Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 90

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

How Students Information Literacy Skills Change Over Time: A Longitudinal Study, Veronica Wells Apr 2019

How Students Information Literacy Skills Change Over Time: A Longitudinal Study, Veronica Wells

Veronica Wells

How do students’ information literacy skills change over the course of their undergraduate education? We assume or at least hope they will improve. But do they? And if so, by how much? At the University of the Pacific, we are using the SAILS (Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) Test to assess undergraduate students’ information literacy skills and to see how they have changed over time. The SAILS Test is a multiple-choice test that has been used by more than 200 universities across the world. According to their website, the SAILS Test can “determine how well your students can navigate …


Re-Engage Your Instruction Team Today, Jolene Cole Mar 2019

Re-Engage Your Instruction Team Today, Jolene Cole

Jolene Cole, MILS

Being an academic librarian comes with many challenges. Very few of us are privileged enough to come into the profession with a background in education and knowledge in assessment practices. For those of us running instruction programs it is our duty to prepare librarians to not only teach but also assess their own work.

Over the last year, Georgia College has implemented a new training and assessment program for the library staff. This program is grounded in reflection practices and encourages self-improvement. The reflection program includes but is not limited to departmental/personal teaching philosophies, peer-review of instruction, reflection journals and …


What Our Students Want In And From Their Library, Veronica Wells, Robin Imhof, Debbie Johnston Sep 2018

What Our Students Want In And From Their Library, Veronica Wells, Robin Imhof, Debbie Johnston

Veronica Wells

University of the Pacific’s Stockton Campus Library is currently in the process of a multi-phase renovation that will offer 21st century design and functionality. Our team conducted several assessment methods to understand more fully how our students use –or choose not to use—study spaces and various pieces of furniture in the Stockton library. The results of this project will help answer the questions: “What do our students want or need in library learning spaces – both academic and social?” and “How might we create learning spaces in the library that will enable a variety of student use preferences?” We have …


Rsd7: Researcher Skill Development Framework (Us English Edition), John Willison, Kerry O'Regan, Sara K. Kuhn Jul 2018

Rsd7: Researcher Skill Development Framework (Us English Edition), John Willison, Kerry O'Regan, Sara K. Kuhn

Sara Kuhn

Created by John Willison and Kerry O'Regan.

www.rsd.edu.au

Adapted for the US context by Sara K. Kuhn.

"The seven-level Researcher Skill Development framework extends the RSD's original 5 levels of student autonomy to include the degree of autonomy required for a successful research career. It therefore addresses not only students, but also early, middle and late career researchers. This involves the extension of the same facets of inquiry that appear in the original RSD framework to include two higher levels: 6 and 7." -- https://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/framework/rsd7/

For more information, see: Willison, J., & O’Regan, K. (2007). Commonly known, commonly not known, …


Researcher Skill Development Framework (Us English Edition), John Willison, Kerry O'Regan, Sara K. Kuhn Jul 2018

Researcher Skill Development Framework (Us English Edition), John Willison, Kerry O'Regan, Sara K. Kuhn

Sara Kuhn

Created by John Willison and Kerry O'Regan.

www.rsd.edu.au

Adapted for the US context by Sara K. Kuhn.

"Research Skill Development (RSD) is about making explicit and coherent in regular university coursework the incremental attainment of research skills in a specific discipline. In the RSD, there are six facets of the research process, identified from the literature and modified according to Bloom’s taxonomy and our experiences of using the framework in the disciplines. The meaning of ‘research’ in this context is: students actively finding information new to themselves. Underlying this notion is the ‘degree of knowness’ of knowledge: whether research involves …


What Do You Think We Should Do To Make The Library Better?, Ellen E. Lutz Jul 2018

What Do You Think We Should Do To Make The Library Better?, Ellen E. Lutz

Ellen E Lutz

To prepare for an anticipated "refresh" of our Science & Engineering Library at University of Massachusetts Amherst, we used a variety of methods to gather feedback from students, faculty, staff, and other patrons. I will share the approach we took based on the limited time (and budget) we had to create and implement a plan to collect as much feedback as possible. I will discuss how we analyzed the data and what we plan to do with the results.


