Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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A Mixed Methods Approach to Assessing Roaming Reference Services
No full textAbstract
Objective – The objectives of this research are threefold: a) to assess the students’ perception of the roaming service at the point of service; b) to assess the librarians’ perception of the service; and, c) to solicit librarian feedback and observations on their roaming experience and perceived user reactions. Ultimately, this data was used to inform and identify best practices for the improvement of the roaming service.
Methods – A combination of quantitative and qualitative survey methodologies were used to collect data regarding patron and librarian service perceptions. Patrons and librarians were asked to complete a survey at the conclusion of each reference transaction. In addition at the end of the first semester of the implementation, librarians were asked to provide feedback on the overall program by responding to five open-ended questions.
Results – The findings indicate that our students typically seek assistance from the librarians once a term (58%), but the majority (71%) indicated that they would seek a librarian’s assistance more frequently, if one were available on the various floors of the library. Overall, our users indicated that they were “Satisfied” (36%) to “Very Satisfied” (43%) with the roaming service. Librarian responses indicate overall enthusiasm and positive feelings about the program, but cautioned that additional enhancements are needed to ensure the continued development and effectiveness of the service.
Conclusion – Overall, patrons were satisfied with the service delivered by the roaming reference librarian. The roaming librarians also provided positive feedback regarding the delivery of service. Data collected from both groups is also in agreement on two major program aspects needing improvement: marketing of the service and a means by which to easily identify the roaming librarian
Use of ESBCO Discovery Tool at One University Reveals Increased Use of Electronic Collections but Decreased Use in Circulation of Print Collections
No full textA Review of:
Calvert, K. (2015). Maximizing academic library collections: Measuring changes in use patterns owing to EBSCO Discovery Service. College & Research Libraries, 76(1), 81-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.76.1.81
Objective – To find out what the effects of a discovery tool are in relation to usage of print and electronic library collections, and with the aim to measure the effects in three specific areas: circulation numbers, use of electronic resources, and interlibrary loan requests.
Design – Comparative quantitative analysis of usage statistics and data sets.
Setting – A regional comprehensive university in the United States of America.
Subjects – Usage data from a university library.
Methods – The methods used were informed by three hypotheses stated at the beginning of the study. First, an analysis of usage data of e-resources tested the hypothesis that the introduction of a discovery tool would increase use of e-resources. Second, to test whether the use of print collections increased, circulation statistics including items borrowed via consortia and in-house use statistics were measured. Finally, interlibrary loan statistics from 2010 to 2013 were collated to test if the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) led to a decrease in interlibrary loan requests.
Main Results – The introduction of the EBSCO discovery tool resulted in increased use of EBSCOhost and other databases at the library in question. However, the library\u27s circulation statistics decreased, with a drop of 28% of checkouts compared to the previous year. The drop is more pronounced with undergraduates, who checked out 39% fewer items after the EDS was introduced. There was a 30% decrease in requests for borrowing items from a consortia. There was insufficient data to support or refute the third hypothesis.
Conclusion – The implementation of a discovery tool at one library has had both postive and negative outcomes. An increase in the use of electronic collections was observed as a positive outcome, whereas a decrease in the use of print collections was a negative outcome. Due to the findings of the study, the library revised its policy on content inclusion to the EDS. Any new content is now screened for suitability before it is included. As a changing student demographic evolves at the library, with an increase in distance and online learners, the library will grow its collection in line with their needs. The author notes that a further study is needed to examine ebook usage, and recommends that the library consider a move towards ebooks for al
Conceptualizing Practical Aspects of Public Library Initiatives Provides a Useful Model for Future Research
No full textA Review of:
Sung, H. Y., Hepworth, M., & Ragsdell, G. (2013). Investigating essential elements of community engagement in public libraries: An exploratory qualitative study. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 45(3), 206-218. doi: 10.1177/0961000612448205
Objective – To examine characteristics of a community engagement (CE) initiative in a public library in order to identify and describe essential elements of CE and develop a model for CE in public libraries.
Design – Case study.
Setting – A public library in a mid-sized city in England, United Kingdom.
Subjects – An unspecified number of community members, library staff, and external agency staff participating in a community news program.
Methods – There were 12 semi-structured interviews conducted with library staff, community members, and participants from 12 community news agencies operating under the umbrella of a larger community news organization. The authors directly observed an unknown number of undescribed program meetings and events. They also performed document analysis on unspecified government policies, media reports, and program publications to corroborate the information gathered from their interviews and observations.
