s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com · Web viewdefined by specific spheres of accountability with an established hierarchy of roles, proper ownership of production, appropriation, and recording

Running head: CARIL STRATEGIC PLAN

Strategic Plan: Center for Academic Research and Information Literacy (CARIL)

McDailin-Dubois Library – Evergreen University

Jeremy McLaughlin, Jessica Dubois, Andrew Daily

Information Organizations and Management – LIBR204-10

May 2014

EVERGREEN UNIVERSITY AND CARIL ARE FICTIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CREATED BY THE AUTHORS FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PAPER. ANY RELATION TO AN ACTUAL UNIVERSITY OR RESEARCH CENTER IS UNINTENTIONAL.

2CARIL STRATEGIC PLAN

Abstract

Evergreen University is a small, private, secular, four-year institution in Evergreen,

Colorado with approximately 400 full time and 150 part time faculty and 5,500 students (600

graduate students) in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. Campus

administration has recently released their strategic, five year plan with stated objective of raising

University rankings and increasing research profile. The University McDailin-Dubois Library is

involved in two information-related goals: increasing faculty research output, impact, and

visibility, and, integrating learning technology and information literacy in the classroom,

especially related to STEM areas.

The recent opening of a new Library building included the introduction of a campus-wide

resource, the Center for Academic Research and Information Literacy (CARIL). CARIL is

designated as the home for faculty and graduate student publication/research support and

copyright management, campus research assessment, the institutional repository, instructional

design and evaluation, information technology, and programs related to information literacy,

student writing and tutoring, and student outcomes.

Through Library and CARIL-related programs, Evergreen University will be well

positioned to meet the information related needs of internal and external stakeholders and

various user groups. The CARIL competitive analysis and the results of the needs assessment

reiterates the need for user-focused outreach and promotional materials, the importance of

entertaining and educational programs, the importance of publicity opportunities and feedback to

continued program efficacy, as well as the overall viability of the CARIL mission related to

information literacy.


Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Mission Statement 5

Vision Statement 6

Values6

Internal Stakeholders 11

External Stakeholders 13

Environmental Scan, SWOT, and Competitive Analysis 13

Needs Assessment 16

Goals & Objectives 17

Conclusion 24

References 25

Appendices 26

Appendix A: Leadership Issues 26

Appendix B: Resources & HR Analysis 27

Appendix C: User Analysis29

Appendix D: New Technology Products & Services Analysis 31

Appendix E: Administering Needs Assessment Tool 33

Appendix F: Sample of Needs Assessment Instruments 35

Appendix G: Needs Assessment Results, Faculty 41

Appendix H: Needs Assessment Results, Students45

Author Note 48


Introduction: The McDailin-Dubois Library at Evergreen University


Colorado with approximately 400 full time and 150 part time faculty and 5,500 students (600

graduate students) in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. Academic

research centers and information-related focus in the humanities, sociology, political science,

economics, anthropology, biology, and chemistry. Evergreen, CO is a small community 30 miles

southwest of Denver. While there is a branch of the Jefferson County Public Library in

Evergreen, the University and the Library coordinate with the City and with the Public Library to

promote events of value to the entire community.

As a prestigious, private University the student population is engaged with their

scholarship and our faculty has both teaching and research objectives in their annual and

promotion and tenure reviews. The Library provides reference and instructional assistance,

access to print and digital indexing and full-text services, interlibrary loan with other regional

campuses, computing and printing, group work room, and study areas for the campus

community. Technology enhancements and strategic acquisitions will allow the Library to

include new instructional and informational technologies into library and faculty instruction as

well as support the integration of technology into the core curriculum.

Campus administration has recently released their strategic, five year plan with stated

objective of raising University rankings and increasing research profile. The McDailin-Dubois

Library is involved in two information-related goals: increasing faculty research output, impact,

and visibility, and, integrating learning technology and information literacy in the classroom,

especially related to STEM areas.


McDailin-Dubois recently received a substantial endowment which provided for a new

library building and resources. This three-year project concluded with a new digital library based

on student and faculty needs in both physical space and electronic resources and information

technology. The opening includes the introduction of a campus-wide resource, the Center for

Academic Research and Information Literacy (CARIL). CARIL is designated as the home for

faculty and graduate student publication/research support and copyright management, campus

research assessment, the institutional repository, instructional design and evaluation, information

technology, and programs related to information literacy, student writing and tutoring, and

student outcomes.

Mission Statement

The Center for Academic Research and Information Literacy (CARIL) is an essential

element of the McDailin-Dubois Library and the campus of Evergreen University. CARIL’s

mission is to provide information resources and instruction services to support and enhance the

student and staff research and learning experience as well as provide a technological and relevant

link to the outside world.

To accomplish this, by focusing on excellence, significance, and delivery of resources and

services to the University community, CARIL will:

Support faculty and student academic publishing endeavors through assistance managing the processes of creating, licensing and publishing, discovering, preserving, assessing, and disseminating campus research.

Provide training and instructional design support for faculty engaged with technology in the classroom, and, elevate the education of students through traditional and technical means.

Build the next generation of online information users through the teaching and promotion of information literacy inside and outside the classroom, and encourage the responsible use of information resources and technology.


Vision Statement

As a center of knowledge-based learning and practice, CARIL shares with the University

community the desire to promote an efficient, effective, technology-driven environment for

research productivity, instructional design, and information literacy.

To achieve these aspirations, in the desired future of CARIL: the Center collaborates with

faculty on student enrichment and information literacy as well as technology in instructional

design; students are taught and encouraged by the Center to interact with library products and

services in new ways; through publishing-related services, University researchers retain more

copyright and the campus encourages principles of open access through data sharing and the

institutional repository GreenResearch; as a result of promotion, marketing, and creative

programming, the Center makes people aware of services and provides educational user-focused

programs; to make way for the future, the Center ensures the preservation and accessibility of

research-related materials and data in a variety of formats.

CARIL commits to accepting change in student and faculty needs and embraces

innovation in regards to future program design and applicability, and the flexibility of physical

and virtual spaces.

Values

Academic Excellence

we promote academic excellence through offering a variety of information services that foster intellectual development; discovery at the highest standard; and instill the importance of open access to information and the values of author copyright

Advancing Knowledge

we support and contribute to student and faculty pursuits of knowledge across the curriculum and collaborate campus-wide to share our services at every opportunity


Library literacy

we support both students and faculty by providing information services necessary for successful learning and teaching environments

we promote library literacies by enhancing student and faculty knowledge of credible/reliable resources and technologies available and how to access/incorporate said resources into their work

Professionalism

we provide the expertise and access to quality services, staff, facilities and technology necessary to achieve the Center’s mission and provide a safe learning environment.

in return we expect professionalism from anyone accessing the Center, its services, and it’s staff.

Management Team Members

Below are the names, titles, and leadership styles of the CARIL senior management team.

These leadership styles are based on a recent external analysis done by the University on all

senior management and are based on classifications found in Evans and Ward (2007).

