Librarians use assessment as an evidence-based approach to address potential design improvements, library and academic service redesigns, approaches to outreach, or as a conversation starter with potential faculty and library collaborators. During this panel, "Assessment and Art Libraries," four librarians from three institutions will discuss assessment projects conducted to answer various questions about the needs of their respective libraries. Attendees will gain insights into assessment methods that can be adapted for use at their home institutions.
The presentation "Are You Picking Up What They're Putting Down? Inciting Change with Student Insights" will discuss how we gauge how well we support student success by connecting them to relevant library resources and services. Traditional metrics may not be the most telling in this situation, as art students often do not use the library in traditional ways. This is further complicated by how art students in varying disciplines differ. Students in 16 programs in the visual and performing arts were asked about library spaces, collections, and services—what they knew about and used, what was important to them and why. This paper will show how a study on student awareness and use of library resources provided a platform for the arts liaison librarian to confirm assumptions and challenge others, including how to define the role of arts liaison librarian.
"Research Practices of Humanists: Implications for Library Design, Collections, and Services" addresses how, due to burgeoning information technologies, assumptions about humanists' research practices have shifted in favor of service models that are less reliant on printed sources. A User Experience (UX) team tested these emerging assumptions through an intensive UX inquiry of humanities faculty members. The paper will present the UX methodologies, instruments, and the findings of this inquiry. Details will include the design of the UX instrument to gather pertinent data, participant recruitment, overview of specific subject areas and research idiosyncrasies, pertinent findings, and the team's synthesis of this qualitative data with an eye toward enhancing library spaces, collections, policies, and practices to support the evolving research needs and preferences of humanities researchers.
Does the library meet or fail to meet the multi-faceted educational needs of art and design students and practitioners? "Ask, Analyze, Assess: Insights into New Library Spaces at Ringling College of Art + Design" answers this question through assessment activities that evaluate how users have adapted to, and use, the space one year after its opening. This talk will highlight the creation of inquiry and pedagogic materials and share processes and results from several methods of data gathering that seek to measure users' experiences with and perceptions of the adequacy of library spaces. Results will address how spaces are used by the community and support work habits and whether available resources meet user needs.
Learning Objectives- The value of data-driven decision-making
- Assessment methodology and implementation
- Managing the diversity of library resource use by discipline