Main Results – The data were analyzed in an inductive manner using ATLAS qualitative data analysis software. Results are described in a qualitative manner and do not correspond directly to the individual methods used. The coding of data from interviews and observations (which are not analyzed separately) resulted in the identification of seven themes related to community engagement in libraries: belonging, commitment, communication, flexibility, genuineness, relevance, and sustainability.
Conclusion – The “essential elements” model that was developed from this case study can be applied by other public libraries in their processes and practices, and can contribute to the creation of a more genuinely community-driven approach to service
A Systematic Review of Librarian-Provided Services Delivered in Healthcare Settings Finds a Positive Effect on Clinician and Patient Relevant Outcomes and Identifies Gaps in the Evidence
No full textA Review of:
Perrier, L., Farrell, A., Ayala, A. P., Lightfoot, D., Kenny, T., Aaronson, E., . . . Weiss, A. ( 2014). Effects of librarian-provided services in healthcare settings: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(6), 1118-1124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002825
Abstract
Objective – To assess the effects of librarian-provided services, in any healthcare setting, on outcomes important to patients, healthcare providers, and researchers.
Design – Systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Setting – MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, LISA, and CENTRAL databases; library-related websites, conference proceedings, and reference lists of included studies.
Subjects – Twenty-five studies identified through a systematic literature search.
Methods – In consultation with the review team, a librarian designed a search to be run in MEDLINE that was peer-reviewed against a published checklist. The team then conducted searches in the five identified databases, adapting the search as appropriate for each database. Authors also checked the websites of library and evidence based healthcare organisations, along with abstracts of relevant conference proceedings, to supplement the electronic search. Two authors screened the literature search results for eligible studies, and reached agreement by consensus. Studies of any librarian-delivered service in a healthcare setting, directed at either patients, clinicians of any type, researchers, or students, along with studies reporting outcomes relevant to clinicians, patients, or researchers, were eligible for inclusion. The authors assessed results initially on the titles and abstracts, and then on the full-text of potentially relevant reports. The data from included studies were then extracted into a piloted data extraction form, and each study was assessed for quality using the Cochrane EPOC risk of bias tool or the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The results were synthesised narratively.
Main Results – The searches retrieved a total of 25 studies that met the inclusion criteria, comprised of 22 primary papers and 3 companion reports. Authors identified 12 randomised trials, 4 controlled before-and-after studies, 3 cohorts, 2 non-randomised trials, and 1 case-control study. They identified three main categories of intervention: librarians teaching search skills; providing literature searching as a service; and a combination of the teaching and provision of search services. The interventions were delivered to a mix of trainees, clinicians, and students. None of the studies examined services delivered directly to patients or to researchers. The quality assessment found most of the studies had a mid- to high-risk of bias due to factors such as lack of random sequence generation, a lack of validated tools for data collection, or a lack of statistical analysis included in the study.
Two studies measured patient relevant outcomes and reported that searches provided by librarians to clinicians had a positive impact on the patient’s length of stay in hospital. Five studies examined the effect of librarian provided services on outcomes important to clinicians, such as whether a literature search influenced a clinical decision. There was a trend towards a positive effect, although two studies found no significant difference.
The majority of studies investigated the impact of training delivered to trainees and students on their literature search skills. Twelve of these studies found a positive effect of training on the recipients’ search skills, while three found no difference. The secondary outcomes considered by this review were satisfaction with the service (8 studies), relevance of the answers provided by librarians (2), and cost (3). The majority reported good satisfaction, and relevance. A cost benefit was found in 2 of 3 studies that reported this outcome.
Conclusion – Authors report a positive effect of training on the literature search skills of trainees and students, and identified a benefit in the small number of studies that examined librarian services to clinicians. Future studies should use validated data collection tools, and further research should be conducted in the area of services provided to clinicians. Research is needed on the effect of librarian-provided services to patients and researchers as no studies meeting the inclusion criteria examining these two groups were identified by the literature search
Charting Success: Using Practical Measures to Assess Information Literacy Skills in the First-Year Writing Course
No full textAbstract
Objective – The aim was to measure the impact of a peer-to-peer model on information literacy skill-building among first-year students at a small commuter college in the United States. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is the state’s flagship public university and UNH Manchester is one of its seven colleges. This study contributed to a program evaluation of the Research Mentor Program at UNH Manchester whereby peer writing tutors are trained in basic library research skills to support first-year students throughout the research and writing process.
Methods – The methodology employed a locally developed pre-test/post-test instrument with fixed-choice and open-ended questions to measure students’ knowledge of the library research process. Anonymized data was collected using an online survey with SurveyMonkey™ software. A rubric was developed to score the responses to open-ended questions.
