Assessment Preconference AKLA 2016

1. Assessment Preconference AKLA 2016 Anna Bjartmarsdottir, Karen Jensen Rebecca Moorman, Micah Muer

2. Outline • Introductions • Assessment background • What to assess, and how • Using and presenting data

3. Introductions

4. Outline • Introductions • Assessment background • What to assess, and how • Using and presenting data

5. Alaskan Academic Library Assessment Efforts UAA - http://www.consortiumlibrary.org/blogs/assessment/ UAF - http://libguides.library.uaf.edu/aecontent.php?pid=676732&sid=5609343 UAS - http://www.uas.alaska.edu/library/library-assessment.html

6. Background: where we came from From belief libraries “provided a fundamental societal ‘good’” that was obvious, to a need to demonstrate contributions

7. Background: research vs. assessment “... assessment is a kind of ‘action research’ that is to inform location action”

8. Traditional assessment focuses • Inputs -- what the library has • Example: How big is the collection? How many seats? • Processes -- what the library does with what it has • Example: How many books did we catalog this week? • Outputs -- how much the library is used • Example: How many books were circulated?

9. Traditional assessment focuses • Inputs -- what the library has • Example: How big is the collection? • Processes -- what the library does with what it has • Example: How many books did we catalog this week? • Outputs -- how much the library is used • Example: How many books were circulated?

10. Traditional assessment focuses • Inputs -- what the library has • Example: How big is the collection? • Processes -- what the library does with what it has • Example: How many books did we catalog this week? • Outputs -- how much the library is used • Example: How many books were circulated?

11. Traditional input, processes, outputs (IPO) stats • Percentage of courses using reserves • Percentage of students enrolled in those courses using those reserves • Percentage of courses requiring use of library materials • Number of students who checked out library material • Percentage of faculty who checked out library material • Percentage of courses using packets based on library photocopies • Number of faculty publications • Number of references cited in faculty publications that are from library materials

12. More traditional IPO statistics • Percentage of courses requiring students to use the library • Number of items checked out by undergraduates • Number of library computer searches initiated by undergrads • Percentage of study spaces in use • Number of pages photocopied • Percentage of freshmen students not checking out a library book

13. Still more traditional IPO statistics • Electronic journal articles accessed • Ratio of collection costs to staff costs • Interlibrary loan speed • Seat occupancy • Immediate availability of material • Website usage • Staff per capita • Percentage of collection used or not used • Cost per use • Income generation

14. Wolff’s Value Scheme (1995)

15. The new hotness: outcomes/impacts “Outcomes are the ways in which students and faculty are changed as a result of their contact with the library’s resources and services” (Matthews, 2007, p. 126).

16. Broad categories of library outcomes • Impact on students • Impact on faculty • Impact on institutional prestige

17. Areas of library student outcomes • Enrollment • Retention and graduation • Student success (e.g., job placement) • Student achievement (e.g., GPA) • Student learning (e.g., faculty-reported gains) • Student experience

18. Areas of library faculty outcomes • Faculty research productivity • Faculty grants • Faculty teaching

19. Example outcomes studies RAILS project Information literacy mini-grants LibValue.org

20. Designing outcomes studies • Evidenced Based Library and Information Practice - journal Vol 11, No 1(S) (2016): Special Issue on EBL 101 • Beyond usage: measuring library outcomes and value Carol Tenopir, Library Management 2011 33:1/2 , 5-13

21. Return on Investment Metrics that demonstrate level of library’s fiscal efficiency Economic value of library’s services

22. Return on Investment Measuring ROI: Cost/Benefit - Contingent valuation - what would you pay for this service/item? Ratios - $ spent on collections : $ recd in grant funding $ recd in ICR : $ spent on collections Other performance indicators

23. Issues with inputs, processes, and outputs statistics... • Tell us about library, not users • Can be harder to measure than they seem • Won’t sway non-librarians

24. Issues with assessing impacts... • Hard to link use and learning

25. Adapted from Oakleaf, M. (2012). Academic Library Value: The Impact Starter Kit. Syracuse, NY: Dellas Graphics. Activity Library data audit

26. What data? “What is easy to measure is not necessarily what is desirable to measure. It is always tempting to set goals based on the data that are gathered rather than developing a data-gathering system linked to assessing progress towards meeting established goals.” M.Kryllidou, “An overview of performance measures in higher education and libraries”, 1998

27. Outline • Introductions • Assessment background • What to assess, and how • Using and presenting data

28. How to Use Data • Can be used to guide marketing campaigns to students and the public • Can be used internally to inform stakeholders

29. How to Present Data • Identify target audience, figure out what they want to know • Figure out what to report • Figure out how to display data

30. Data Visualization Tools • Free infographic software: Piktochart • Sophisticated data visualization software: Tableau

31. Data Visualization Principles • Select data that are truly representative of the phenomena you are looking to represent • Maximize information, minimize ink and space • Use repetition or “multiples”

32. Data Visualization Process • Based on qualitative or quantitative data • Results in an image that is representative of the raw data • Readable by viewers and supports exploration, examination, and communication of the data

33. Good website examples

34. McGill, continued

35. McGill, continued http://news.library.mcgill.ca/mcgill-library-and-archives-fun-facts/

36. University of Massachusetts, Amherst

37. University of Massachusetts Amherst, continued http://www.library.umass.edu/about-the-libraries/reports-and-publications/

38. Source: Claremont Colleges Library, http://libraries.claremont.edu/informationliteracy/teaching.asp

39. University of Maryland, University College

40. Florida Public Libraries

43. Discussion: Sharing and posting assessment data Pros? Cons?

44. Adapted from Oakleaf, M. (2012). Academic Library Value: The Impact Starter Kit. Syracuse, NY: Dellas Graphics. Activity Library Impact Map

45. Adapted from Oakleaf, M. (2012). Academic Library Value: The Impact Starter Kit. Syracuse, NY: Dellas Graphics. Activity Present and Future Library Impact

46. 6 Rules for Articulating Your Value • Use powerful words, without library lingo • Align the message with the target audience • Discuss what people need, not what you want to give them • Focus on benefits, not products • Be articulate, brief, clear, decisive, and enthusiastic (A, B, C, D, E) • Prepare and practice so you can speak with confidence from Kathy Dempsey, ‘How to Articulate Your Library’s Value.’

47. Use powerful words, without lingo! • Words and phrases that are commonplace to us don’t make sense to others. (http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3qq499w7 Library Terms That Users Understand) • Use strong, active words such as: • Enable, Analyze, Focus • Improve, Strengthen • Expert, Trustworthy

48. 2. Align the message with the target audience Different people have different needs. Who are you talking with? • Faculty member • Dean • Mayor • Potential patron

49. 3. Discuss what people need, not what you want to give them • Push vs. Pull • They’ll be more receptive and interested in what you’re saying • This is why True Marketing always begins with getting to know your audience (http://bit.ly/CycleTrueMarketing)

50. 4. Focus on benefits, not products Consider the difference between these points: “We’ve got Westlaw databases.” vs. “We have vetted information that doesn’t exist on Google, and we can teach you how to use it.”