reference service users, compare GPA or

semester success to non-users◦ Compare users vs non-users on a required

bibliography for a specific class research project

Easy to fold into a survey, interview, or focus group

But – do students really know what they know?

Perceived value is informative, especially in an information void

Potentially rich source of detailed information Examples: Austin Pea S.U., Univ. of Pittsburgh Small sample size Most often used for specific goals: assess

effectiveness of a catalog redesign, etc. Heavily dependent upon personalities, both

interviewers and interviewees Possible focus group: How does the library

assist your learning processes?

Very “fresh” assessment Somewhat intrusive Heavily dependent upon student

perceptions Potentially small sample size Home-grown, e.g. Cuyamaca, Linscheid Or, professionally available, e.g. WOREP Influenced by student’s mood and the “feel-

good” aspects

Familiar Many models out there, can fold almost

anything into a survey Home-grown, e.g. Cabrillo, Southern Illinois

(survey of IM service) Professionally available, e.g. LibQUAL Multi-purpose

Paper or online, each with merits & drawbacks

Dependent upon student self-assessment Typically very actionable results Can have multiple surveys for different

population groups

Multiple approaches:◦ Some narrative descriptions, used in our

accreditation self-study and program plan Annual survey, incorporating student self-

assessment on campus “core competencies” No specific assessment for any specific

service Leave the door open for different future

approaches

Students self-assessed positively on all four campus core competencies

Established a process of collecting survey data and discussing it annually, then acting upon any key findings

Passed accreditation in 2007, with a commendation for the library

Focused Circulation staff more on teaching and learning, less on punishing

Increased team mindset across the board Increased attention to action and

experimentation, not just measurement

Don’t be afraid to try – if it doesn’t work out, try something else

Most important: do something with your findings

Use the new requirements to help meet old goals:◦ Service improvements◦ Staff training and evaluations◦ Awareness building across all campus groups◦ Mentoring for a ubiquitous service-mindset

“Assessment of student learning from Reference Service,” G. Gremmels & K. Lehmann, Wartburg College(crl.acrl.org/content/68/6/488.full.pdf)

CSU Northridge, Oviatt Library, Objectives for Library Services (library.csun.edu/kdabbour/assessment.html#services)

Community college survey on library SLOs, J. Turner, Palo Verde College (pages.paloverde.edu/staff/library/slosurvey.doc)

Conducting Focus Groups in Libraries, Sara Aerni, Special Projects Librarian, Univ. of Pittsburgh, 8 April 2005 (www.lib.whu.edu.cn/dzpx/files/5Focus_Groups.ppt)

Cuyamaca College Library Questionnaire (www.cuyamaca.edu/slo/PDF/Ref%20Card/RefDeskCard_Fall2010.pdf)

“Instruction via Instant Messaging Reference: What’s Happening?” C. Desai & S. Graves, Southern Illinois University(opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=morris_articles)

Linscheid Library, East Central University; Reference Assessment Plan (www.ecok.edu/siteContent/1/documents/library/reference/reference_assessment_plan.pdf)

“Use of focus groups in a library’s strategic planning process,” M. L. Higa-Moore et al, J Med Libr Assoc 90(1) 2002 (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC64762/pdf/i0025-7338-090-01-0086.pdf)

“What do students want? A focus group study of students at a mid-sized public university,” M. A. Weber, R. K. Flatley, Library Philosophy & Practice, 2008 (www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/weber-flatley2.pdf)

“What do they know? Assessing the Library’s contribution to student learning,” B. Fister, Library Issues 19.1 (Sept. 1998)(homepages.gac.edu/~fister/LIassessment.html)

“What WOREP results say about reference service, patron success and satisfaction,” J. A. Gedeon et al, RUSA New Reference Research Forum, ALA Annual Conference, 2009 (worep.library.kent.edu/Summary_of_the_Study.pdf)

Thank You!

(libwww.cabrillo.edu/staff/slo/carldig2010.ppt)