Results – The study indicated a positive progression toward increased learning for the three information literacy skills targeted: 1) using library resources correctly, 2) building effective search strategies, and 3) evaluating sources appropriately. Students scored higher in the fixed-choice questions than the open-ended ones, demonstrating their ability to more effectively identify the applicable information literacy skill than use the language of information literacy to describe their own research behavior.
Conclusions – The assessment methodology used was an assortment of low-key, locally-developed instruments that provided timely data to measure students understanding of concepts taught and to apply those concepts correctly. Although the conclusions are not generalizable to other institutions, the findings were a valuable component of an ongoing program evaluation. Further assessment measuring student performance would strengthen the conclusions attained in this study
Library Fines Make a Difference in Academic Library Book Return Behaviour
No full textA Review of:
Sung, J. S., & Tolppanen, B. P. (2013). Do library fines work?: Analysis of the effectiveness of fines on patron’s return behavior at two mid-sized academic libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(6), 506-511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.08.011
Abstract
Objectives – To quantify library fines and their impact on patron return behaviour.
Design – Hypothesis testing of data extracted from integrated library systems.
Setting – Two midsize academic libraries, including one from the Pacific, University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), and one from the Midwest, Eastern Illinois University (EIU).
Subjects – Undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.
Methods – The authors collected data from two midsized universities. The universities have identical integrated library systems, which allowed for uniform data extraction. The authors counted book returns in each population group (undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty) for those books that were returned before and after the due dates with a focus on late fees as the primary variable. The authors tested the following five hypotheses:
• Hypothesis 1: “There is no difference in return rates before due dates among the UHM patron groups because the fine policy is the same for all patron groups” (p. 507).
• Hypothesis 2: “Before 2006, the EIU undergraduate students’ return rates before due dates should be the highest among the three EIU groups because this was the only group which had overdue fines. . . . There should be no difference in the return rates before due dates between EIU faculty and EIU graduate students (both groups had no overdue fines)” (p. 507).
• Hypothesis 3: “EIU graduate students’ return rates before due dates was lower for 2002–2006 than 2007–2011” (p. 507). This hypothesis tests the impact of a change in fine policy that the library implemented in the fall of 2006.
• Hypothesis 4: “UHM undergraduate students’ return rates before due dates is higher than that of EIU undergraduate students” because there is no grace period for UHM undergraduates (p. 507). EIU undergraduate students have a 10-day grace period.
• Hypothesis 5: “UHM faculty’s return rates before due dates is higher than that of EIU faculty” (p. 507). UHM faculty incur overdue fines, but EIU faculty encounter no penalty for overdue materials.
From the integrated library systems, the authors extracted data for the number of books returned before due dates and after overdue notices and for the number of books borrowed by the different populations for the time period starting with Fall 2002 and ending with Spring 2011. The authors analyzed the data using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and made comparisons using analysis of variance (ANOVA) expressed with an F-ratio and p-value < 0.01 as the level of significance.
Main Results – The findings did not support hypotheses 1 or 2. For hypothesis 1, in which fines were the same for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty, return rates increased with academic level and faculty groups. The rates were 90.4%, 93.9%, and 95.7%, respectively (F = 112.1, p < 0.001). For hypothesis 2, the return rate was 88.8% for undergraduates, 92.6% for graduate students, and 80.1% for faculty. The group difference was small but still statistically significant (F = 171.4, p < 0.001). The graduate students, who were not fined, had significantly higher return rates before due dates than undergraduates who incurred fines. Graduate students had higher return rates than faculty, though both groups had no fines.
The data did not support hypotheses 3 and 4. For hypothesis 3, no significant change occurred in return rates before and after imposing fines (F = 5.75, p = .031). For hypothesis 4, the return rates of undergraduates at the university with a grace period showed no statistically significant difference in return rates from those undergraduates with no grace period (F = 4.355, p = .044).
The findings supported hypothesis 5. The return rates indicated a statistically significant difference between faculty with fines for overdue books and those with no fines (F = 1701, p < 0.001). For those hypotheses for which the differences were not significant, the authors cite other variables, including reminders, grace periods, maturity of the borrower, withholding of privileges, fees, and lost book charges, that may contribute to return rates.
Conclusions – In answer to the main research question, the authors conclude that “fines indeed make a difference” (p. 511) in patron book return conduct. However, they also note that fines can mar the reputation of the library creating a barrier to access and that courtesy notices and overdue notices are also effective ways to ensure timely return of materials