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Poster Presentation at ARL's Library Assessment Conference 2010

The 2010 ARL Library Assessment Conference was held from October 25-27, 2010, in Baltimore, Maryland. Members of the Assessment Council attended the event and presented a poster session.

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Poster Abstract

2010 Library Assessment Conference

Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment

#59

Focus on Assessment

Kimlyn Patishnock (The Pennsylvania State University)
Heather Benner (The Pennsylvania State University)
Sydney Bennington (The Pennsylvania State University)
Dr. Gregory Crawford (The Pennsylvania State University)
Jennifer McCauley (The Pennsylvania State University)
Linda Musser (The Pennsylvania State University)
Nonny Schlotzhauer (The Pennsylvania State University)
Ann Snowman (The Pennsylvania State University)

Assessment is a valuable exercise. The challenge lies in developing and sustaining an
effective program of assessment. This poster will illustrate how this challenge is being
addressed at a large, public university with a multi-campus library.
In the absence of a position devoted to assessment, the library administration chose a
committee approach and formed The Library Assessment and Metrics Council, which is
charged with leading and promoting a culture of assessment within the library.
We will highlight activities undertaken in the first year, including an environmental scan,
literature review, needs assessment, focus group interviews, surveys, data inventories,
publicity, presentations, and workshops; and underscore our successes at building a
culture of assessment in our organization.

Heather Benner is a business manager in Serials and Acquisitions Services of The Pennsylvania State
University Libraries.
Sydney Bennington is the assistant to the Assistant Dean for Technical and Collections Services of The
Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
Dr. Gregory Crawford is a librarian and the director of the Penn State Harrisburg Library of the The
Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
Jennifer McCauley is a database specialist in the Department for Information Technologies of The
Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
Linda Musser is a librarian and the head of the Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library of
The Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
Nonny Schlotzhauer is an assistant librarian in the Social Sciences Library of The Pennsylvania State
University Libraries.
Ann Snowman is an associate librarian and head of Access Services of The Pennsylvania State University
Libraries.

Poster

First Steps

    Conducted environmental scan through dialogue and surveys, learned:

  1. Everyone is doing assessment
  2. They had many unsupported needs

First Year Activities

    Marketing to the Libraries

  1. Authored "Foucs on Assessment" a regular series of columns in the Libraries' newsletter, InterView
  2. Created robust website on the Libraries Intranet, as well as a public site (http://libraries.psu.edu/psul/admin/assessment.html)

    Support for Assessment

  1. Nominated faculty to attend the ARL Service Quality Evaluation Academy in 2010 & 2011
  2. Launched "Director's Station" Users Group; a tool designed to mine data from ILS history logs
  3. Advised the Libraries' Web Steering Committee, Google Analytics Hot Team, Public Relations and Marketing Department and Diversity Committee on their assessment activities

    Training/Education

  1. Offered two Job Enrichment Opportunities (special assignments for staff intended to cevelop skills)
  2. Presented SPSS Workshops for library staff
  3. Sponsored symposium "Using Assessment for Collection Development and Management", with the Collection Development Council
  4. Presented "By the Numbers" workshop at the annual Libraries' in service day

Outcomes/Future

  1. Recommendation to create a position to coordinate data for ananlysis and budgeted for by administration
  2. Created a new Libraries policy requiring responses to external surveys be filed with the Dean's office
  3. Identified preliminary metrics for the five goals of the Libraries Strategic Plan
  4. Endorsed the formation of a Google Analytics Users Group
  5. Continued analysis of existing LibQUAL+® data

 

Handout