Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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E-Journal Metrics for Collection Management: Exploring Disciplinary Usage Differences in Scopus and Web of Science
No full textObjective – The purpose was to determine whether a relationship exists between journal downloads and either faculty authoring venue or citations to these faculty, or whether a relationship exists between journal rankings and local authoring venues or citations. A related purpose was to determine if any such relationship varied between or within disciplines. A final purpose was to determine if specific tools for ranking journals or indexing authorship and citation were demonstrably better than alternatives.
Methods – Multiple years of journal usage, ranking, and citation data for twelve disciplines were combined in Excel, and the strength of relationships were determined using rank correlation coefficients.
Results – The results illustrated marked disciplinary variation as to the degree that faculty decisions to download a journal article can be used as a proxy to predict which journals they will publish in or which journals will cite faculty’s work. While journal access requests show moderate to strong relationships with the journals in which faculty publish, as well as journals whose articles cite local faculty, the data suggest that Scopus may be the better resource to find such information for these journals in the health sciences and Web of Science may be the better resource for all other disciplines analyzed. The same can be said for the ability of external ranking mechanisms to predict faculty publishing behaviours. Eigenfactor is more predictive for both authoring and citing-by-others across most of the representative disciplines in the social sciences as well as the physical and natural sciences. With the health sciences, no clear pattern emerges.
Conclusion – Collecting and correlating authorship and citation data allows patterns of use to emerge, resulting in a more accurate picture of use activity than the commonly used cost-per-use method. To find the best information on authoring activity by local faculty for subscribed journals, use Scopus. To find the best information on citing activity by faculty peers for subscribed titles use Thomson Reuters’ customized Local Journal Use Reports (LJUR), or limit a Web of Science search to local institution. The Eigenfactor and SNIP journal quality metrics results can better inform selection decisions, and are publicly available. Given the trend toward more centralized collection development, it is still critical to obtain liaison input no matter what datasets are used for decision making. This evidence of value can be used to defend any local library “tax” that academic departments pay as well as promote services to help faculty demonstrate their research impact
Exploring the Complexity of Student Learning Outcome Assessment Practices Across Multiple Libraries
No full textObjectives – The purpose of this collaborative qualitative research project, initiated by the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), was to explore how librarians were involved in the designing, implementing, assessing, and disseminating student learning outcomes (SLOs) in GWLA member academic libraries. The original objective of the research was to identify library evaluation/assessment practices at the different libraries to share and discuss by consortia members at a GWLA-sponsored Student Learning Assessment Symposium in 2013. However, findings raised new questions and areas to explore beyond student learning assessment, and additional research was continued by two of the GWLA collaborators after the Symposium. The purpose of this second phase of research was to explore the intersection of library and institutional contexts and academic library assessment practices.
Methods – This qualitative research study involved a survey of librarians at 23 GWLA member libraries, about student learning assessment practices at their institutions. Twenty follow-up interviews were also conducted to further describe and detail the assessment practices identified in the survey. Librarians with expertise in library instruction, assessment, and evaluation, either volunteered or were designated by their Dean or Director, to respond to the survey and participate in the interviews. Interview data were analyzed by seven librarians, across six different GWLA libraries, using constant comparison methods (Strauss & Corbin, 2014). Emerging themes were used to plan a GWLA member Symposium. Based on unexpected findings, after the Symposium, two GWLA researchers continued the analysis using a grounded theory methodology to re-examine the data and uncover categorical relationships and conceptual coding, and to explore data alignment to theoretical possibilities.
Results – Seventeen categories and five themes emerged from the interview data and were used to create a 3-part framework for describing and explaining library SLO assessment practices. The themes were used to plan the GWLA Assessment Symposium. Through additional qualitative grounded theory data analysis, researchers also identified a core variable, and data were re-evaluated to verify an alignment to Engeström’s Activity and Expansion Theories (Engeström, 2001, 2004).
Conclusions – The findings of this multi-phased qualitative study discovered how contextual, structural, and organizational factors can influence how libraries interact and communicate with college departments, and the larger institution about student learning outcomes and assessment. Viewing library and campus interaction through the activity theory lens can demonstrate how particular factors might influence library collaboration and interaction on campuses. Institutional contexts and cultures, campus-wide academic priorities, leadership at the library level, and changing roles of librarians were all themes that emerged from this study that are important factors to consider when planning the design, implementation, assessment and dissemination of library SLOs
The Role of Student Advisory Boards in Assessment
No full textObjective – The objective for this commentary article is to assess and communicate the development, logistics, and overall value of student advisory boards for the libraries at three large research institutions.
