Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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Students Taking Numerous Honours Courses in High School Have Higher Information Literacy Levels
No full textA Review of:
Fabbi, J. L. (2015). Fortifying the pipeline: A quantitative exploration of high school factors impacting the information literacy of first-year college students. College & Research Libraries, 76(1), 31-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.76.1.31
Abstract
Objective – To assess the impact of students’ high school performances on the development of their information literacy (IL) competency.
Design – Statistical analysis of test performance.
Setting – A large public university in the United States of America.
Subjects – 93 first-time college freshmen. Of these, 46% had been admitted on a probationary status due to GPA under the required 3.0 (“alternate admits”), and 61% had not declared a major (“exploring majors”). 39% identified as Caucasian, 25% as Hispanic, 22% as African American, and 15% as Asian. 84% declared that their best language was English only.
Methods – Participants were self-selected freshmen who enrolled into programs offered by the university’s Academic Success Center. They took the iSkills test, an online evaluation of information literacy competencies developed by the Educational Testing Service, and provided background data on their high school experience. Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the researcher evaluated predictors of iSkills score variance among a range of high school experiences: core high school GPA, number of honours classes taken in high school, and number of research projects or assignments in high school. The analysis controlled for gender, best language, race, and admission status as either alternate admit or exploring major.
Main Results – Participants’ mean iSkills scores was below the minimum passing score for the test. There was a significant positive correlation between iSkills scores and exploring major status, core high school GPA, and having taken 5 to 12 honours courses. There was a negative correlation between iSkills scores and language other than English, Asian race, alternate admission status, and having had 1 to 4 honours courses. Among the background variables, the most significant predictor of a student’s iSkills score was his or her best language, followed by race. After controlling for these variables, the most important factors were students’ high school GPAs and the number of honors courses taken.
Conclusion – The researcher discovered that the number of honours courses taken in high school is a strong predictor of information literacy competency as measured by the iSkills test. This remains true when controlling for race and other background factors. This finding is consistent with the assumption that high school teachers of honours courses believe their students to be capable of learning higher-order skills and therefore adopt a constructivist pedagogy, and that such pedagogy promotes the development of information literacy skills. Yet the number of high school research projects or assignments could not be statistically correlated to information literacy competency. In subsequent focus groups, students who had taken fewer honours courses expressed test anxiety, while students who had taken numerous honours courses expressed their determination to get the correct answer. This may inform one surprising result of the study: that students who took 13 or more honours courses in high school did not score significantly better on the iSkills test than those who took 5 to 12 courses
Multiple Factors Influence Undergraduates’ Intent to Use Online Library Resources
No full textA Review of:
Joo, S., & Choi, N. (2015). Factors affecting undergraduates’ selection of online library resources in academic tasks. Library Hi Tech, 33(2), 272-291. doi: 10.1108/LHT-01-2015-0008
Objective – To investigate multiple factors that may affect undergraduate students’ selection of online library resources. Usefulness and ease of use, quality, and user differences were each explored as factors influencing undergraduates’ use intention.
Design – Survey questionnaire.
Setting – A state university located in the United States of America.
Subjects – 332 randomly selected undergraduate students.
Methods – A survey designed to measure the intent to utilize online library resources was administered to an undergraduate population. The results, including 11 factors of use intention, were analyzed quantitatively using inferential statistics such as structural equation modeling, multiple regression, t-tests, ANOVAs, and linear regression.
Main Results – The factors of usefulness and ease of use were reported to have a positive relationship with undergraduates’ intent to use online library resources (regression weights = 0.473 and 0.408, p 0.05).
Conclusions – The authors conclude that multiple factors influence online library resource selection behavior among undergraduates. The results indicate that usefulness and ease of use are important factors in use intention. The effect of “resource quality” factors, indicated by credibility, format, accessibility, currency, and coverage, suggested that all five factors positively impact use intention. Accessibility is most likely to increase the likelihood of online library resource selection while the credibility of a source has the weakest effect on selection. Familiarity with online library resources and self-reported strong search skills also positively influenced use intention
Electronic Resource Availability Studies: An Effective Way to Discover Access Errors
No full textAbstract
Objective – The availability study is a systems research method that has recently been used to test whether library users can access electronic resources. This study evaluates the availability study’s effectiveness as a troubleshooting tool by comparing the results of two availability studies conducted at the same library before and after fixing access problems identified by the initial study.
