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Karen Jensen Collection Development Officer karen.jensen@uaf Anne Christie

Under New Management : Developing a Library Assessment Program at a Small Public University Library Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment Seattle, WA: Aug. 4-6, 2008. Karen Jensen Collection Development Officer karen.jensen@uaf.edu Anne Christie

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Karen Jensen Collection Development Officer karen.jensen@uaf Anne Christie

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  1. Under New Management : Developing a Library Assessment Program at a Small Public UniversityLibrary Assessment Conference: Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical AssessmentSeattle, WA: Aug. 4-6, 2008

  2. Karen Jensen Collection Development Officer • karen.jensen@uaf.edu Anne Christie BioSciences Librarian • anne.christie@uaf.edu

  3. Contents • Overview of UAF • Planning an assessment program • Why, what, who and how • User surveys • Planning, marketing, implementing, results • Action items • Recommendations for user surveys

  4. University of Alaska Fairbanks

  5. UAF Librarieshttp://library.uaf.edu • 65 library employees, including 13 librarians • $2,110,000 materials budget • Specialties: Alaska and Polar Regions collections • Unique content products: • Alaska Digital Archives • Alaska and Polar Periodical Index • Project Jukebox • Wenger Eskimo Database • Library Science 101 required for all undergraduates

  6. Planning a new assessment program – why? • New library and university leadership • Change in library service methods • Need for fresh, relevant user and collection data • Goal of aligning spending and staffing with priorities • Timing • Budget picture changing • New University of Alaska Fairbanks Strategic Plan • Last library-wide strategic plan: 2001 • Last comprehensive patron survey: 1995 • Need for new library plan and data to guide it

  7. Planning a new assessment program – what? Data-centered decisions – exploring ways of gathering and using data More measurable outcomes Need for “performance measures” to satisfy funders

  8. Library Assessment: Data-Centered Decision-Making

  9. Building the assessment program: who and how? • Library Assessment Task Force Librarians from: • Collection development and patron services • Library science instruction • Reference • Outreach • Taskforce charge: gather user feedback • Method: meetings, tasks, library wiki

  10. Building the assessment program: who and how? (2) • Constraints • Minimal funding for survey research • No additional staffing for survey administration and analysis

  11. Planning the survey • Content • Campus-wide surveys of faculty and students • Survey topics • Logistics • Easy to distribute • Easy for users to respond • Easy to analyze • Easy to repeat • Timeline short

  12. Choosing a survey Choosing a survey instrument • University of Washington Libraries Assessment: Field tested • Choosing a survey tool • Past success with online survey response using incentives • “Survey Monkey”

  13. Preparing the survey • Timeline • Question adaptation • Question scoring • Testing • IRB • Budget

  14. Getting the word out • Encouraging participation • University administration, including Provost, Deans, Directors • Faculty Senate • Graduate School • S tudent government association • Advertising • Incentive prizes

  15. Implementing the survey • Email distribution via Computing Dept listservs • Web page links • Response rates • Faculty – 25% (243/943) • Grad students – 19% (143/750) • Undergrads – 8% (431/5086)

  16. Compiling results - library • Aggregate results posted to library web page and staff wiki • Comments distributed to service areas: Interlibrary Loan, Circulation, Media, Reference • Comments for collection managers, Library Science head, analyzed to create action items • Detail results possible, need for patron privacy

  17. Communicating results to campus • Summary reports for specific administration and governance groups • Research Working Group • Graduate School • Provost • Deans and Directors • Student Leadership • Faculty Governance Group- Faculty Senate • Summaries posted to web site • Promotion for Fall, 2008 – Student newspaper ads, staff newsletter, etc.

  18. Analyzing results • Analysis • Further analysis needed • Follow-up with non-participants needed • Surprises • Key findings

  19. Selecting action items • Number of responses • Time and effort • Library control

  20. Taking action • Collection development • Electronic content • Specific subjects • Service-related issues • Library space • Strategic plan - Reference review - LS101 - Institutional repository

  21. Looking to the future • Revising survey • Refining distribution methods • Reassessing our marketing strategy • Analyzing results • Managing the surveys

  22. Starting an assessment program: recommendations • Consider purpose • Assess local funding, expertise, time • Research survey tools • Examine campus communication options • Get buy-in and input from all library staff • Plan, plan, plan

  23. Thank you.Questions?

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