Stuck In The Middle: Re-Defining What Successful Scholarly Communications Programs Look Like, Janelle Wertzberger Dec 2017

Stuck In The Middle: Re-Defining What Successful Scholarly Communications Programs Look Like, Janelle Wertzberger

Janelle Wertzberger

What are the goals of your scholarly communications programs and services, and how do you define success? Critics and proponents alike often attempt to paint the scholarly communications movement with a broad brush. Both groups seem to push for a common definition of what the movement should look like and how success should be defined. In the world we live in today, these loudest voices are often amplified through their use of social media, listservs and prominent roles on the conference circuit, leaving some in the middle to question their own success and whether they have a place in this …


How To Post So Others Will Listen: Engaging Your Audience Through Social Media, April Hines, Maria Atilano Nov 2017

How To Post So Others Will Listen: Engaging Your Audience Through Social Media, April Hines, Maria Atilano

Maria Atilano

When it comes to social media, libraries are certainly posting, but is anyone listening? How can libraries create engaging content, attract and sustain followers, and create a sense of community among their user groups? In this session, two librarians from different institutions will share how they were able to successfully engage their patrons through multiple social media platforms, resulting in thousands of interactions with a variety of audiences. Attendees will learn to find their social media “voice,” to craft the right message, and to develop a brand that highlights library staff as valuable resources. By utilizing strategic planning, advocacy techniques, …


Resource Sharing Begins At Home: Opportunities For Library Partnerships On A University Campus, Robert A. Seal Oct 2017

Resource Sharing Begins At Home: Opportunities For Library Partnerships On A University Campus, Robert A. Seal

Robert A Seal

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate that academic library cooperation is not only limited to work with other institutions but also includes partnerships with related campus units. The primary goal of interdepartmental collaboration is to enhance student success, a common institutional priority in the twenty-first century. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers examples of successful library/campus collaboration along with goals, advantages, disadvantages and challenges of such activity. Elements necessary for success as well as the importance of project assessment are emphasized. Findings Many opportunities for cooperation exist, especially with student development, centers for teaching excellence, information technology, academic departments, writing centers and …


Information Literacy Instruction At Loyola Marymount University, Elisa Slater Acosta Apr 2017

Information Literacy Instruction At Loyola Marymount University, Elisa Slater Acosta

Elisa Slater Acosta

This 2017 guest lecture for the UCLA Information Studies graduate course "Information Literacy Instruction" provided an overview of the types of information literacy instruction offered by the LMU Library. A 20-minute presentation to future librarians on May 1, 2017. The course "IS 448: Information Literacy Instruction: Theory & Technique" was taught by Professor Esther Grassian.



Hunting For Qr Codes: Linking Students To The Music Collection, Veronica A. Wells Jan 2017

Hunting For Qr Codes: Linking Students To The Music Collection, Veronica A. Wells

Veronica Wells

Libraries are exploring the use of Quick Response (QR) codes, to market to and connect users with libraries' services. The University of the Pacific has been experimenting with QR codes in an innovative way: to introduce first-year music majors to the physical music library materials via a QR code scavenger hunt. This article discusses the library literature on QR codes and scavenger hunts, as well as the University of the Pacific's QR code scavenger hunt from creation to assessment. Additionally, recommendations are given for designing a similar pedagogical tool at your library.


Communicating Library Impact On Retention: A Framework For Developing Reciprocal Value Propositions, Adam Murray, Ashley P. Ireland Dec 2016

Communicating Library Impact On Retention: A Framework For Developing Reciprocal Value Propositions, Adam Murray, Ashley P. Ireland

Ashley Ireland

This article explores the trends identified in a survey of library directors on efforts to document and communicate library contributions to student retention.  Library deans/directors have little in the way of communication methods for sharing library impact on retention.  Methods that are used tend to be unidirectional in nature.  Based on these results, this article also presents a framework of stakeholder markets and examples of reciprocal value propositions library leaders could develop around library contributions to retention efforts. This in turn can assist with advocacy and the communication of academic library value to university leaders and other higher education stakeholders.


Using Peers To Shed Light On Service Hours For Librarians, Hector Escobar, Heidi Gauder Nov 2016

Using Peers To Shed Light On Service Hours For Librarians, Hector Escobar, Heidi Gauder

Hector Escobar

Purpose: Public service hours for many academic librarians have changed within the last decade. As reference statistics have declined, so have job descriptions changed. We often hear terms like outreach, liaison work, embedded librarianship, consulting hours, scheduled appointments. etc., for what used to be normal desk hours. With a changing service model, comes accountability. How do institutions account for these new forms of work and duties that have replaced traditional service desk hours? How does this feed into performance or merit review?

The purpose of this short paper is to shed light on the roles of librarians at medium-sized universities, …


Using Peers To Shed Light On Service Hours For Librarians, Hector Escobar, Heidi Gauder Nov 2016

Using Peers To Shed Light On Service Hours For Librarians, Hector Escobar, Heidi Gauder

Heidi Gauder

Purpose: Public service hours for many academic librarians have changed within the last decade. As reference statistics have declined, so have job descriptions changed. We often hear terms like outreach, liaison work, embedded librarianship, consulting hours, scheduled appointments. etc., for what used to be normal desk hours. With a changing service model, comes accountability. How do institutions account for these new forms of work and duties that have replaced traditional service desk hours? How does this feed into performance or merit review?

