Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Tracking For Outreach: Using Data For Cross-Unit Purposes, Heidi Gauder, Hector Escobar

Heidi Gauder

Purpose: Since creating an information commons a couple years ago, this library’s research team has been coordinating data gathering methods with the writing center. With both units using standard check-in procedures at a shared desk and hosting in-depth consultations in a shared space, it made sense to share technologies. Since Spring 2015, we have logged students for research consultations with software that is commonly used by writing centers, tutoring and other academic support units. We are not only able to count the number of consultations, but we are also able to record cross-referrals with the writing center, calculate average consultation …

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

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.

“It All Starts With A Smile”: Training Student Employees In A Learning Commons Environment, Heidi Gauder, Patricia Meinking

Heidi Gauder

This poster will present the results of a survey that invited respondents to share information about student employees in learning commons environments, including training techniques, estimated training hours, and training content. This study aims to offer benchmarks for student employee training, with a goal of improving services in a learning commons environment.