Metrics with Meaning: How Can We Effect Change to Library Assessment Metrics used by Non-Library Organizations

Many library metrics and statistics that are gathered regularly by accreditation agencies, publishers, and other entities to inform stakeholders have stagnated and are no longer effective in illustrating library value. In this talk, we will highlight measures collected by accreditation agencies and publishers that are not effective, and then describe potential ways to have short-term and long-term impact on changing these national metrics so that they better represent libraries of the 21st century

Metrics with Meaning: How Can We Effect Change to Library Assessment Metrics used by Non-Library Organizations

Many library metrics and statistics that are gathered regularly by accreditation agencies, publishers, and other entities to inform stakeholders have stagnated and are no longer effective in illustrating library value. In this talk, we will highlight measures collected by accreditation agencies and publishers that are not effective, and then describe potential ways to have short-term and long-term impact on changing these national metrics so that they better represent libraries of the 21st century

Graduate Conversations: Assessing the Space Needs of Graduate Students

This article discusses the preferences, habits, and needs of graduate students as they relate to spaces for research and study. The findings are based on a large-scale ethnographic study of graduate students at Florida State University conducted between 2010 and 2013. Using a variety of ethnographic methods, researchers found that graduate students have diverse needs and unequal access to appropriate spaces and resources to meet those needs. Libraries can help fill the gaps left by home and academic departments by providing a range of spaces offering different noise levels, resources, and other amenities

Graduate Conversations: Assessing the Space Needs of Graduate Students

This article discusses the preferences, habits, and needs of graduate students as they relate to spaces for research and study. The findings are based on a large-scale ethnographic study of graduate students at Florida State University conducted between 2010 and 2013. Using a variety of ethnographic methods, researchers found that graduate students have diverse needs and unequal access to appropriate spaces and resources to meet those needs. Libraries can help fill the gaps left by home and academic departments by providing a range of spaces offering different noise levels, resources, and other amenities

Embracing the Generalized Propensity Score Method: Measuring the Effect of Library Usage on First-Time-In-College Student Academic Success

Abstract Objective – This research focuses on First-Time-in-College (FTIC) student library usage during the first academic year as number of visits (frequency) and length of stay (duration) and how that might affect first-term grade point average (GPA) and first-year retention using the generalized propensity score (GPS). We also want to demonstrate that GPS is a proper tool that researchers in libraries can use to make causal inferences about the effects of library usage on student academic success outcomes in observation studies. Methods – The sample for this study includes 6,380 FTIC students who matriculated in the fall 2014 and fall 2015 semesters at a large southeastern university. Students’ library usage (frequency and duration), background characteristics, and academic records were collected. The Generalized Propensity Score method was used to estimate the effects of frequency and duration of FTIC library visits. This method minimizes self-selection bias and allows researchers to control for demographic, pre-college, and collegiate variables. Four dose-response functions were estimated for each treatment (frequency and duration) and outcome variable (GPA and retention). Results – The estimated dose-response function plots for first-term GPA and first-year retention rate have similar shapes, which initially decrease to the minimum values then gradually increase as the treatment level increases. Specifically, the estimated average first-term GPA is minimized when the FTIC student only visits the library three times or spends one hour in the library during his/her first semester. The threshold for first-year retention occurs when students visit the library 15 times or spend 21 hours in the library during their first semester. After those thresholds, an increase in students’ library usage is related to an increase in their academic success. Conclusions – The generalized propensity score method gives the library researcher a scientifically rigorous methodological means to make causal inferences in an observational study (Imai & van Dyk, 2004). Using this methodological approach demonstrates that increasing library usage is likely to increase FTIC students’ first-term GPA and first-year retention rates past a certain threshold of frequency and duration

Reconceptualizing Liaisons: A Model for Assessing and Developing Liaison Competencies to Guide Professional Development

In an effort to reconceptualize its liaison program, the FSU Libraries initiated a three-phase, grassroots effort to develop a set of core values and competencies, conduct a self-assessment based upon those competencies, and create a strategic training program based upon the results. We determined that our defining values guide our practice, particularly with our hybrid model of liaisons collaborating with functional experts to engage users. The results of the self-assessment indicated that liaisons felt competent in teaching and research services, but less confident engaging faculty members in areas related to scholarly communication and digital tools. Our core competencies and best practices provide benchmarks for superior service and structure for an intentional training program

Academic Library Assessment: Strengthening the Collective

The Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative (FALSC) leads and coordinates projects and resources for academic libraries at 40 state universities and colleges. The cooperative structure brings together stakeholders at multiple levels. The Members Council on Library Services (MCLS; FALSC and library leadership) oversees seven standing committees, each charged with specific work that serves the cooperative. Each committee includes librarians from college and university libraries, and liaisons from FALSC and the MCLS. The Library Assessment Standing Committee (LASC) charge is to: Assist and advise the MCLS regarding methods and tools for library assessment; Create a centralized repository to house examples of best practices for assessment methods and activities; Identify and promote examples of effective library assessment methods; Create a shared repository of examples of library assessment practices for SACS and other accreditation; Provide recommendations to the MCLS for resources and activities to support assessment in all libraries in the collective; Provide regular reports to the MCLS. By bringing librarians from different institutions together around this shared charge, the committee identifies common needs and goals, leverages expertise to address these, and facilitates communication among all the libraries. Evaluation of data visualization tools was a great opportunity to strengthen the collective by pursuing a common goal with many mutually beneficial results