University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Library Data and Student Success Project – Updates

 Posted by at 1:50 pm  Assessment in Action  No Responses »
Feb 242013
 

Guest post by Scott Garrison, Dean,Ferris Library for Information, Technology and Education

Ferris State University

Two articles to be published in the April, 2013 issue of portal: Libraries and the Academy describe two separate but related studies conducted as part of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Libraries’ Library Data and Student Success project. Both articles are based on data collected during fall 2011, and while each reveals limitations in current data analysis strategies available to libraries and their institutional partners, both effectively cite and contribute to the emerging library value literature.
 
The article describing the first study is entitled “Analyzing Demographics: Assessing Library Use Across the Institution.” According to lead author Shane Nackerud, this article “discusses data gathering techniques and demographic analysis of just who uses the University of Minnesota Libraries.” The Libraries partnered with the university’s Office of Institutional Research to analyze undergraduate and graduate student usage of various online and human-facilitated library services. Taking care to ensure user privacy, the authors connected usage to specific student IDs, thus being able to determine the proportion of undergraduate and graduate usage, in aggregate and by college. 

The article describing the second study is entitled “Library Use and Undergraduate Student Outcomes: New Evidence for Students’ Retention and Academic Success.” Led by an Office of Institutional Research analyst, the study dug deeper into the same data gathered for the first study, looking specifically at more detailed demographics, academic background (ACT and SAT scores) and student experience variables. The authors’ data analysis suggests that “first-time, first-year undergraduate students who use the library have a higher GPA for their first semester and higher retention from fall to spring than non-library users.”

To read fuller summaries of these articles, visit the Value of Academic Libraries Valueography. 

To read more about the Library Data and Student Success Project, and to preview these articles prior to their official publication, visit the project’s blog  posting, “Two Articles to Be Published“ 

Deadline 3/8 – Apply for New ACRL Program “Assessment in Action;” Recorded Forum Now Available

 Posted by at 2:52 pm  Assessment in Action  No Responses »
Feb 192013
 

ACRL is seeking applications from all types of higher education institutions for 75 teams to participate in the first cohort of “Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success (AiA),” made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and described on the ACRL website. Librarians will each lead a campus team in developing and implementing an action learning project which examines the impact of the library on student success and contributes to assessment activities on campus. They will be supported in this work by a professional development program with sequenced learning events and activities at key junctures. The AiA program, part of ACRL’s Value of Academic Libraries initiative, employs a blended learning environment and a peer-to-peer network over the course of the 14-month long program, which runs from April 2013-June 2014.

Read full details about participating in the first cohort and apply online by 5 p.m. Central, Friday, March 8.

Learn more about the AiA program in a newly available recording of an update session held during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle (best viewed in Firefox browser, browse to Sunday at 1pm for session recording).

Update on Value of Academic Libraries – Report from ALA Midwinter, Seattle

 Posted by at 10:48 am  Assessment in Action, Communicating Value, Events  No Responses »
Feb 052013
 

An update on the work of the Value of Academic Libraries committee was presented at a Sunday afternoon forum at ALA Midwinter in Seattle.   Speaking to a large audience turnout, ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen Davis opened the Sunday afternoon forum with background on ACRL’s involvement in assessment.  Mary Ellen emphasized that while the Value of Academic Libraries initiative is new, ACRL has been involved in the topic of assessment since the early 1980’s.   Mary Ellen also shared results from our 2012 ACRL membership report.  When asked to select the top three issues facing academic and research librarianship today “Demonstrating the value of the library and librarians” was cited as a top issue facing all member segments, regardless of job title or type of library. (61% responded that this is the top priority.)

Vice-Chair, Terri Fishel, provided an overview of current activities underway by the committee.  (See slides for this presentation for more information. Update 2/19: Recording now available; use Firefox browser.)

Current Co-Chair, Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe provided an update on the Assessment in Action grant.  The program “Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success” is based on ACRL’s 2011 IMLS Collaborative Planning Grant which convened two national summits in partnership with AIR, APLU, and the Council of Independent Colleges. The decision to hold summits and seek an IMLS grant in order to do so were a direct result of the ACRL publication, The Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report, released in fall 2010, which recommended that ACRL:

  • create a professional development programto build the profession’s capacity to document, demonstrate, and communicate library value in alignment with the mission and goals of their colleges and universities.

The planning grant summits assembled representatives from twenty-two postsecondary institutions, including senior librarians, chief academic administrators, and institutional researchers, for discussions about library impact. Fifteen representatives from higher educationorganizations and associations also participated in the summits. During the presentations, discussions, and collaborative work, the following four broad themes emerged about the dynamic nature assessment in higher education:

  •  Accountability drives higher education discussions.
  •  A unified approach to institutional assessment is essential.
  •  Student learning and success are the primary focus of higher education assessment.
  •  Academic administrators and accreditors seek evidence-based reports of measureable impact.

Given this intensified attention to assessment and accountability issues in the higher education sector, five overarching recommendations for the academic library profession emerged:

  1. Increase librarians’ understanding of library value and impact in relation to various dimensions of student learning and success.
  2. Articulate and promote the importance of assessment competencies necessary for documenting and communicating library impact on student learning and success.
  3. Create professional development opportunities for librarians to learn how to initiate and design assessment that demonstrates the library’s contributions to advancing institutional mission and strategic goals.
  4. Expand partnerships for assessment activities with higher education constituent groups and related stakeholders.
  5. Integrate the use of existing ACRL resources with library value initiatives.

Each of these recommendations was followed by proposed action steps (More details in the white paper “Connect, Collaborate, and Communicate: A Report from the Value of Academic Libraries Summits.”)

Lisa explained that one of the features of this program will be action learning projects.  The librarian team leaders will apply what they are learning through team-based activities carried out on their campuses. The focus on action learning will lead to a deeper understanding of what happens when knowledge and skills are applied in practice. The institutional teams will participate in peer review and provide feedback about the library value projects developed by other participating teams. As part of the AiA program, we will document and articulate approaches, practices, and tools that are replicable/transferrable to a variety of settings for use by the wider academic library and higher education community.

The projects will result in a variety of approaches to assessing library impact on student learning which will be documented and disseminated for use by the wider academic library and higher education communities. The different perspectives and experiences represented by the institutional team members will foster a collaborative approach to assessing the library’s impact on student learning and success on the campus of each participating institution.

Following Lisa’s presentation, Kara Malenfant, ACRL Senior Strategist, presented information on the application process.  Deadline for applications is March 8th.  More details will be found in the presentation slides , the session recording (use Firefox browser), and online at http://www.ala.org/acrl/AiA

There are full details about how people can apply at http://www.ala.org/acrl/AiAapplication and even more information in the FAQs at http://www.ala.org/acrl/AiAapplicationfaq.

Copies of the slides for the presentation will be found here – http://www.acrl.ala.org/value/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/VAL-forum-MW-13-update-FINAL.pdf

The session was recorded and will be freely available later in February. (Update 2/19: Recording now available; use Firefox browser.)

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