Methods – The researcher developed a six-category conceptual model of the causes of electronic resource errors, modified Nisonger’s e-resource availability method to more closely approximate student information-seeking behaviour, and conducted an availability study at the University of Redlands Armacost Library to estimate how many resources suffered from errors. After conducting troubleshooting over a period of several months, he replicated the study and found increased overall availability and fewer incidences of most error categories. He used Z tests for the difference of two proportions to determine whether the changes were statistically significant.
Results – The 62.5% availability rate in the first study increased after troubleshooting to 86.5% in the second study. Z tests showed that troubleshooting had produced statistically significant improvements in overall availability, in the number of items that could be downloaded from the library’s online collection or requested through interlibrary loan (ILL), and in three of six error categories (proxy, target database and ILL).
Conclusion – Availability studies can contribute to successful troubleshooting initiatives by making librarians aware of technical problems that might otherwise go unreported. Problems uncovered by an availability study can be resolved through collaboration between librarians and systems vendors, though the present study did not demonstrate equally significant improvements across all types of errors. This study offers guidance to librarians seeking to focus troubleshooting efforts where they will have the greatest impact in improving access to full-text. It also advances the availability research method and is the first attempt to quantify its effectiveness as a troubleshooting tool
Looking for Links: How Faculty Research Productivity Correlates with Library Investment and Why Electronic Library Materials Matter Most
No full textAbstract
Objective – This paper summarizes two studies that share the same research question: do universities produce more scholarly research when they invest more in their libraries? Research libraries spend a great deal of effort reporting their expenditures, collections statistics, and other measures that serve as a basis for interlibrary comparison and even rankings. The straightforward assumption implied by this activity is that libraries better serve their student and research communities when they are well-funded and well-resourced. The studies examined here both ask if that notion can be validated empirically, not because research libraries require some sort of justification, but because in an environment of tough budget decisions and shifting opinions about the changing role of libraries, it may be useful to demonstrate that sustained investment in libraries offers tangible returns or that the failure to do so can result in tangible costs.
Methods – A cross-sectional design featuring ordinary least squares regression analysis was used in both studies to estimate the relationship between scholarly research productivity at U.S. doctoral institutions and an array of institutional characteristics presumed to influence that productivity. The concept of research productivity is operationalized as the total number of scholarly journal articles produced by each institution over a five year period – as journal articles represent the most common form of scholarly expression across the greatest number of academic fields. Serving as the dependent variable, this data was regressed against a variety of institutional characteristics including faculty size, research expenditures, and grant awards, and several library variables centered mostly on expenditures. The concept behind this design is that to realistically explore the relationship between levels of library investment and research productivity, all other institutional drivers of research productivity must also be represented in the dataset. While the design was similar for both studies, they each drew on different data sources and marginally different populations.
Results – Both studies found that an institution’s research productivity is positively and significantly correlated with the level of investment it makes in its libraries. Furthermore, both studies found electronic library material expenditures to be particularly associated with increased productivity. This relationship was so strong that an institution’s level of research productivity appears to be sensitive to how its library’s collection budget is allocated between print and electronic materials. As the portion of the budget dedicated to non-electronic material grew, research productivity decreased in statistically significant fashion in both studies.
Conclusion – While both studies succeeded in demonstrating the existence of an empirical relationship between library investment and research productivity, the most intriguing finding is that both studies observed a decrease in number of journal articles being produced as expenditures for non-electronic library materials increased. The conclusion is that the efficiencies of electronic resources offer such advantages over the use of traditional library materials in supporting scholarly research that productivity suffers as institutions dedicate a greater portion of their collection budgets to print materials at the expense of electronic materials
Assessing the Library\u27s Grants Program
No full textAbstract
Objective – The authors analyzed seven years of sponsored research projects at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana–Champaign with the aim of understanding the research trends and themes over that period. The analysis was aimed at identifying areas of future research potential and corresponding support opportunities. Goals included developing institutional research themes that intersect with funding priorities, demystifying grant writing and project management through professional development programs, increasing communication about grant successes; and bringing new faculty and academic staff into these processes. The review and analysis has proven valuable for the Library’s institutional practices, and this assessment may also inform other institutions’ initiatives with grant-writing.
Methods – The authors performed a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of the University Library’s grant activities that enabled us to accomplish several goals: 1) establish a baseline of data on funded grants; 2) identify motivations for pursuing grants and the obstacles that library professionals face in the process; 3) establish a stronger support structure based on feedback gathered, and through collaborations with other groups that support the research process; and 4) identify strategic research themes that leverage local strengths and address institutional priorities.
