Departmental/Committee Assessment Activities

Collection Development Department:
In order to make better purchasing decisions, in Fall 2002 Collection Development Department collected surveys from Social Sciences & Humanities faculty members. Surveys focused on faculty use of and preferences for various categories of information. Initial results of the data analysis are available. Contact: Nan McMurry.

InterLibrary Loan Department:
The InterLibrary Loan Department is currently participating in ARL's Assessing IL/DD Services project, which is part of ARL's New Measures Initiative. Contact: Susan Morris.

Reference Services:
Learning Outcomes: Amy Watts, Diana Hartle, and Deb Raftus, instruction coordinators for the Main Library, Science Library and Student Learning Center, recently presented students' results from the WebCT-based quiz used by instruction librarians to assess learning outcomes. This quiz is used in introductory level classes to gauge the effectiveness of instruction and to reinforce concepts covered in the library instruction class. The presentation entitled The Evolution of Instruction Assessment: the UGA Perspective is available online at http://www.libs.uga.edu/presentations/webctquiz. Contact: Diana Hartle.

Formerly employed in Science Reference, Erin Smith assessed and evaluated "the role electronic journals currently play in faculty's weekly scholarly reading habits. Survey results indicated that electronic access to journalsparticularly library-funded accessis integral to research activities, with the vast majority of respondents reporting they read at least one article from an electronic source every week" (Smith, 2003, p. 162). Her article can be found at:

Smith, E. T. (2003). Changes in faculty reading behaviors: the impact of electronic journals on the University of Georgia. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29, 162-168. Retrieved June 10, 2003, from EBSCOhost Electronic Journals Service.

Student Learning Center (SLC):
Beginning in spring 2004 and continuing on an annual basis, librarians at the Student Learning Center have been distributing short student surveys and hosting focus groups to gather information on demographics and building use. The early surveys specifically solicited demographic information, such as academic majors, academic status, etc., while information from focus groups helped to assess student use of the building and their awareness of SLC services. In April 2008, the survey expanded to include both demographic information and questions to measure student awareness of SLC services and their marketing preferences for these services. Click on a year below to see the final assessment report for that year. Contact: Susan Curtis.

Web Advisory Group (WAG):
Currently, a subgroup of the Web Advisory Group (WAG) is pursing three surveys over the next few months: the general Libraries homepage survey, GIL express survey, and an ILLIAD survey. Contact: Deborah Stanley.

The Web Advisory Group (WAG) recently released the December and January 2005 Libraries' web site statistics. WAG also compiled quarterly statistics for Fall 2004 which include the web browsers used to access our homepage, the top search engines folks use to find us, and the top 50 search phrases used to find our site from these external search engines. You can see a complete listing of these statistics by visiting the UGA Web Site Statistics page. Contact: Deborah Stanley.

In the Fall 2003, a subgroup of the Web Advisory Group (WAG) executed usability studies to determine the efficacy of the UGA Libraries and Student Learning Center websites. The full report is now available. Contact: Deborah Stanley.

 

Forum & Workshops

Sue Achteimeier the Assistant Director from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness addressed the UGA Libraries about effective assessment procedures and the Libraries' role in accreditation. The forum took place on Monday, June 9, 2003 in the Russell Auditorium. Her PowerPoint presentation is available for viewing.

 

Libraries-Wide Assessment

LibQUAL+™ :

The UGA Libraries participated in LibQUAL+™ during the Spring Semester of 2004 . This survey, developed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), is used to assess and improve services in libraries throughout the world. Contact: Caroline Killens.

UGA's results are available for public viewing:

• View ARL's full LibQUAL+™ report for UGA
• View a summary of comments from UGA survey participants
• View all comments from UGA survey participants

Compensation and Job Satisfaction Surveys:

- Library Associates and Assistants Survey

In August of 2005, the UGA Applied Industrial Psychology Consulting Team, under the guidance of Dr. Lillian T. Eby, partnered with the UGA Libraries to conduct a service learning project to address the Library's concerns regarding salary compression and it's impact on Library Associates and Assistants.

The Consulting Team who conducted the project, Starr Daniell and Carrie McCleese, presented their findings to the Libraries in December 2005. The following documents were used in their presentation:

• View the PowerPoint Presentation for UGA Libraries
• View the Handout from the Presentation
• View the Service Learning Project Final Document

- Library Faculty Survey

As a follow-up to the Libraries Associates and Assistants survey concerning salary compression and job satisfaction, a similar survey was conducted for our Library Faculty members in Spring, 2006, to determine their views and perspectives.

A four-member team consisting of Suzanne Graham, Coordinator, Florence King, Caroline Killens, and Nan McMurry compiled and administered an electronic survey between March 29-April 10, 2006, and presented their findings to the Libraries on July 13, 2006. The following documents were used in this presentation:

• View the Library Faculty Survey PowerPoint Presentation
• View the Survey Results Document
• View the comparative responses of Librarian I's and II's to Librarian III's and IV's
• View the responses of Department Heads vs. Non-Department Heads
• Summary of Survey Comments

Creating a Marketing Plan for Your Academic and Research Library
ACRL / ALA pre-conference workshop, San Antonio, Texas
Friday, January 20, 2006, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Attended by Suzanne Graham, UGA Libraries, Cataloging Department

This workshop was designed to illustrate how a library can develop its own marketing plan. A marketing outline as well as the steps and exercises needed in creating and implementing a marketing plan were presented to participants, who in turn will return to their own libraries and share this information with others in their institution.

Suzanne Graham presented a de-briefing of this workshop to the Assessment committee and others from key public service areas in the Libraries on February 13, 2006. She stepped us through a brief overview of the workshop concepts and a few of the workshop excercises to give everyone a feel for what is involved in "marketing". You can link to the powerpoint presentation of the workshop here or contact Suzanne Graham for additional information and other related materials.

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Last update: July 23, 2008 Comments to: Susan Morris Copyright © University of Georgia. All rights reserved. URL=http://dataserv.libs.uga.edu/assessment/activities.html