Library Assessment Committee Grant Guidelines
The Library Assessment Committee (LAC) advises the Library Administration and the Library Assessment Coordinator on the prioritizing, planning and implementation of assessment activities. Members may assist the Coordinator in identifying assessment opportunities, designing assessment tools, promoting assessment activities, and fostering a culture of assessment within the Library. The committee shares in accountability for the success of the assessment program and evaluates its effectiveness in supporting the Library’s mission and strategic directions.
How can you get monetary support from the LAC?
- Individuals or teams working on a project can apply for an assessment grant from LAC by submitting a proposal request via email to the Coordinator for Library Assessment, also the chair of LAC.
- Proposals are considered on a rolling basis—there is no deadline and monies will be awarded until that year’s funds are depleted.
Funding Priorities
Preference will be given to:
- New assessment efforts and/or recipients who have not previously received LAC awards
- Proposed assessment projects that work toward achieving one or more strategic principles or directions as identified in the Library’s Strategic Framework 2019-23.
Who is eligible to apply?
The grant is available for assessment projects conducted by full-time library employees. Please contact Jen-chien Yu, Chair of the Library Assessment Committee, if you have any questions regarding eligibility.
Proposals must meet the following criteria:
- Assessment project must address current assessment needs in the Library and not be purely for research purposes (research funding requests should go to RPC).
- Assessment projects to be considered for LAC funding may focus on library services, resources, collections, physical facilities, or staff as a group, but may not assess individual personnel performance.
- Assessments may use any appropriate methodology, including, but not limited to, surveys and user studies.
- The project must follow human subject research protocols where necessary. Surveys or user studies done purely for internal assessment do not require IRB review; however, LAC encourages applicants to seek IRB review where applicable, so that results may be presented and published.
- Assessment projects that use electronic surveys must follow “Policy Governing Electronic Surveys and Questionnaires Directed to Students, Faculty Members, or Staff of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.”
Those receiving LAC assessment grants must:
- Complete the funded project within one year of receiving the assessment grant.
- Submit a brief narrative report to the LAC following the completion of expenditure of LAC grant funds that details the expenditure of funds and results of the project.
- Share findings from the assessment project in a public Library forum (brown-bag, faculty meeting lightning talk, etc.).
- Deposit data and documents related to the assessment project in the Library Assessment community in IDEALS. [If project involves human subjects, IRB approval/exemption must be present for data and results to be deposited.]
- Acknowledge LAC grant(s) in any public presentation or publication of the results of your project.
Items potentially funded by LAC assessment grants
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- Survey costs (e.g., subscription to a survey software program, consultations with Survey Research Lab)
- Statistical Programming support for data analysis
- Incentives for user study participation (must follow campus guidelines)
- Graduate hourly costs for assisting with project implementation and analysis
Items not normally funded by LAC assessment grants
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- Travel
- Graduate assistantships
- Postage, telephone costs, office supplies
- Acquisition of materials for the Library collection
- Retroactive expenses incurred before the date of the award.
Assessment Grant Rubric
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LAC Grant Assessment Rubric
| Criteria | Evaluation Indicator |
|---|---|
| Clear Goal Project has a clear research question that is reasonably scoped given project staff and resources | Incomplete/Developing/Meet Expectations |
| Relevance Focus of project is on Library services, resources, collections, physical facilities, and/or staff as a whole | Incomplete/Developing/Meet Expectations |
| Impact Has impact that goes beyond an individual research project: Will immediately provide data and/or measurable feedback for Library activities, staff services, and/or decision making at the level of a unit or higher | Incomplete/Developing/Meet Expectations |
| Strategic Project supports one or more Library strategic principles or directions as identified in the Framework for Strategic Action | Incomplete/Developing/Meet Expectations |
| Applicability Proposal clearly explains how results of project will be actionable, and/or Proposal provides a clear plan of action for applying the gathered data and/or analyzed results to Library services, staff, etc. | Incomplete/Developing/Meet Expectations |
| Follows human subject research protocols, including evidence of a submitted IRB if needed | Yes/No/Not Applicable |
| Follows relevant University and University Library policies and procedures | Yes/No |
| Other funding lines are available for this project? | Yes/No |
| Has previously received a grant/award from other funding sources for this project? | Yes/No |
Grant Review Timeline
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LAC Grant Review Timeline
| Action | Time |
|---|---|
| Receives a grant proposal and review process starts | Count as the submission date |
| LAC Chair sends it to LAC members | With 1 business days (8am – 5pm) from the submission date |
| LAC members review and send LAC Chair questions for applicants | Review period lasts 4 business days |
| LAC Chair sends the questions to applicants | LAC Chair can use up to 1 business day to compile members’ questions into one email to be sent to applicants |
| Applicants address LAC questions and submit final applications or other documents such as questionnaire to LAC Chair | Applicants have up to 3 business days to respond, ask LAC for clarification, etc.. Additional time for response can be requested |
| LAC Chair sends final applications and documents for vote | LAC members have up to 2 business days to do final review and vote |
| LAC Chair tallies the votes and shares with LAC members | 1 business day |
| LAC Chair emails decision to applicants. If request funding is approved, emails applicants the banner number and cc. Susan Edwards (BHRSC) | 1 business day |
| Review process ends |
These guidelines are also available as a PDF file.