Reginald Dewey III, Dean and Director of the University Library

Dean Dewey has worked in academic libraries for over 30 years in a variety of

administrative and non-administrative roles. He considers himself “battle tested” as it relates to

most situations facing contemporary libraries and enjoys the support and trust of his colleagues.

He is an avid promoter of the Library on campus and practices an appealing mix of the

administrative- and the systems-based approaches to management, as defined by Evans and

Ward (2007).

As an administrator, Dewey is able to assess Library programs and strategic initiatives

and their implications across the overall operation of the University. His experience makes him

capable of overseeing projects spanning the technical, commercial, financial, security, and

accounting functionality of the organization. He believes that, at an operational level, short- and

long-term function is defined by rules and professional norms. Functionality, to Dewey, is


defined by specific spheres of accountability with an established hierarchy of roles, proper

ownership of production, appropriation, and recording of decisions/plans/rules, etc….in writing.

However, he also knows that each unit is part of a larger system. The interdependency of all of

the pieces of the University organization can only properly function with processes of inputs and

outputs providing a constant feedback loop.

Dewey’s focus on strong administrative and operational leadership along with an

interdependent and learning-based feedback loop was on display throughout the Library building

and development project, during which he was an integral managing figure for the Library and

campus in general. In addition to overseeing the management of Endowment funds and planning

of the new building and its contents, he also lobbied the senior campus Administration and the

Board of Trustees for the inclusion of the Library into the policy changes leading to the

University strategic plan and the eventual development of CARIL.

Jeremy McLaughlin, Assistant Director of Scholarly Communications

As defined by Evans and Ward, Jeremy McLaughlin’s management philosophy is a mix

of systems- and behavioral-based theory. Systems theory is rooted in inputs, processing, and

feedback in a constant loop throughout an organization. Jeremy believes that this should be

indicative of communication patterns in general, where employees feel like what they do is

important and their feedback is relevant and could lead to change. His vision sees that managers

are a go-between for their people and the organization and focuses on developing real rapport

and trust through a positive and efficacious communication feedback loop. As a direct result,

several years of employee feedback and other evaluation methods have shown the evolving

development of a positively-viewed learning organization within the Library. This applies to

practical areas of receiving and processing feedback from employees and patrons as well as the


operational aspects of Library activities and the development and promotion of value-based

Library outreach programs and services.

Another defining characteristic is Jeremy’s focus on innovative Library development and

learning opportunities through team training, innovative program development, technology-

based collaborations, and other creative use of Library resources. He believes that while

managers are there to remove hurdles to their employees being effective they also have to find

what makes them happy and more productive. This benefits their specific job/group/unit as well

as the Library as a whole by fostering the creative use of existing resources and the development

of innovative ideas. As a manager, Jeremy doesn’t always focus on the specified job

requirements but seeks out additional ways that employees can contribute, bring value to library

patrons, and be both productive and happy. This way of valuing innovation helps Jeremy

promote leadership qualities in employees in job-adjacent areas that benefit the organization.

Assistant Director of Information Technology & Instructional Design

-’ management and leadership style can be described as a combination of the behavioral,

system, and administrative approaches, as outlined by Evans and Ward. - can be described as

respectful, trustworthy, fair, knowledgeable, approachable, and hardworking. These qualities

appeal to her behavioral approach to leadership as through these attitudes, she motivates her staff

to maintain a high level of productivity and innovation. Likewise, these qualities will create a

welcoming presence for both students and faculty accessing CARIL’s services and resources.

However, -’s extensive experience and success in the academic setting also stems from her

ability to service her clientele in a systematic approach; whereby inputs, processing, and

feedback have proven effective in successfully serving student, faculty and institutional


technological needs. –‘s systematic approach allows her to understand the needs of her client

while staying on top of the fast past changes of the technological world.

In addition to her approachable leadership style, -‘s equitable treatment of staff as well as

her unity of direction for the Information Technology and Instructional Design section of CARIL

fosters a productive and collaborative environment. Without a doubt her administrative flair will

ensure her section functions smoothly to achieve the centre’s mission to “Provide training and

instructional design support for faculty engaged with technology in the classroom, and, elevate

the education of students through traditional and technical means”.

Assistant Director of Information Literacy

-’s management concepts are defined by Evans and Ward as part administrative,

behavioral, and contingency. - acknowledges that all reference and instructional staff are up to

date on new trends and training. This concept will only enhance the patron’s experience and with

solidifying the collaboration between all staff members. This also helps with staff motivation to

be more productive for patrons. - also feels that with all staff members training and developing

together will form interaction between different levels of staff.

- knows that there is not one way to approach managing. As the needs come from

different patrons, so as the needs from different staff members follows. This concept coincides

with different approaches for different situations. -’s style of building a team atmosphere with

placing the right person in the right position, with the approach of developing staff for future

promotions, helps maintain a stable and productive workplace.

Leadership issues

In its newness, one critical component of the Center is its management team who has

worked together in various capacities in the Library for nearly a decade. This team, and the other


Library Senior Administration, was deeply involved in all aspects of planning, implementation,

and strategy for the new library project and initial design and vision for CARIL. While this is

certainly a strength for the Center, they face several key internal and external issues related to its

mission and strategy. Please refer to Appendix A for detailed analysis.

Internal stakeholder groups

Below is a list of internal Library stakeholders in CARIL. These include the Library Director,

the three senior Librarians who manage CARIL as well as their staff and the staff of other related

Departments in the Library. Please also see Appendix B for additional information related to

CARIL’s staffing- and HR-related analysis.

-Library Senior Administration: Reginald Dewey III, Dean and Library Director, was instrumental in the Library building and development project. In addition to overseeing the management of Endowment funds, he also lobbied the Chancellor and other senior campus Administration and the Board of Trustees for the inclusion of the Library into the strategic policy changes leading to the University plan and eventual development of CARIL. While CARIL functionality falls to the three Assistant Directors and their teams discussed below, the Assistant Director of Reference and Subject Specialists and the Assistant Director of Acquisitions and Electronic Resources, and their staff expertise, are part of the strategic objective and operational needs of the Center. These additional staff provides much of the direct touch points with faculty and students and, in addition to directed programs and promotions provide an important source of publicity for CARIL services.

-Scholarly Communications, Jeremy McLaughlin, Assistant Director: This team includes two full-time Scholarly Communications Librarians who primarily work directly with the faculty to design and carry out programs promoting CARIL resources and providing additional support and needs-assessment functions.

o Designing programs related to traditional and digital copyright, transcript licensing, and author’s rights for faculty and graduate students. Assists researchers with identification of appropriate journals and other publication mediums.

o Assesses publishing patterns and research metrics and works to increase overall quantity and quality of campus research.

o Management of the campus Open Access Policy and faculty compliance, and the coordination of author copyright clearance for inclusion of research in the campus or a public repository. Trains and promotes usage of the institutional repository, GreenResearch, and the repository workflow platform. Assess impact (page views, downloads, webometrics) of research in the repository.


o Provides general oversight of the campus data management and planning project, campus compliance with data-related funding requirements, and the impact (page views, downloads, webometrics) of the data repository.

o Disseminates CARIL-authored research related to campus projects, develops and publishes best practices based on Evergreen University’s research-related initiatives, and promotes the overall visibility of campus research and the repository via in-person and virtual methods.