Methods – The methods for developing and operating an advisory board vary between schools; however they share common approaches that could be viewed as "best practices" for sustainable and productive student advisory boards.
Results – Our commentary aims to inspire libraries to invest in this value-added approach as part of a robust portfolio of assessment tools. The various practices outlined in the commentary could be helpful to librarians who seek to begin or further develop a student advisory board.
Conclusion – The unique relationship fostered by the advisory board enables libraries to use direct student feedback to confirm what is learned from surveys, focus groups, and observations. A strategic relationship with a student board can enable librarians to refine methods of obtaining information, or it can cause us to view information we have collected in a different way
Medical School Librarians Need More Training to Support their Involvement in Evidence Based Medicine Curricula
No full textObjective – To describe the self-perceived role of librarians in developing evidence based medicine (EBM) curricula and identify their current and desired level of training to support these activities.
Design – Multi-institutional qualitative study.
Setting – Nine medical schools in Canada and the United States of America.
Subjects – Nine librarians identified by medical school faculty as central to the provision of EBM training for medical students at their institution.
Methods – The researchers designed a semi-structured interview schedule based on a review of the literature and their own experiences as librarians teaching EBM. The topics covered were; librarians’ perceptions of their roles in relation to the curriculum, the training required to enable them to undertake these roles, and their professional development needs. The interviews were conducted by telephone and then audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The authors present five main themes; curricular design, curricular deployment, curricular assessment, educational training, and professional development. Profiles were developed for each participant based on the latter two themes and from this information common characteristics were identified.
Main Results – The participants described the importance of collaboration with faculty and student bodies when designing a curriculum. Information literacy instruction and specifically literature searching and forming a research question were taught by all of the participants to facilitate curricular deployment. Some of the librarians were involved or partly involved in curricular assessment activities such as formulating exam questions or providing feedback on assignments. Educational training of participants varied from informal observation to formal workshops offered by higher education institutions. All librarians indicated a willingness to partake in professional development focused on teaching and EBM.
The subjects’ perceptions of their roles are supported by Dorsch and Perry’s themes of the librarian’s role in curricular design, deployment, and assessment. The educational training received by participants included formal training and experiential and self-directed learning activities.
Finally, the librarians identified their professional development needs going forward. The majority of participants indicated that they would like to attend workshops run by universities or the Medical Library Association. Others wanted to invite and host guest speakers at their own institutions. Librarians identified financial restraints and geographic location as barriers to attending professional development events.
Conclusion – Librarians can be actively involved in the delivery of EBM instruction in medical schools. However, they require additional educational opportunities to enable them to develop in this role. Online training could be a viable option for self-directed learning to overcome financial and geographic constraints
Both Online and In-Person Library Orientations Have Positive Effects on Graduate Students’ Information Literacy Skills
No full textObjective – To assess and compare the effectiveness of online and face-to-face library orientations.
Design – Pretest/posttest.
Setting – A public university in the United States of America.
Subjects – Graduate students in a Master of Social Work program.
Methods – At the beginning of the fall 2013 semester, students in 3 different sections of a social work research methods course were asked to complete a 17-question assessment to evaluate their information literacy skills and knowledge. Then, 1 section (Campus A) received a 50-minute in-class library orientation from a librarian, while the other 2 sections (Campus B and Off Campus) received orientation through asynchronous online video tutorials.
Post library orientation, research labs were then held for all three class sections, during which students received some hands-on time working with a librarian. After the hands-on labs, students were invited to complete the posttest assessment, which consisted of the same 17 questions.
Main Results – The researcher collected 59 pre-test and 27 posttest responses, although many respondents did not answer all the questions. Moreover, none of the posttest responses from the Off Campus students was deemed usable by the researcher.
After attending the library orientation and lab sessions, students were more likely to choose the library or a librarian as their starting point for research (19% pretest, 40% posttest). Students’ ability to identify book or chapter title in a citation (48% pretest, 92% posttest), and determine whether common knowledge required citations (87% correct in pre-test, 100% posttest) also appeared to improve after the library sessions. In addition, students’ skills in assessing the scholarliness and credibility of an article by its abstract also improved. While there were some anecdotal variations between responses between Campus A and Campus B groups, no statistically significant differences were noted.
Conclusion – The study results suggest that regardless of format, library orientations and hands on lab session had positive effects on graduate students’ information literacy skills and knowledge