The purpose of this short paper is to shed light on the roles of librarians at medium-sized universities, …


Let’S Chat: Assessing Virtual Reference Service For Optimal User Experience, Heidi Gauder, Margaret Barkley Nov 2016

Let’S Chat: Assessing Virtual Reference Service For Optimal User Experience, Heidi Gauder, Margaret Barkley

Heidi Gauder

Both librarians and student employees staff our virtual reference service, so ensuring consistent and quality chat transactions is important. Sample transcripts from fall 2014 were evaluated, and a fall 2015 follow-up analysis reviewed service improvement efforts. This poster will highlight how a simple scale can be used to assess virtual reference service.


Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers Nov 2016

Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers

Maria Atilano

The University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library offers a research consultation service that allows users to schedule one-on-one meetings with a research librarian to discuss their projects. These sessions may consist of a general orientation to library facilities and resources, or may focus on specific research needs. The service has experienced amazing growth since its inception in 2009. The research librarians decided to assess the consultations in large part to decipher why it has grown so significantly, and to ensure that the service remains high quality in the face of growth.


Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers Nov 2016

Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers

Stephanie M Lee Weiss

The University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library offers a research consultation service that allows users to schedule one-on-one meetings with a research librarian to discuss their projects. These sessions may consist of a general orientation to library facilities and resources, or may focus on specific research needs. The service has experienced amazing growth since its inception in 2009. The research librarians decided to assess the consultations in large part to decipher why it has grown so significantly, and to ensure that the service remains high quality in the face of growth.


Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers Nov 2016

Assessing Success, One Student At A Time, Lauren Newton, Stephanie Weiss, Maria Atilano, Cat Silvers

Lauren Newton

The University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library offers a research consultation service that allows users to schedule one-on-one meetings with a research librarian to discuss their projects. These sessions may consist of a general orientation to library facilities and resources, or may focus on specific research needs. The service has experienced amazing growth since its inception in 2009. The research librarians decided to assess the consultations in large part to decipher why it has grown so significantly, and to ensure that the service remains high quality in the face of growth.


Advancing Campus Priorities 11022016 Final.Pdf, Bruce Keisling, Robert E. Fox Jr. Nov 2016

Advancing Campus Priorities 11022016 Final.Pdf, Bruce Keisling, Robert E. Fox Jr.

Bruce L. Keisling

How can you use assessment data to "re-zone" your library's spaces to meet the shifting needs for collections, users, library personnel, campus partners, and institutional priorities? This presentation discussed how one library built an assessment program that informed past and ongoing space re-allocations while also seeking to optimize the human and financial resources that are needed to successfully complete and maintain the projects.


Measuring Altruistic Impact: A Model For Understanding The Social Justice Of Open Access, Margaret Heller, Franny Gaede Aug 2016

Measuring Altruistic Impact: A Model For Understanding The Social Justice Of Open Access, Margaret Heller, Franny Gaede

Margaret Heller

INTRODUCTION Traditional assessment of ways in which open access initiatives and institutional repositories have provided a return on investment normally use pragmatic measures such as download counts and citation benefits. This pragmatic approach misses out on the powerful altruistic impact of improving access to international and/or marginalized communities. Using a frame of social justice, this article considers the importance of developing altruistic measures of repositories, particularly for institutions with missions specifically related to social justice and related themes. METHODS Using web analytics data for search keywords from eight institutions and geographic usage data from nine institutions, the authors were able …


The Role Of Faculty Autonomy In A Course-Integrated Information Literacy Program, Anne Jumonville Apr 2016

The Role Of Faculty Autonomy In A Course-Integrated Information Literacy Program, Anne Jumonville

Anne Jumonville Graf

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of faculty autonomy in sustaining a successful information literacy program.

Design/methodology/approach – Faculty members were given the opportunity to create courses that integrated and assessed information literacy as part of a course grant program associated with an institutional assessment mandate. This case study analyzes course grant proposals, course assessment methods and results. It also presents results of a follow-up survey of faculty participants to see if they continued to integrate information literacy in other courses. Results are situated in the context of self-determination theory to better understand the …


Reflective Assessment: Opportunities And Challenges, Anne Jumonville Graf, Benjamin R. Harris Apr 2016

Reflective Assessment: Opportunities And Challenges, Anne Jumonville Graf, Benjamin R. Harris

Anne Jumonville Graf

Purpose: Librarians engage in assessment for several purposes, such as to improve teaching and learning, or to report institutional value. In turn, these assessments shape our perspectives and priorities. How can we participate critically in the assessment of information literacy instruction and library programming while broadening our view and making room for questions about what we do? This paper explores self-reflection as a method for building on existing assessment practices with a critical consciousness.