-Information Technology & Instructional Design: The Library IT services are made up of two senior librarians, three junior librarians, and a student staff of 8. This part of the team focuses on the following:

o Installation and maintenance of Library hardware and software, including the testing and initial user documentation review for new information technologies

o Maintenance of Library classrooms and study spaces and assisting staff and students with non-database/non-content related troubleshooting

o Installation and maintenance of Library user software and management of Library-related Help Desk

o Assessment of technology tools and applications and user behavior, including reporting on top IT issues, troubleshooting guidelines, and support documentation/services

This team also includes two full-time Instructional Design Librarians who work with the Reference and Subject Specialist teams on promoting CARIL resources to the faculty and providing additional support and needs-assessment functions.

o Mapping course requirements to digital content and working with Reference to maintain LibGuides

o Training faculty on new technology options for mandated integration into all introductory level courses and for use in more advanced courses

o Updating content and converting syllabi and course materials to learning management system

o Training faculty and students on learning management systemo Coordinating with teaching faculty and Library faculty/staff the materials for

course reserveso Provides key insights to campus administration concerning instructional design

measures and their relationship to student outcomes assessment

-Information Literacy: The Information Literacy team is made up of three full-time Librarians and an average of fifteen student workers who staff and oversee the support center, provide testing and tutoring services, and peer mentoring. They are also supported by the Electronic Resources Librarian and the Reference and Subject Specialist teams.

o Manages the campus research and writing support center, which provides research, writing, and study related resources through in-class and special sessions, workshops, writing contests, and by coordinating with new student and at-risk student initiatives

o The support center manages the campus tutoring programo Design and maintenance of information literacy LibGuides


o Works with faculty to enhance and present the required information literacy components of all introductory level courses and the development of additional requirements for use in advanced courses.

o Helps coordinate the creation and dissemination of educational programs, training materials, and other user-focused help-related documentation to faculty and students

o Provides key insights to campus administration concerning learning and outcomes measures related to student information literacy and their impact on institutional assessment

External stakeholder groups

Below is a list of external Library stakeholders in CARIL, which includes students (the

primary user groups), campus faculty, and the senior administration of the University. For a

detailed user analysis please see Appendix C.

-Faculty: With the new research-related mandates and the campus Open Access policy, faculty have even more reason to be supportive of the Library and the establishment of CARIL. Regardless of individual opinions about the new mandates, the Scholarly Communications team at CARIL will be instrumental in improving the quantity and quality of research outputs around the University. This relates directly to the new faculty annual review and promotion and tenure policies. Additionally, in order to bring the curriculum up to new standards and properly incorporate technology and digital resources into student learning the faculty must rely on the expertise of CARIL. The success of the curriculum development and information literacy programs relies on the two-way communication between the faculty and CARIL.

-Students: Student oriented programs make up two-thirds of the programs and activities of CARIL. Students as a user group are discussed elsewhere in this document, but as stakeholders in the Library, students have a vested interested in access, through in-person and/or digital programs, to the information resources and services they need to succeed. CARIL’s mission is based partly around preparing students for the future; not only with applicable technical, writing, and research skills but also critical thinking and analysis. Through technology and innovation in the classroom and CARIL programs, students not only access what they want from information resources and digital learning tools, but also what they need to be digitally literate information consumers.

-Campus Senior Administration: The Library is under the direction of the Dean and Director, Reginald Dewey III. Dean Dewey reports to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, with additional oversight from the Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, both of whom report to the Chancellor of the University. The Chancellor is the executive officer of the University and is chosen by the Board of Trustees, a 30-member governing board with overall University oversight. The extensive Library building and development project, and the University information policy-related objectives, mean that the Library and CARIL are under an unusual amount of scrutiny from all levels of senior campus administration.


-The provider of the Endowment: The extensive Endowment that funded the new library building and resources came from a famous alum and his multi-billionaire wife who was a Library Assistant in the 1950s. While they were involved with the initial planning of the new building and generally “signed off” on initial budget allocations they did not become too embroiled with the details. However, as part of the Endowment they did stipulate an annual library evaluation process related to facilities and activities actualized through Endowment funds. Fortunately, the content of this evaluation was not specified and this deliverable overlaps significantly with content that will be prepared for other campus reports.

Environmental Scan/Analysis and SWOT

As part of the decision to establish CARIL, a group of internal and external stakeholders -

including the 3 Associate Directors overseeing the Center - came together to carry out an

assessment of the position of information literacy, technology and curriculum development, and

scholarly communications issues on campus. This assessment included a discussion concerning

the current and potential strengths and weaknesses of the Center and its proposed programs, and

how these translate to threats and opportunities to Center services. Internal and external

environmental factors can greatly influence the initial adoption and continued usage of Center

resources. The aggregated results of this exercise are summarized in the tables below.



Competitive Analysis

As with most information organizations, CARIL and the McDailin-Dubois Library face

competitive pressure from many areas, most notably the availability of free information

resources and the competitive nature of non-educational technology. According to White (2009),

libraries compete for:

Staffing Collaborators Partners Support Technology

Appreciation Market Share Existing Customers New Customers Finances

White continues to explain the tangible competition to libraries (Amazon and online book sellers,

brick and mortar bookstores), the opportunity and threat of book technologies (tablets, e-readers,

e-book platforms), the impact of social media on research dissemination and information seeking

behavior, the barriers and the need for improved pricing/access to research outputs, search

engines and other online portals, the importance of mobility and access, and general changes to

printing and book-on-demand programs. He also mentions the “hidden competitors” to library

services, especially those related to children and young adults. This includes friends, T.V., after

school programs, reading programs, video games, and other sources of entertainment.

This CARIL competitive analysis reiterates the need for user-focused outreach and

promotional materials, the importance of entertaining and educational programs, the importance

of publicity opportunities and feedback to continued program efficacy, as well as the overall

viability of the CARIL mission related to information literacy.

Needs Assessment

Two surveys, one for faculty and one for students, were conducted through email using

the SurveyMonkey™ website to gain a better understanding of the needs of our patrons.. The


email message included a brief description of the survey project, asked for the recipient's

participation, and provided the web address for the survey. Importantly the email highlighted at

all levels, participant confidentiality was assured. For in depth information regarding how the

survey was administered, a sample of the survey and survey results please refer to Appendix E,

F, G, & H. For more information regarding the methods used to develop the needs assessment

tool and interpreting the survey results please refer to the Author note.

