The effects of academic libraries’ resource, expenditure, and service decisions on library use: An analysis of ACRL and NCES data

Academic libraries are key contributors to the instructional and research missions of their parent institutions, but often struggle to demonstrate specifically what they do and how that affects institutional outcomes. High-impact educational practices are one area where libraries make a difference, but where explicit connections between activities and outcomes are not always articulated. Faculty and graduate student research is another area where libraries’ contribution makes logical sense, but specific relationships are not necessarily drawn. Libraries may place different emphasis on these two areas, effectively choosing different business strategies, to support their institutions’ missions. Two national surveys collect data about library expenditures, staffing, services, and use of resources. This study aims to explore the extent to which a library’s business strategy might be visible through patterns in these national data sets. What can the data we already have tell us about differences between libraries and how those differences affect library services and use? To what extent can library use data predict an institution’s external research dollars? By using a variety of statistical techniques, including structural equation modeling, MANCOVA, and multiple regression, the researcher explores these questions. The study also explores ways in which current data falls short in being able to connect library activities with high-impact educational practices and faculty and graduate research productivity, and proposes new ideas for measuring library activities such that they could be connected more clearly with institutional outcomes

The Suitability of Web Analytics Key Performance Indicators in the Academic Library Environment

As the demand for library assessment grows, academic libraries are becoming more interested in Web analytics. Data are automatically gathered and provide information about a wide variety of online interactions. Libraries have long used simple counts such as visits and page views, but have more recently begun to choose strategic benchmarks, also known as key performance indicators (KPIs). Many common KPIs were created for commercial websites and are challenging to adapt for libraries. However, the underlying concepts are sufficiently valuable that libraries should explore their use. By evaluating the validity of web metrics, libraries can further the development of standards and benchmarks to support future investigations. This article discusses how commercial web metrics might be adapted for use in academic libraries. First, the limitations of web analytics are presented. Major key performance indicators used in the commercial sector are reviewed in the academic library context. Finally, the article discusses how the various indicators might support specific library website goals and decisions and uses local data to illustrate one example case. As libraries choose web analytic methods, they should deliberately evaluate their validity. Over time, this will slowly build the profession’s ability to use web analytics more effectively for library assessment

More Alike Than Different: Student Perceptions of Academic Librarians by Genders and Subject Areas

This study explored differences in how undergraduate students of different genders and academic disciplines perceived academic librarians at a U.S. public university. No evidence indicated differences between students identifying as male or female, and few statistically significant differences were found among four Subject Areas (Arts, Humanities + Social Sciences, Business, Health + Education, and STEM). Our results have implications for local practice though they are not generalizable to other institutions. Despite a lack of significant findings, librarians should continue to explore ways to measure how students of different disciplines perceive academic libraries and/or librarians as valuable to their academic success

The Discoverability of Award-Winning Undergraduate Research in History: Implications for Academic Libraries

Making scholarly information visible to web search engines is an ongoing challenge, and undergraduate research is no exception. Using a sample of award-winning undergraduate history papers and journals, the authors searched Google, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, and the authors’ institutional repository to gauge the difficulty of locating these works. Given that many of these works were not easily found, results suggest that libraries and their institutions could be doing more to increase the discoverability of undergraduate research. Based on the success stories observed in this study, we offer strategies to libraries and librarians for increasing the visibility of undergraduate student research

Creating an Instant Messaging Reference System

Libraries are expanding digital references services to include chat and instant messaging. Various companies have developed systems for purchase that meet this need without requiring users to download new software or learn a new skill. These systems share many features in common, including transcript storage, sending URLs, and pushing Web pages. Several librarians at an Association of Research Libraries academic library wished to test instant messaging reference with the ability to control and experiment with different implementations of these features. This article describes the features of instant messaging reference systems and the in-house development of a system that incorporates them

No More Design by Committee: Strategies for Building Lean Mean Web Project Teams

Whether you are implementing a virtual reference service or redesigning the library website, today’s web projects require organizational buy-in and web skill. Even when working well, standing committees don’t always have the skills needed to create a successful website, clear authority, and resources to complete the job. This program and paper presents research study findings about web committees and teams, and proposes an alternate strategy for developing project-focused, skill-driven teams to manage your library’s next web project