Justifying the Library - Using Assessment to Justify Library Investments

11:00 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. Welcome and Introduction

11:10 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. -- Why Library Assessment? A Look at Current Practices

Higher education institutions are increasingly held accountable for demonstrating value, contributing to student success,  providing support for faculty teaching and research, and enhancing institutional reputation.   Academic librarians can contribute to that mission by paying more attention to what is being assessed and how that activity is conducted. In this session the presenters will make a case for why academic librarians should practice assessment, the promises and pitfalls of investing in an assessment culture, the data needed to successfully make a case for library investments and how a dedicated assessment position or unit within the academic library can make the difference.

11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. -- Why is this Assessment Different from All Others? Assessment of Archives & Special Collections

Archival assessment enables data-driven decision making, fosters workplace transparency, and promotes enhanced and effective access to collections and services.  Using the experiences gained during a year-long user survey at Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library this presentation will discuss how evaluating information gathered from users, collections, and discovery tools can improve both professional practice and user experience.

12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. -- Leveraging and interpreting library assessment data - pulling the wheat from the chaff

Assessment data can be collected from a multitude of sources from within and outside your library. It’s not just about the size of collections, or number of reference transactions, or hours a library is open. This presentation will review some of the key places assessment information can be gathered and provide strategies to creatively think about assessment data collection for your library.

1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. -- Information Resources: Justifying the Expense

Discovery layers have changed the landscape of resource use for many libraries through their goal of centralizing access to distributed content through a single interface. Yet, for many libraries, services like Google, Mendeley, and others, provide the access point for much resource use. In this presentation, Ken Varnum will discuss assessment tools such as COUNTER and the Open Discovery Initiative that libraries can use to understand resource usage, as well as discuss emerging efforts to evaluate the impact of that use through broader campus-wide learning analytics processes.

2:15pm - 2:45pm We're not in this alone: Working with campus partners to integrate the library into students' academic experience

University of Minnesota Libraries have been collecting data to figure out who our users are and how they use our services for years. When we started working with our Office of Institutional Research in 2011, we were able to take our data to another level. Now we are gaining insights into who tends to benefit most from discovering and understanding library resources, and finding ways to reach out more effectively to people who haven't found us through other means. We are in the early stages of work with the University's Academic Advisers, meshing our work with what our campus partners are doing to identify who is thriving, who is struggling, and how we can move the needle in the right direction for as many students as possible.
 

2:45pm - 3:15pm A Library-Based Metrics and Impact Core

Galter Health Sciences Library launched the Metrics and Impact Core (MIC) in 2014 to serve data reporting needs of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine community. The MIC offers expertise in areas like bibliometrics, data visualization, information systems, alternative metrics, and more. The MIC serves everyone from individuals to large groups on needs related to successful dissemination strategies, publication tracking and reporting, assessing research impact, and communicating research impact to audiences. The MIC provides an extensive range of services for stakeholders. This presentation will introduce the MIC, highlight some of our favorite resources, and present examples of available reports and services.

3:30pm - 4:00pm Planning the Plan: Collaboratively Aligning Strategic Plan Initiatives and Assessments

In Fall 2015, Starr Hoffman joined the UNLV University Libraries as the Head of Planning and Assessment; she arrived to find a major survey underway and a new strategic framework needing an assessment plan. In the following six months, she lead the collaborative creation of a diverse portfolio of assessments for which all of the Libraries have taken ownership, and that directly tie to the university’s strategic goals. Ms. Hoffman will detail the process of crafting the assessment plan and strategies for involving all areas of the Libraries in its development.

4:00pm - 4:30pm Why measure that, when we need to show this?

Public research institutions and their libraries are facing real challenges when they’re asked to substantiate their value through the use of data. Things that are easily measured don’t necessarily show the real value contribution made. Carl’s talk will start by examining what we should be measuring and the steps being used at the University of Oklahoma to move in that direction. It involves everything from the University Mission Statement, campus IT infrastructure and data governance/policies to discussions of the metrics involved as well as how our tech suppliers need to work with us to facilitate these plans.

4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Roundtable Discussion Moderated by Todd Carpenter