Goals & Objectives

Based on the feedback gathered from the participants of the needs assessment survey and

the data collected from the environmental scan, CARIL created operational and strategic

initiatives. These initiatives are meant to guide CARIL in both the short and long term. The

operational and strategic goals of CARIL are as follows:

Operational Initiative #1: Relates to information literacy

Goal #1: Increase percentage of Information Literacy sessions delivered to students

Objective #1: Each semester, and during the Summer, CARIL will have 2 meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing Information Literacy needs related to core content and assessment areas as well as basic and technical needs

Objective #2: In first month of each semester, Assistant Directors will work with CARIL and Reference staff to finalize core Information Literacy session schedule with no less than 30 core faculty and student programs

Objective #3: Throughout the semester, CARIL will provide no less than 30 class/discipline-specific core Information Literacy sessions for students

Objective #4: Each week, a program spreadsheet will be updated with Information Literacy session details including attendance, topics, questions, and other feedback

Objective #5: Each month, CARIL will produce at least 1 e-newsletter that is emailed to students and used on the website and in social media, 20 flyers to hang up in the Library, and an advertisement in the campus newspaper promoting program and technology resources


Objective #6: Each semester, based on student feedback and needs, CARIL and Reference staff will update LibGuides and other Library resources for at least 10 classes or subject areas

Goal #2: In-house information literacy sessions

Objective #1: Each month, CARIL will provide no less than 3 in-house Information Literacy sessions for faculty or students

Objective #2: Each week, a program spreadsheet will be updated with Information Literacy session details including attendance, topics, questions, and other feedback

Objective #3: Each month, CARIL will produce at least 1 e-newsletter that is emailed to students and used on the website and in social media, 20 flyers to hang up in the Library, and an advertisement in the campus newspaper promoting program and technology resources

Goal #3: Embed information literacy assessment in course curriculum

Objective #1: Each semester, and once during the summer, CARIL will have 2 meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing Information Literacy needs

Objective #2: Each month, the IL team will focus on 1 specific subject area to develop the curriculum and applied IL standards

Objective #3: Each quarter, the IL team will create 1 report on findings related to information literacy skills assessment practices for the different subject areas

Operational Initiative #2: Relates to technology adoption and instructional design

Goal #1: Provide advocacy and information technology leadership at Evergreen University

Objective #1: Each quarter, IT and Instructional Design will create 1 report reviewing departmental strategies for adopting and funding emerging technologies and their use in course curriculum

Objective #2: Each month, the IL team will focus on 1 specific subject area to develop a running inventory of technology resources across the University departments (including data, information, expertise, and technology)

Objective #3: Each week, the IT team will update the running inventory of technology resources across the University departments

Objective #4: Each quarter, CARIL will produce 1 educational IT- and instructional design-related technology review for faculty to keep up-to-date with newly acquired technologies or technology being considered by the University


Objective #5: Each semester, and during the Summer, CARIL will have 2 meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing Instructional Design needs related to core content and assessment areas as well as basic and technical needs

Goal #2: Create troubleshooting tutorials for popular technology issues on campus

Objective #1: Every other week, the IT team will create a report related to the top IT issues, troubleshooting guidelines, and new support documentation/services

Objective #2: By August 2014, IT will create an IT-related web portal with a central document access repository with no less than 50 help-related documents

Objective #3: Each month, IT team will create at least 5 new or updated troubleshooting or training documents

Objective #4: By the end of each semester, IT will create new web-based tutorials for the top 5 IT issues of the semester

Goal #3: Create faculty-specific resource bank for instructional design material

Objective #1: By August 2014, IT will create an IT-related web portal with a central document access repository for general and instruction-related faculty IT issues Objective #2: Each semester, and once during the Summer, CARIL will have two meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing instructional design needs, especially related to digital content on the campus learning management system

Objective #3: Each month, the Instructional Design team will identify one Department to focus on mapping course requirements to digital content and updating/creating new LibGuides

Objective #4: Each semester, CARIL and Reference staff will update LibGuides and other Library resources for classes/Departments related to Information Literacy development

Objective #5: Each semester, CARIL and Reference staff will update digital content and course technology integration on campus learning management system

Operational Initiative #3: Relates to scholarly communications

Goal #1: Increase faculty copyright knowledge and researcher compliance with University Open Access policy and data management planning program

Objective #1: Each semester, CARIL will hold 2 general faculty and grad student sessions, and 10 department specific sessions, related to publishing models, campus OA, and data management


Objective #2: Each month, CARIL will focus on 4 Departments to reach 100% OA compliance through an increase in publishing in OA journals or, to inform authors about the campus initiatives to buy OA rights to articles published in traditional journals

Objective #3: Each month, CARIL will create 1 report related to new repository deposits, traffic, downloads, and promotions

Objective #4: Each semester, and during the summer, CARIL will have 2 meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing publishing-related needs

Objective #5: Each month, CARIL will produce 1 e-newsletter that is emailed to faculty and used on the website and in social media, 20 flyers to hang up in Departments, and an advertisement in the campus newspaper promoting program and technology resources

Goal #2: Increasing research output, impact, and visibility

Objective #1: Each semester, CARIL will hold 2 general faculty and grad student sessions, and 10 department specific sessions, related to publishing models, research assessment, campus OA, and data management and sharing

Objective #2: Each semester, CARIL will work with faculty to increase traditional and research-related faculty outputs by 50% YTD across all disciplines

Objective #3: Each semester, CARIL will work with faculty in STEM areas to increase by 25% the number of articles published in journals ranked in the top ten based on Impact Factor in the Journal Citation Report

Objective #4: Each month, CARIL will focus on 4 Department’s research programs and repository groups to promote via social media and on the campus website, with the goal of increasing general repository traffic by 10% YTD.

Objective #5: Each month, CARIL will create 1 report related to new research outputs, highly cited works, altmetrics, downloads, and repository traffic

Objective #6: Each semester, and during the summer, CARIL will have 2 meetings with representatives from all Departments to discuss ongoing publishing-related needs

Objective #7: Each month, CARIL will produce 1 e-newsletter that is emailed to faculty and used on the website and in social media, 20 flyers to hang up in Departments, and an advertisement in the campus newspaper promoting program and technology resources

Objective #8: Each semester, CARIL will publish at least 2 research articles and take part in at least 1 conference presentations, with the goal of increasing general repository traffic by 10% YTD


Objective #9: Each month, provide 1 faculty session related to the use of SciVal Pure and obtain 50% faculty usage by end of first semester

Strategic Initiative #1: Relates to information literacy:

Goal #1: Increase percentage of Information Literacy session delivered to first years to 75% of all programs offered at Evergreen University

Objective #1: In 5 years’ time, by fiscal year 2019, the desired increase to information literacy deliveries will be facilitated by CARIL librarians holding one meeting with program coordinators prior to each semester startup to remind, discuss, and schedule IL information sessions

Objective #2: A spreadsheet all of programs offered at Evergreen University will be created to track which programs in the past and currently incorporate information literacy sessions, allowing outreach specifically to the programs that have never included information literacy into the course curriculum with ideas for included library instruction into their subject matter

Objective #3: Continue to track each semester’s information literacy sessions using a similar spreadsheet to object #4 , this will allow CARIL librarians to measure and determine if the 5 year goal is on track to being met

Goal #2: In-house information literacy sessions

Objective #1: In one year, by 2015, hold 25 information literacy sessions in the CARIL office, with 10 session geared for professors, and 15 session geared for students

Objective #2: In 3 years, 2017, CARIL should have minimum of 10 students attending and 5 professors attending each month’s sessions and track attendees using a spreadsheet

Objective #3: In one year, 2015, well established marketing avenues will be established and utilized to promote in house information sessions. Sessions will be advertised in multiple ways, including, during in class sessions, using social media, using the CARIL website, asking Professors to plug the sessions on their classroom content management site. Students will be asked to disclose how they heard about the sessions upon attendance of the session to better understand which marketing tools are effective.