Past Recipients of the LAC Grant
| Recipient(s) | Grant Title | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Janis Shearer | What Is On Display? An Audit of Life Science Library Exhibitions | $2,000 | January 2024 |
| 28 | Alex Deeke, Maria Emerson | Assessing the Impact of Composition I Library Instruction Sessions | $5,500 | December 2023 |
| 27 | Alex Deeke, Maria Emerson | Effectiveness of Library Research Clinics for Communication 101 Students | $500 | January 2022 |
| 26 | David Ward, Jessie Maimone, and Simone Stone | Bring Your Own Book Club Plus Library Assessment | $750 | April 2021 |
| 25 | Emilee Mathews | Investigating User Perceptions of the Architecture Library | $4,400 | February 2021 |
| 24 | David Ward and Tath Haver | First Year Student Experience with Library Services through Academic Year 2020/2021 | $2,300 | February 2021 |
| 23 | Karen Hogenboom | Assessing the impact of Scholarly Commons Services | $450 | October 2019 |
| 22 | Joshua Lynch | Illinois Digital Heritage Hub Website Usability Tasks for General Users | $200 | October 2019 |
| 21 | John Laskowski | Library Gateway User Study 2019 | $210 | October 2019 |
| 20 | Kristen Allen, John Laskowski, and Matthew Mayton | Illinois Distributed Museum Website User Study | $320 | March 2019 |
| 19 | David Ward | Undergraduate Library Space Use Study | $2,500 | October 2018 |
| 18 | George Gottschalk, Stephanie Baker, and Chris Morgan | Acquisitions Survey of Bibliographer Satisfaction and Understanding of Acquisitions Processes | $1,050 | October 2018 |
| 17 | JaEun Jemma Ku | Grand Final: Usability Assessment and Deployment Testing of A11yFirst Editor 1.0 toward Library WordPress CMS | $2,100 | September 2018 |
| 16 | Joe Lenkart | Building Long-term Research Relationships: Reference Services for Graduate Students | $2,000 | November 2017 |
| 15 | Megean Osuchowski, Robert Slater, and Daniel Mills | Library Website Usability Pilot Project | $500 | October 2017 |
| 14 | Dan Tracy | Assessing Use of eBooks in LIS across Vendors and Other Factors | $3,948 | May 2016 |
| 13 | Harriet Green and Eleanor Dickson | Digital Humanities Needs Assessment | $577 | April 2016 |
| 12 | Christie Wiley | Data Needs and Perspectives of Engineering Faculty | $1,000 | April 2016 |
| 11 | David Ward, Joe Lenkart, Ali Krogman, and Erin Kerby | Impact of Library Reference Service Use on Patron Research Projects | $3,350.40 | February 2016 |
| 10 | Susan Avery | Assessing ESL Student Performance on Concept Maps | $500 | January 2016 |
| 9 | Karen Hoganboom and Beth Sheehan | Data Purchase Program Assessment | $445 | April 2015 |
| 8 | Jemma Ku | Library Building Signage Inventory and its Audit | $1,300 | March 2015 |
| 7 | Lynne Rudasill, Cara Bertram, Susan Braxton Michelle Dewey, Erin Kerby, Megan Mahoney, and David Ward | User Satisfaction Survey for Library Hub Reference Services | $1,229.60 | October 2014 |
| 6 | Lisa Hinchliffe, Bill Mischo, and Michael Norman | Discovering User Perspectives on Discovery: A Review of a Decade of User Survey Data | $1,031 | June 2014 |
| 5 | Lisa Romero | Citation Analysis of Scholarly Journals in Communication Studies from 1982-2012: Implications for Library Collection Development | $1,600 | May 2014 |
| 4 | Lynne Rudasill and Mara Thacker | International and Area Studies Homepage Re-Design | $500 | February 2014 |
| 3 | David Ward, Jen-chien Yu, Jim Hahn, and Jenny Emmanuel | User Experience of Library Space | $1,000 | January 2014 |
| 2 | Magdalena Casper-Shipp and Richard Stokes | Late Nights at the Library: Popular Time for Course Reserves | $180 | June 2013 |
| 1 | Michael Fleming and Jim Dohle | Public Printing Assessment | $1,250 | March 2013 |