November 11, 2020 Meeting of Library Assessment Committee

Community Agreement

• Listen Actively: Try to understand others before being understood.
• Step In, Step Back: Step up and use your voice or Step Back and make space for others.
• Speak from Your Own Lived Experience: Use “I” statements and refrain from telling other people’s stories.
• Invest In Yourself and Invest in Each Other: Honor our shared space and keep time in mind.
• Think Beyond Binaries: Hold multiple perspectives at once.
• Stories Stay, Lessons Go: Confidentiality and personal privacy.
• Repair Harm: Seek space to repair harm when we mess up.

1. Library Assessment Updates (20 min.)

• Library Service Satisfaction Survey in October (summary report in Box “LAC 2020-2021”) and November
• “Break Poll” (summary report in Box)
• ACRL Annual Survey is open, due spring 2021. Other subject/functional area surveys (e.g. AAHSL, ARL, ARL Salary Survey) are ongoing or coming soon as well. “Library by the Numbers” on Library Assessment webpage.
• Recordings available: Library Assessment Conference 2020 (October session) and NISO Fall Training series Assessment Practices and Metrics in a 21st Century Pandemic
• Core (a new ALA division from the merge of LITA, ALCTS and LLAMA) Library Assessment Repository [https://ala-core.libguides.com/repository]
• Upcoming meeting with the Digital Strategies Liaisons
• ACRL Asynchronous Instruction data collection (draft available in Box)
• Program-level Student Learning Outcomes (from course catalogs) in Box

2. Breakout rooms (20 min.)

• Topic: Assessing online/remote learning during COVID-19 (LAC 2020-2021 project)
• Each room will first select a person to report back
• Discussion questions
  • WHO should we access? Be specific (e.g. library staff, international students, etc.)
  • WHY should we access? (e.g. Library staff needs to know how others make online library instruction videos in order to share resources and learn best practices)
  • WHAT do we want to know? (e.g. How many library instruction videos have the library staff make so far? Are they being used?)
  • HOW should we assess? (e.g. usage metrics, interviews, photo studies, etc.)

3. Group discussion on 2020-2021 project ideas

Jen-chien Yu, Kirsten Feist, Megean Osuchowski, Geoffrey Ross, Erin Kerby, Yali Feng, Ruthann Miller, Shuyong Jiang, Tricia Lampron, John Laskowski, Lindsay Taylor

1. Jen went over Library Assessments Updates from agenda:

• Library Service Satisfaction survey results from October are in Box
  • Second iteration of the survey releases after fall break
  • Share results within units for discussion but not recommended for publishing/research
  • Results show high-use services are e-books/e-journals, item checkout, librarian consultation, textbook/e-textbook
  • Comments call for more study spaces & show a low awareness of services of available services
    • Surprised to see half of respondents aren’t using library services.
    • It’s likely [since we’re physically closed] that people are unaware of what’s available
    • General consensus on need for promotion – ongoing project with library communications
    • We have shared results in key areas already – working on usability issues with study space booking
• Break Poll from student affairs
  • Poll looks at student plans for break in order to project the need for testing and spaces after fall break
  • Results may predict an increased need for study space after break
  • If more students are off-campus after break, we may anticipate more login issues for online resources, especially among International students
    • VPN channel issues, issues with iCards and barcodes
    • Are there legal issues with VPN for students abroad (specifically in China)?
      • Will ask for IT for clarification
      • IT is aware of some issues and are working towards resolution, but if there’s a student having login issues, report to IT to increase documentation
• Library Assessment Conference 2020 – Jen has sent links via email for registration and recordings of past sessions
• NISO Assessment Practices recordings are also circulating via email
  • Focusing on pandemic response
• ALA Core (new division) – Library Assessment Repository has a new Libguide available – https://ala-core.libguides.com/repository
  • Empty right now but we may want to contribute
• ACRL Asynchronous Instruction data collection document [for ACRL reporting] in Box
  • For anyone, especially those who have asynchronous instruction, please review document to make any edits/suggestions
• Program Student Learning Outcomes are now collected in a spreadsheet in Box

2. Breakout Rooms & Report-back for LAC 2020-2021 Project

• Topic: Assessing online learning during COVID-19
• Group 1
  • Who? Undergrads
  • Why? Unsure how/if undergrads are using library services
  • What? Are library services meeting needs?
  • How? Surveys, interviews, focus groups – also consider a survey prepared for those who are instructing to give to participants after instruction
• Group 2
  • Who? Upperclassmen undergrads – some who are taking classes entirely online and some with hybrid class schedule
  • Why? Unsure about level of engagement with learning right now
  • What? Ask about level to which people feel they are engaging – including instructor and student perspectives, as well as online vs. hybrid levels of engagement
  • How? Webtools journal prompts with media upload options – more journalistic than survey approach
• Group 3
  • Who? International students
  • Why? Unsure if students are having trouble accessing library services
  • What? Ask about access to services and where issues are happening
  • How? Recruit students (and instructors) and interview them
• Jen: overlapping themes from the groups include undergraduate students and qualitative data collection via interview or journaling