Goal #3: Embed information literacy assessment in course curriculum

Objective #1: In one year, by 2015, research into different information literacy assessments will be completed and a short list of five options will be selected for consideration

Objective #2: In two years, by 2016, CARIL will have determined the means for assessing information literacy skills for the different subject areas, and test the assessments on 3 programs


Objective #3: In five years, by 2019, CARIL will work together with program coordinators across the curriculum and incorporate one assignment in a core course in first and last year of the degree that assesses changes in students’ information literacy level

Strategic Initiative #2: Relates to technology adoption and instructional design

Goal #1: Provide information technology leadership at Evergreen University

Objective #1: Annually research and develop departmental strategies for adopting and funding emerging technologies.

Objective #2: By 2016, Facilitate sharing information technology resources across the university departments (including data, information, expertise, and technology) through the creation and dissemination of a campus wide running inventory of technology resources.

Objective #3: By 2017, establish a committee responsible for the interdepartmental coordination of planning, development and implementation of new information in technology resources.

Goal #2: Create troubleshooting tutorials for popular technology issues on campus

Objective #1: By 2016, identify top 10 frequent technology issues that challenge students and faculty through revising data collected through IT help desk , library help desk, and student/faculty surveys

Objective #2: By 2017, create 5 tutorial for the top 5 issues, post videos to youtube and embed them into CARIL’s libguide and track views using youtube's automatic tracker

Objective #3: By 2018, create remaining 5 tutorials and maintenance existing 5 tutorials based on changes to the technology or pathways, continue to track number of views, extend where videos are available by connecting with the First Year Experience office and having their website link to the tutorials

Goal #3: Create resource bank for instructional design material

Objective #1: Unify resources available to faculty for the purposes of program and course planning

Objective #2: Encourage faculty contributions to resource bank

Objective #3: Expand to online access to instruction design resources through digitization and OA repository

Strategic Initiative #3: Relates to scholarly communications

Goal #1: Increase faculty copyright knowledge and researcher compliance with University Open Access policy and data management planning program


Objective #1: Promote “gold OA” by setting aside $75,000 per year to pay for 100% of Evergreen University authors to publish in OA journals, or, to buy OA rights to articles published in traditional journals that may have embargo dates so they can be added to the University or public repositories. This also includes the allocation of $200,000 to purchase OA rights to all Evergreen publications from 1990 to 2014.

Objective #2: Promote “green OA” through the use of the campus repository, GreenResearch, for all research and research-related faculty outputs, and the use of the repository for gray literature, theses, and non-traditional student outputs. This also includes the ongoing deposit of student theses and the use of figshare to facilitate 100% compliance with the University and funder dataset and data sharing requirements.

Objective #3: Increase faculty attendance in Center programs relating to publishing models, author’s rights, and repository usage and reach 90% of faculty by Spring 2015 via discipline-specific programs in the Departments

Goal #2: Increasing research output, impact, and visibility

Objective #1: Increase traditional and research-related faculty outputs by 50% across all disciplines over 2 years and increase the average Impact Factor of journals publishing faculty articles by focusing on the top ten journals in Science and Social Science disciplines represented in the Journal Citation Report

Objective #2: Over 3 years, double user content downloads and traffic to the GreenResearch repository via marketing and conference presentations, as measured by repository-platform analytics and page views or webometrics.

Objective #3: Over 5 years, increase average overall/per paper/per author citation counts in Web of Science and Scopus databases, and altmetrics scores (provided by altemtric.com institutional license) for published research by 50%

Goal #3: Digitization in the Humanities initiative

Objective #1: Over 5 years, facilitate the creation of a student run, OA refereed journal for the Humanities hosted by Evergreen University and canvas external funding to subsidize its existence through 2025

Objective #2: Over 3 years, publish journal in the CARIL repository and achieve 120 annual circulation of publication

Objective #3: Over 5 years, build campus reputation by focusing specifically on increasing all facets of Humanities outputs and researcher engagement, digitization and preservation of Humanities content in various formats, and setting best practices for digitization initiatives and more current, open access to content.


Conclusion

Through Library and CARIL-related programs, Evergreen University will be well

positioned to meet the information related needs of internal and external stakeholders and

various user groups. As a result of the new Library building and technology/content acquisitions,

CARIL will be able to provide strategic programs for student and faculty success. While the

information seeking landscape is competitive, CARIL is supported by the campus community

(administration, staff, and students) as well as information related objectives of the University.

The CARIL competitive analysis and the results of the needs assessment reiterates the need for

user-focused outreach and promotional materials, the importance of entertaining and educational

programs, the importance of publicity opportunities and feedback to continued program efficacy,

as well as the overall viability of the CARIL mission related to information literacy.


References

Alexander, S., Black, W., & Vesper, V. (2004). Perceptions of the library: A key to planning

effective services. The Southeastern Librarian, 52(1), 5.

Cassady, Jerrell C. (2001). Self-reported GPA and SAT: a methodological note. Practical

Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(12). Retrieved from

http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=12

Coates, H. (2013). Exploring the disconnect between information literacy skills and self-

estimates of ability in first-year community college students. Evidence Based Library

and Information Practice, 8(2), 264-266.

Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management basics for information professionals.

New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc..

Housewright, R., Schonfeld, R.C., & Wulfson, K. (2013). Ithaka S+R US Faculty Survey

2012, Retrieved from: www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications

/us-faculty-survey-2012

Mahmood, K. (2013). Relationship of students' perceived information literacy skills

with personal and academic variables. Libri: International Journal of Libraries

& Information Services, 63(3), 232-239.

Mi, J., & Nesta, F. (2006). Marketing library services to the next generation. Library

Management, 27(6/7), 411-422. doi:10.1108/01435120610702404

Weiner, S. A., & Weiner, J. M. (2010). Using a student-generated survey to inform

planning for a user-focused learning commons. Education Libraries, 33(1),

10-23.

Nash White, L. (2009). Competition for library services [PowerPoint presentation]. Retrieved

from http://www.slideshare.net/lockmb/competition-for-library-services


Appendix A: Leadership Issues

Information literacy and instructional design programs - Campus information literacy programs and classroom instruction/technology usage has not been finalized for all classes or departments. While the Center has developed at least a generalized approach to all areas of study on campus, there are some "gaps" in program and resource development that will need to be addressed. The long-term strategic objectives address how this will be measured in terms of gradual rollout to the entire campus, but implications from the differences between programs could have unforeseen consequences in the early stages of implementation.

