Library assessment and performance measurement have turned to qualitative approaches including narrative and ethnographic methods for more meaningful demonstrations of the value and impact of services and facilities. Reflective practice is a core characteristic of qualitative inquiry, but has received minimal attention in literature related to assessment, evaluation and research in the library and information domain. Research methods texts in our field acknowledge the need for reflection when designing an investigation, and recognize the importance of active reflection in qualitative field work and data analysis, especially in ethnography, action research, and case studies; but they offer little or no practical guidance on how to engage in reflective practices or what it means to be reflexive and to “read” qualitative data reflexively (Mason, 2002). Discussions of assessment librarian competencies are similarly deficient, although Oakleaf (2013, p. 128) mentions reflective practice as a required focal area. Gaps in the research and assessment literature of our discipline are reflected by a similar shortage of frameworks, models and tools to facilitate reflective practice in other areas of our professional life. Other professions have domain-specific handbooks promoting reflective practice in the context of their discipline, and recent research in our field points to an urgent need for comparable provision. Our project targets this gap, using participatory action research to explore development of a reflective practice toolkit for the library and information field, with the information literacy and library assessment communities as our primary testbeds. The workshop presents examples and adaptations emerging as candidates for our envisioned toolkit, and field-tests their suitability by having participants engage with our handouts, participate in reflective and reflexive activities, and evaluate prototype tools from their perspectives as assessment practitioners. Tools for the workshop include adaptations of Michael Quinn Patton’s (2015, pp. 72, 604-605) triangulated reflexive inquiry framework, which uses self-questioning to help researchers understand, articulate, and own their perspective and voice; Patton’s (2011, pp. 266-299) reflective practice process for developmental evaluation – a data-based, story-based, engagement-based interactive approach to investigating an issue or evaluating an initiative; and Jennifer Mason’s (2002) model of literal, interpretive, and reflexive reading of data, which encourages reflection and reflexivity in analysis and reporting. As a result of attending the workshop, participants will gain: • fuller understanding of reflective practice and its relevance to library assessment; • practice in reflective thinking, reflective writing, and reflective dialogue; • raised awareness of tools supporting reflective practice in particular contexts; • continuing access to bespoke documentation, including early sight of project findings