Design/Methodology/Approach: In tracing the trajectory of assessment and reflective practice in library literature, the authors conducted a selective literature review and analyzed the potential …


What Does Your Repository Do? Measuring And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller Jan 2016

What Does Your Repository Do? Measuring And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller

Margaret Heller

A multifaceted approach at understanding the impact of institutional repositories using both quantitative and qualitative processes, particularly with regards to alignment with institutional mission.


What Does Your Repository Do?: Understanding And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller Jan 2016

What Does Your Repository Do?: Understanding And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller

Margaret Heller

Librarians working in scholarly communications need to understand how to calculate and explain how including work in a repository affects its impact. This presentation describes the current state of research and practice into metrics for repositories including traditional metrics and newer alternative metrics, and some preliminary results of a research study assessing the usage and impact of a Digital Commons repository.


Mapping For Change: Re-Imagining Assessment With Concept Maps, Heidi Gauder, Fred W. Jenkins Dec 2015

Mapping For Change: Re-Imagining Assessment With Concept Maps, Heidi Gauder, Fred W. Jenkins

Fred W Jenkins

Facilitate student creativity and assess information skills at the same time with concept maps. Learn how to administer these easy assessments and analyze them for evidence of learning. The presenters will demonstrate how this assessment technique can be used in multiple situations and how it is possible to transform these maps into results that can be easily understood by stakeholders.


Assessing Computer Searches Used For Systematic Reviews, Paul Fehrmann Aug 2015

Assessing Computer Searches Used For Systematic Reviews, Paul Fehrmann

Paul Fehrmann

Systematic reviews (SR) are valued for increasing the rigor of and reader confidence in “reviews of the literature”. SR have been widely adopted in the health and social sciences. Computer searches are key for the information base of SR, and computer searches must be evaluated. The Computer Search Report Checklist (CSRC) is being developed to evaluate computer search reports. This paper has 4 objectives: 1. To report on development of the Computer Search Report Checklist (CSRC). 2. To report comparisons to AMSTAR, PRISMA, PRESS, and others. 3. To report on the inter-rater agreement for CSRC items. 4. To report on …


Assessing The Strategic Credibility Of Special Collections And Archives Departments, Erin Passehl-Stoddart, Rick Stoddart Apr 2015

Assessing The Strategic Credibility Of Special Collections And Archives Departments, Erin Passehl-Stoddart, Rick Stoddart

Erin Passehl Stoddart

No abstract provided.


Desk Statistics Under A Microscope = Improved Library Services, Susan [Gardner] Archambault Apr 2015

Desk Statistics Under A Microscope = Improved Library Services, Susan [Gardner] Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

This presentation offers a case study of how one library’s assessment of datagathered from its public service desk led to changes and improvements in service. The William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) recorded all of the questions and answers asked at its Information Desk from Fall 2009 to the present using the Gimlet (http://gimlet.us) electronic question tracking system. A content analysis was performed on the data that led to advancements in signage and a new knowledge base of FAQ’s. In addition, new services were implemented related to technology and research that addressed user needs.


Developing A Health Sciences Information Literacy Assessment For Undergraduates., Carolyn Schubert, Stephanie Baller, Katherine Ott Walter, Lara Sapp, Jessica Jacovidis, Mandalyn Swanson Apr 2015

Developing A Health Sciences Information Literacy Assessment For Undergraduates., Carolyn Schubert, Stephanie Baller, Katherine Ott Walter, Lara Sapp, Jessica Jacovidis, Mandalyn Swanson

Carolyn F Schubert

This poster describes the development and pilot of a tailored information literacy assessment tool for undergraduate allied health students. Tool development included collaboration between assessment experts, Health Science faculty, and Health Science librarians. The poster includes results from the tool deployment and next steps in applying results back into revised curriculum.


Building Your Program By Building Your Team Acrl Poster 2015, Bruce Keisling, Robert E. Fox Jr. Mar 2015

Building Your Program By Building Your Team Acrl Poster 2015, Bruce Keisling, Robert E. Fox Jr.

Bruce L. Keisling

Academic libraries must work continuously to ensure that their services match campus priorities, their spaces meet user needs, and their staffing is appropriate in quantity and qualifications. The topic has broad interest as most academic libraries face similar challenges. This poster addressed how one university library implemented a sustainable transformation of its services, staffing, and spaces. The presenters described how this library identified issues and through an inclusive process developed and implemented solutions. While the issues discussed have broad interest, this project's unique aspects include its comprehensive scope, its broad inclusiveness, and its overarching sustainability goals.