Advocacy - Although the Center's programs and services are new and coincide with the campus mandate, there is already a large amount of marketing to faculty and students on campus. This includes various committees or student groups, Department workshops, etc... While the communication channels are robust, the Center will need to develop affordable and creative ways to spread awareness of resources as part of initial outreach efforts. This requires the Center to be proactive in creating various types of value and value-added material for faculty and student users and working directly with faculty on promoting programs.

Facilitating Library collaboration - Some key Center functions are supported by staff in the Reference and Subject Specialists group and the Acquisitions and Electronic Resources group. While all core areas of the Center are managed and at least partially staffed by full time librarians, collaboration with Reference and Subject Specialists provides an opportunity to maximize student and faculty touch points to promote CARIL resources and providing additional support and needs-assessment functions. Additionally, Electronic Resources provides vendor and product related information and oversees the integration of new acquisitions into Library and campus systems. While we have buy-in for the proposed role of the Center and necessary role of these other groups, it is currently unknown how this scenario will play out in real time and how it will influence demands on staff time and other resources.

Campus data management plan and open-access policy - The campus OA policy and acceptance of the data management plan was passed by a majority (70%) of the Campus Senate and approved overwhelmingly by the Board. There are definitely some hold outs, though, especially in certain Social Science and Humanities disciplines. The initial project around filling the GreenResearch repository with previous years’ research outputs should go smoothly. However, even with a solution in place, the ongoing notification, harvesting, metadata management, and deposit workflows could be a challenge.

Faculty acceptance of new research initiatives - Though the research mandate was handed down by the University Administration, the Center could face Department- or discipline-specific backlash against the new research mandate. Not all programs are accepting of the new research-related requirements and working with them on enhancing research output and visibility throughout the process and within the requirements of their discipline could be a challenge.

Digitization in the Humanities - This is a new project and area of focus for the Library and the University in general. The objective is to increase research outputs, digitization and born digital content, and general access to content in the Humanities. The focus is on


growth and best practice development in this new endeavor but it certainly poses several interesting challenges for the Scholarly Communications group.

Appendix B: Resource and HR Analysis

CARIL’s physical location is on the second floor of the new Library building where they

house Center-specific technology (please see Appendix D for details about new CARIL learning

technology) and coordinate Library and campus programming related to scholarly

communications, information literacy, information technology and curriculum development. As

mentioned in several sections of the Plan, CARIL is managed by three senior Librarians who

oversee Center staff as well as coordinate the integration of other Library resources and inner-

Library collaboration.

As noted in Appendix A, some key Center functions are supported by staff in the

Reference and Subject Specialists group and the Acquisitions and Electronic Resources group.

While all core areas of the Center are managed and at least partially staffed by full time

librarians, collaboration with Reference and Subject Specialists provides an opportunity to

maximize student and faculty touch points to promote CARIL resources and providing additional

support and needs-assessment functions. Additionally, Electronic Resources provides vendor and

product related information and oversees the integration of new acquisitions into Library and

campus systems. While we have buy-in for the proposed role of the Center and necessary role of

these other groups, it is currently unknown how this scenario will play out in real time and how it

will influence demands on staff time and other resources. This section highlights some of the

potential staffing, expertise, and HR-related issues faced by CARIL.

Information Literacy: The Information Literacy team is made up of three full-time Librarians

and an average of fifteen student workers who staff and oversee the support center, provide


testing and tutoring services, and peer mentoring. They are also supported by the Electronic

Resources Librarian and the Reference and Subject Specialist teams.

o Outreacho Management and coordination of new student and at-risk student initiatives o Management, staffing, and training of student workers in tutoring and student

writing centerso Training and initial staffing to meet new program needs (e.g. large amount of

initial demand for CARIL)o Possible faculty collaboration and CARIL scheduling issues related to ongoing

design and maintenance of information literacy LibGuideso Staffing and resource needs for the creation and dissemination of educational

programs, training materials, and other user-focused help-related documentation to faculty and students

o Creation of learning and outcomes measures related to student information literacy and their impact on institutional assessment

Scholarly Communications: This team includes two full-time Scholarly Communications

Librarians who primarily work directly with the faculty to design and carry out programs

promoting CARIL resources and providing additional support and needs-assessment functions.

o Outreacho Ongoing staff training and development on contemporary issues related to

traditional and digital copyright, transcript licensing, and author’s rightso Development of reporting for assessment of campus publishing patterns and

research metrics o Issues associated with the management of the campus Open Access Policy and

faculty complianceo Ongoing faculty training related to SciVal Pure and use of the institutional

repositoryo Issues related to management of campus data management and planning project,

campus compliance with data-related funding requirements, and the impact (page views, downloads, webometrics) of the data repository

Information Technology & Instructional Design: Library IT services are made up of two

senior librarians, three junior librarians, and a student staff of 8.

o Outreacho Ongoing training of student staffo Scheduling of installation and maintenance of Library hardware and software,

including the testing and initial user documentation review for new information


technologieso Training and scheduling related to maintenance of Library classrooms and study

spaces and assisting staff and students with non-database/non-content related troubleshooting

o Scheduling, staffing, and training student workers related to installation and maintenance of Library user software

o Management of Library-related Help Desko Scheduling and staffing campus help and training sessionso Scheduling development of IT reporting

The ID team includes two full-time Instructional Design Librarians who work with the Reference

and Subject Specialist teams on promoting CARIL resources to the faculty and providing

additional support and needs-assessment functions.

o Outreacho Development of workflow mapping course requirements to digital content and

working with Reference to maintain LibGuideso Issues related to technology integration into all introductory level courses and for

use in more advanced courseso Scheduling content updates and conversion of syllabi and course materials to

learning management systemo Training faculty and students on learning management systemo Ongoing collaboration issues related to teaching faculty and timely

integration/updates for course reserveso Development of reporting related to instructional design measures and their

relationship to student outcomes assessment

Appendix C: User Analysis


Colorado. The Library supports user groups from across the campus community, including

approximately 400 full time and 150 part time faculty and 5,500 students (600 graduate students)

in Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD level programs in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts and

humanities. The Library is involved in two information-related goals linked to the University

strategic plan: increasing faculty research output, impact, and visibility, and, integrating learning

technology and information literacy in the classroom, especially related to STEM areas.


As a major initiative around this plan, the Center and its objectives have been

strategically placed and promoted and its services designed to meet the ongoing needs of the

University. As such, user attendance from all campus populations is expected to increase

dramatically in the coming year.

The average undergraduate student age is 20 and the average graduate student age is 26.

As a prestigious, private University the student population is engaged with their scholarship and

much of the Library’s programming and outreach is designed around reaching the new

generation of student users and how they access and interact with information services and

learning technologies. The Library provides reference and research assistance, the student

writing and tutoring center, access to print and digital indexing and full-text services, interlibrary

loan with other regional campuses, gaming consoles, e-readers for rent, computing and printing,

group work rooms, and study areas for the campus community.

