1. Library Assessment Conference LAC 2010 Report http://libraryassessment.org/ Elizabeth Brown Ronnie Goldberg Binghamton University Libraries December 16, 2010

2. Conference Tracks Organizational Performance (4) Ronnie Value and Impact (3) Beth Library Space (2) Ronnie Teaching and Learning (2) Beth Assessment in Practice Beth Collections Beth Information Services Ronnie Marketing and Advocacy Ronnie Research in Progress Beth Qualitative Data and Libraries Digital Libraries Service Quality (LibQUAL®) Usability http://libraryassessment.org/schedule/index.shtml

3. Plenary Sessions Fred HeathLibrary Assessment: The Way We Have GrownKeynote paper Megan Oakleaf on Learning Outcomes and the LibraryAre They Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes & the Academic LibraryDanutaNitecki on Assessment of Library SpacesSpace Assessment as a Venue for Defining the Academic LibraryKeynote Papers Stephen Town on Value and ImpactValue, Impact and the Transcendent Library: Progress and Pressures in Performance Measurement and EvaluationJoe Matthews on Performance Measures & Balanced ScorecardAssessing Organizational Effectiveness: The Role of FrameworksKeynote papers David Shulenburger, Association of Public and Land-grant UniversitiesThe Relationship Between University Assessment and Library Assessment

4. Thoughts and Impressions Everyone is emphasizing different areas of library practice and service Level of engagement and commitment varies All talks focused on areas similar to our assessment activities Instruction/Collections/Library Services/Use of Library Spaces Less emphasis on campus assessment activities and collaboration

5. Organizational Performance Measurement Tools and Techniques Library scorecards Performance model that ties strategy to performance in the areas of finance, learning & growth, customers and internal processes Goals of this tool: Improve alignment between strategic goals & assessment, create a culture of assessment, be more responsive to change, link data gathered to strategy Balanced scorecard - ARL initiative: Johns Hopkins, McMaster, University of Virginia, University of Washington – a work in progress

6. Organizational Performance Measurement Tools and Techniques (cont.) Blended Scorecard – attempt by University of Minnesota Health Science Libraries MISO Survey Web-based, quantitative survey. Gathers input from faculty, staff & students about the importance, use of and satisfaction with campus library and computing services Used by small liberal arts colleges: Haverford, Earlham, Brandeis, University of Richmond, Bryn Mawr

7. Organizational Performance Measuring effects of organizational change Annual staff survey Assess performance outcomes of strategic plan goals University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

8. Value and Impact Using LIBQual data to measure access to online collections and meeting faculty research expectations (Columbia) Create equivalent service expectations for online and print content UK report on the Value of Libraries (UK RIN) measure library costs vs. impact on the university ROI on Journal Use and Cost (U Tennessee) How are faculty getting to sources?

9. Value and Impact Measuring usage, outreach, intensity of use for special collections materials (U Michigan) Measuring use of licensed content with MINES (York U) Summary of ACRL Assessment Activities Literature review of academic library impact on teaching and learning (U Tennessee) MetriDoc infrastructure for collaborative assessment (UPenn)

10. Library Space Assessing the use of library space Types of spaces: stacks, study, information/learning commons Institutions: Georgia Tech, Buffalo State College, University of Virginia Methodologies: surveys (including Lib QUAL), focus groups, head counts, gate counts, sweep counts, observations Conclusions: students prefer new areas, well-lighted spaces & flexible spaces, group areas

11. Library Space Some thoughts Need to measure the impact of library space on learning For group study – difference between sitting together and working together Focus of traditional learning/information commons is the undergraduate; graduate commons is also needed – different services

12. Teaching and Learning Information Literacy practice emphasized (UNCG, Loyola Marymount U, St. Mary’s College) Speakers discussed development of: Rubrics for assessment Course outcomes:search strategies, distinguishing resources, using citation styles correctly Quantifiable benchmarks for library instruction: class/section/program/curricula

13. Assessment in Practice Telling the Library’s Story by: Using the university IR to store assessment data (UBC) Creating a User Studies Initiative to learn more about student research habits (Duke U) Forming a library assessment committee emphasizing student learning, user services, building facilities (U Richmond)

14. Collections Access to electronic content with link resolver logs (OHSU) Creating user profiles from circulation data (Cornell) Consortial collection analysis using YBP’s GOBI database(UMass-Amherst)

15. Information Services Three case studies University of Utah – analysis of reference statistics to evaluate expertise necessary for in-house and online service points Iowa State University – assessment of instant messaging services Royal School of Library and Information Science (Denmark) – explore changes in renewals and ILL – both have grown attributed to technological changes; growth of ILL results from increase in renewals

16. Marketing and Advocacy Studies Marketing electronic resources – advocates for use of formal marketing plan Need for use of strategy by the library assessment community to promote best research and data analysis practices

17. Research in Progress Becoming a process-focused library: emphasize high level processes (Emory) Developing Library Value Indicators for specific disciplines (UNLV) Assessing Interdisciplinary Collections (U Alberta) Assessing job ads and position descriptions for assessment skills (Syracuse/Illinois)

18. Next Steps/Recommendations Form a Libraries’ Assessment Team Make assessment activity documentation availablewith aweb page/intranet resources for library and campus staff Eliminate unnecessary activities and data gathering among units Determine if there are additional assessment needs/activities