As Mi and Nesta (2006) point out, as Library users the Net Generation (or Generation Y,

who are now entering higher education) is a generation of digital learners and this dramatically

shapes their information seeking behaviors, expectations, and learning styles. As a user group,

CARIL has to be aware that this generation prefers to use search engines to start most research

endeavors, they think non-linearly, are visual learners who see text as supporting visual material,

and they demand quick information-seeking gratification (Mi & Nesta, 2006, p. 416). Their

expectation for speed and convenience cannot be overemphasized.

The average faculty age is 51 but this is decreasing each year as a growing number of

senior faculty retire and are replaced with junior- and mid-career-aged academics. Evergreen

faculty have both teaching and research objectives in their annual and promotion and tenure

reviews. CARIL is designated as the home for faculty and graduate student publication and


research support and copyright management, campus research assessment, the institutional

repository, instructional design and evaluation, information technology, and programs related to

information literacy, and student outcomes.

Essentially, the program areas of CARIL and its strategic focus in relation to campus

goals makes it an epicenter for various activities and an obvious need/choice for information for

faculty and students. In many ways, this is an extension of the traditionally well-utilized,

research-related Library functions at Evergreen University. The addition of new technologies and

programs and the inclusion of technology in new aspects of both recreation and learning is in-

line with faculty, student, Library, and campus needs and strategic priorities.

Appendix D: New Technology Products and Services Analysis




Appendix E: Administering Needs Assessment Tool

For the student survey, a prize, the chance to win one of five iPads, was used as incentive

to encourage survey completion. Whereas, the university mandated that a minimum of 50% of

faculty were required to respond and it was left to the discretion of the department heads to

determine how that percentage would be achieved.

The email that administered the surveys was specially created for the needs assessment

and also acted as a means for faculty and students to report problems, provide

comments/questions, or requesting an alternate paper version of the survey.

Faculty and students had a two-week period of time to submit their responses. During

that two-week period, CARIL sent one reminder email and actively advertised the survey via the


library social media and the televisions located around campus that displays important

announcements.

Survey responses were automatically submitted to SurveyMonkey™ that allowed CARIL

to log in and see the number of participants viewing the survey; the number of surveys

completed each day, and the breakdown of respondents (student, faculty, etc.). Final responses

with summary data and charts were made available to the entire campus and were reported to the

Board.

In the situation where interviews are used to collect additional, post survey data, the

following plan will be adhered to for administration of thiss component of the needs assessment

tool:

One-on-one interviews are conducted with faculty members and students Participating faculty members are nominated and invited by LTS staff members, and

students are invited via survey intercepts or by referral Interviews are scheduled at the convenience of participants and are held in the Dubois

Room of CARIL or in a faculty member’s office Interview participants are asked to sign an Informed Consent form before the interview

began. The consent form explains the purpose and intended outcomes of the research study. The participant’s signatures indicate that they give the research team permission to videotape or photograph the interview, permission to use portions of the interview in presentations or publications and also indicated that they were in agreement with the interview process.

Interviews will follow a prepared discussion guide and will be documented with handwritten notes and videotape


Appendix F: Sample of needs assessment instruments







Appendix G: Needs Assessment Results

Faculty Survey Results





Appendix H: Needs Assessment Results

Student Survey Results





Author Note

Evergreen University, the McDailin-Dubois Library, and the Center for Academic

Research and Information Literacy (CARIL) are all fictional organizations created by the authors

for the purposes of this report. Except where noted or cited, any relation to other academic

institutions or library-related organizations, and their activities, is simply an indication of the

author’s creativity and thoughtfulness in developing this project.

Method of Developing a Needs Assessment Tool and Interpreting Survey Results

There are a number of ways to carry out a needs assessment excercies. For example,

institutions can conduct user group or stakeholder interviews and hold focus groups to determine

the needs of the people they serve. Utilizing the correct assessment tool is an important aspect of

gathering sufficient feedback and accurately determining needs. Therefore, in the case of

Evergreen University and specifically the development of the new library department CARIL,

the decision to use an online survey allowed the center to reach a larger population of students

and faculty in a timely and manageable manner. Not to say a survey is the best option, however

in CARIL’s situation, it was the option that worked best.

In creating this survey we consulted the literature regarding library planning and surveys.

In such, we discovered a wonderful tool for the construction of an evaluation instrument.

Research by Alexander, Black, Field and Vespe (2004) suggests ten points to consider when

creating tools such as a survey. The following items were the suggestions CARIL took into

account when creating our faculty and student survey to assess their needs:

Table 3: Construction of the Evaluation Instrument - Points to Consider 1. Know what is being measured. Focus on activities or services that can be measured.2. Don't just measure: improve. Use the results to make service more effective.3. Be specific. Make sure that questions are targeted. Ask, "How will I be able torespond when I review answers to this question?"4. Be concise. 5. Neutrality. Use unbiased questions. Avoid a negative or leading point of view.


6. Communicate. Let respondents know the outcome of the survey and steps that havebeen taken to address problems.7. Develop a method for review and implementation. Create a schedule toensure that survey results are not simply filed. Nothing haunts a new survey likeinaction from a former one.8. Plan. Allow adequate time for planning, pre-testing, and conducting the survey, and assessing the results.9. Do not take survey results personally. The goal should be to offer relevant and efficient services. Keep the focus where it belongs.10. Do not dismiss results. Honor the validity of each response. (Alexander, Black, Field, & Vespe, 2004, p. 12)

Furthermore, the LibQual survey created by Alexander, Black, Field, and Vespe (2004) was

organized into four key areas (p. 11). This structure provided the perfect example for the CARIL

survey as our interests are also focused on four areas: information literacy, scholarly

communications, technology adoption, and instructional design.

If necessary, post survey interviews will be conducted with faculty and students to

garnish additional qualitative data.

Faculty Survey Results

After two weeks of circulation via email, CARIL received a total of 285 faculty survey

responses. The successful number of responses to the survey were largely a result of the

University mandate that a minimum of 50% of faculty were required to respond. The response

rate varied by both faculty status and by discipline. Based on the reported disciplinary

affiliations, the respondent status and population broke down as follows:


The responses we received tended well represented in the area of humanities and

somewhat under-represented in the sciences, in comparison to their equal prevalence of these

fields in the overall Evergreen population. Further considerations will need to be made to ensure

the voice of the Science department is heard. Follow up with the science faculty will be

undertaken in the form of interviews.


Throughout the survey, responses to questions were based on a five point likert scale. The

ranges given to faculty for responding asked about importance, agreement, and use. We

segmented responses as strong negative responses (1), neutral responses (2-4), and strong

positive responses (5).

Qualitative data was collected in the form of an open-ended question. Because this field

was mandatory to answer in order to submit the survey, we received comments from 100% of the

respondents.

Information Literacy

As CARIL is particularly focused on increasing students’ development of here

“information literacy” skills to find, evaluate, and make effective use of information, and

therefore we were interested to understand faculty attitudes towards the librarian’s role in

providing students with research and critical thinking support. Survey results found indicated

that students often lack the necessary information literacy skills (see appendix A, question #3). A

strong majority of faculty placed high importance on both the use of in class and in library

information literacy sessions (see appendix A, question #4). Furthermore, some respondents

offered suggestions in the open-ended question about how they would partner with the library to

improve the information literacy skills of their students. Post survey interviews will be used to

gather additional ideas to address information literacy skills.

Although faculty placed high importance on their responsibility to develop the research

skills of their students, respondents did place a high importance on the inclusion of information

literacy sessions. Therefore, CARIL librarians will need to work on engaging with faculty so

they understand that information literacy sessions increase the library’s role in teaching

information literacy skills and are meant to support/supplement research skills taught by the

faculty.


Scholarly communications

As an increasing research output has become a major focus of Evergreen University,

CARIL is undertaking responsibility to improve this area of academia. In such, Faculty were

asked about the library’s role in their research process. An overwhelming majority answered the

library was very important in increasing productivity, being a gateway for locating information,

serving as a repository, and a central place for copyright (see appendix A, question 5).

Furthermore, the majority of respondents placed high importance on the use of open access to

their research (see appendix A, question 6). The feedback pertaining to scholarly

communications was excellent data for CARIL as the center is focused on creating ways to

increase faculty outputs and provide better organization and access to research outputs and

materials. Specifically, faculty appears to be looking for an affordable and accessible way to

preserve their research and output. The majority of faculty would be use repository service if

available at the university (see appendix A, question 7). This interest in a repository creates an

opportunity for CARIL to preserve and better organize/track the research that is taking place at

Evergreen University; supporting the institutional goals laid out in the current strategic plan.

Technology Adoption

Improving and supporting the technology on campus is also an area CARIL has

undertaken. CARIL librarians wish to encourage faculty to include technology into their

curriculum and research. In doing so, it is crucial for us to determine how the center can support

faculty to facilitate and advance technology adoption. Respondents overwhelming displayed

their need for assistance with being informed about how to include technology in the classroom,

providing troubleshooting services, and technical support for digital research methodologies (see


appendix A, question 8). As such, CARIL will be looking at new ways the library can assist,

support and educate faculty with technology adoption.

Instructional design

To ensure faculty would benefit from addressing instructional design resources and

assistance, we addressed a few areas concerning the library’s role in this matter. Faculty were

asked to attribute the level of importance the library served in supporting teaching activities,

providing pedagogical resources, and articulating assessments of learning outcomes. Again, the

majority of respondents replied these services were very important (see appendix A, question 9).

These responses support the faculty’s willingness to include information literacy sessions in the

classroom setting. However, currently there is a short coming in the assessment aspect of the

library’s role and steps will be taken to further evaluate how the library can boost it’s assistance

in this area. Overall, the faculty appeared to place importance on the library’s assistance with

making the acquisition of knowledge more efficient, effective, and appealing.

Student Survey Results

After two weeks of circulation via email, CARIL received a total of 2260 student survey

responses. Respondents were asked a variety of demographic questions; allowing us to determine

40% of undergraduate students responded and 50% of graduate students responded to the survey.

The average age of undergraduate students were 19 and graduate students 23. The successful

number of responses to the survey may largely be due to the incentive prizes associated with

submitting a completed survey; a draw to win one of five Apple iPads.

In addition to year of study, students reported on their departmental affiliation as well as

academic performance. The responses broke down as follows:


24

2822

26

Percentage of student respondents by discipline

ArtsHumanitiesSciencesSocial Sciences

35

30

25

10

Reported academic performance, percentage

In the A- to A+ rangeIn the B- to B+ rangeIn the C- to C+ rangeIn the F to D+ range

Unlike the faculty responses, there was a better representation of the different departments at

Evergreen University. Specifically, the number of responses received from science students was

on par and humanities had a slightly higher completion numbers than all other departments.

As for the typical academic performance of students, we found the data to be slightly inflated.

Cassady in his research regarding self-reported GPA notes, “The analyses of accuracy in self-

reported GPA revealed that the bottom 25% of students provided estimates that were


significantly less accurate than each of the remaining quartile groups” (Cassady, 2001, no page).

Therefore, if CARIL decides GPA is important for understanding needs, further considerations

will need to be made to ensure the correct GPAs are represented.

Throughout the survey, a variety of question types were used including a ranking question, and

multiple-choice questions. There were also several questions based on a five point likert scale.

The ranges given to students for responding asked about comfort level and use. We segmented

responses as strong negative responses (1), neutral responses (2-4), and strong positive responses

(5). Qualitative data was collected in the form of an open-ended “other, please specify”. If

additional qualitative data is deem necessary, post survey interviews with students may be

completed.

Information literacy

As expected, the vast majority of students reported feeling very comfortable with basic

computer functions, including using Internet search engines and accessing university email (see

appendix b, question 5). However, we were surprised to see students, especially freshmen and

sophomores, reporting such high level of comfort with more in depth information skills, such as

using online databases and full text journals (see appendix b, question 5). However, research by

Gross & Latham (2012) reveals “a significant disconnect between students’ perceptions of their

information literacy skills and their actual performance” (Coates, 265). Therefore, students’

comfort level, especially of first and second year students, may be reported as high but in

actuality their performance in demonstrating information literacy skills may not be. Information

literacy assessments should be made in order to understand the level of Evergreen University

students IL knowledge. As expected, students did not seem to feel as comfortable with citation


and copyright, which CARIL will address with different programs and services (see appendix b,

question 5).

Technology

Today it is assumed that technology use is second nature for younger generations. And

this may be true, however, CARIL wants to harness to power of technology and see how it can

positively impact our students and their academic success. We were able to determine that a

higher number of students used their own personal technology daily than using university

computers on a daily basis (see appendix b, question 6). This made sense that the vast majority

of students reported needing charging capabilities for their devices daily (see appendix b,

question 6). CARIL will be investigating secure ways to provide students with the ability to

charge a wide variety of computing and mobile devices in the library.

Furthermore, respondents reported learning best from personal devices such as iPads and

collaborative technologies such as Promethean boards (see appendix b, question 7). Although

the highest number of students reported learning best from traditional technologies such as

“professor using computer and projector”, it was interesting to see personal and collaborative

technologies were very close behind and may soon over take the traditional use of technology in

the learning environment (see appendix b, question 7). Likewise, students would like better

access to the technologies they reported learning best from (see appendix b, question 8). CARIL

will be exploring ways to provide access to technologies such as Promethean boards and iPads,

potentially placing these items in maker spaces or collaborative study rooms.

For students to step outside their technology comfort zones, and incorporate new

technologies into their repertoire, it was clear support was a very important factor in convincing

students to incorporate new technology into their learning experiences (see appendix b, question


9). However, respondents did place high importance on other conditions that would influence

their decision such as faculty use, and technology being provided by the university. Therefore,

CARIL will be working to engage faculty in technology adoption as it may positively impact

students’ adoption of technology. Likewise, CARIL will be working with the larger University

administration to discuss the opportunity to provide students with an iPad upon starting their

studies at Evergreen University.

Documents

s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com · Web viewdefined by specific spheres of accountability with an established hierarchy of roles, proper ownership of production, appropriation, and recording