Conclusions – Analysis of Library data on externally funded grants from the University’s Proposal Data System provided insight into the trends, themes, and outliers. Informal interviews were carried out with investigators to identify areas where the Library could more effectively support those who were pursuing and administering grants in support of research. The assessment revealed the need for the Library to support grant efforts as an integral component of the research proces
Usage Data of Images from a Digital Library Informs Four Areas of Digital Library Management: Metadata Creation, System Design, Marketing and Promotion, and Content Selection
No full textA Review of:
Reilly, M., & Thompson, S. (2014). Understanding ultimate use data and its implication for digital library management: A case study. Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(2), 196-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.901211
Abstract
Objective – To investigate the implications of intended and actual usage data retrieved from a digital library on digital library management and design.
Design – Case study.
Setting – A digital library of predominantly high resolution images based at a large research university in the United States of America.
Subjects – Responses from 917 users of an open access digital library.
Methods – Researchers used a literature review to identify previous research on this topic and to inform the methodology for their research. Two distinct studies informed the methodology: research by Beaudoin (2009) that identified categories of both users and questions around usage was incorporated, and the ultimate use categories suggested by Chung and Yoon (2011) to compare against those used in this research. Researchers used data extracted via recorded system logs that are part of the statistics feature of the digital library. This feature is an in-house developed system, the Digital Cart Service (DCS). The logs tracked usage of 917 images recorded over a three year period, from 2011-2013. After eliminating personal information, researchers examined three fields: university affiliation, intended use, and description. After exporting the data from these three fields to a Microsoft Access database for text analysis, researchers normalized the data using a series of codes assigned to the responses. It is unclear how many description fields were used to yield more information.
Main Results – Researchers identified five user-types among users of the digital library. The biggest user group was visitors, followed by university staff, while university faculty had the lowest usage. Visitors were found to use images for personal use, such as inspirational and artistic purposes. The products developed from images in the digital library were-wide ranging, and included image albums, research, artwork, and video productions. These findings have implications for four areas of practical management of digital libraries: metadata creation, system design, marketing and promotion, and content selection. Among the eight categories of intended uses recorded, the highest uses were found to be for personal use, followed by ‘other’ use. Researchers examined the ‘other’ use category and further divided it into 12 sub-categories. Of these sub-categories, the highest use was for publication and research, while the lowest use was for ‘gift’ and ‘industry.’
Conclusion – Incorporating user-generated metadata and distributing it to digital library managers is found to produce enhanced metadata and to aid the promotion and awareness of collections. Usage data may inform marketing efforts, as it provides a more comprehensive picture of who uses digital libraries and why they use images retrieved from those libraries. Equally, usage data may reveal the least frequent users of digital libraries, which informs targeted user marketing campaigns. Finally, the authors find that usage data combined with user-generated metadata should form part of content selection criteria for digital library managers
Mixed-Method Survey Research is Useful to Incrementally Improve Library Homepage Design
No full textA Review of:
Deschenes, A. (2014). Improving the library homepage through user research – without a total redesign. Weave, 1(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/weave.12535642.0001.102
Abstract
Objective – To assess content organization and wording of links on the library’s homepage.
Design – Mixed-methods survey.
Setting – Small college, United States of America.
Subjects – 57 library users.
Methods – Library staff distributed paper surveys at the entrance to the library, with the goal of collecting a minimum of 30 surveys. The survey directed participants to indicate their preferred terms from a list, and their preference for ordering the menu items on the library’s homepage. Qualitative survey data was also collected via several open-ended questions that began with prompts such as “I really love…” and “I can never find…”
Main Results – The search box tab labelled “Library Catalogue” was preferred over “Books and Media,” which the staff believed to be a more user-friendly term. Using a pre-defined list, participants ranked the Library Catalogue as the most important tab, followed by E-Resources, Articles, and Library Guides. A link to the Library Catalogue was also selected as the most important resource sidebar link, followed by E-Resources, Full-Text Journals, Library Guides, and Refworks. The service sidebar links by order of importance were found to be: Library Hours, Group Study Rooms, Writing & Citing, Interlibrary Loan, and Chat with a Librarian. Qualitative feedback received demonstrated a lack of understanding what the terms “Library Guides” and “A-Z List” mean, and difficulty finding a complete list of databases. Library staff received feedback that the Library Hours and Account Log In should be made more prominent.
Conclusion – Library staff updated the website to reflect user preferences for wording and order of links on the homepage. Google Analytics showed a decrease of 30 seconds per average visit after the changes, which the author attributes to better wording and organization. There were no complaints about the website in the first three months after the change. The author concludes that a paper survey is an effective tool for librarians who would like to make incremental changes on their homepages
Registration for the C-EBLIP Fall Symposium 2015: Librarians as Researchers is now open!
No full textNo abstract
Use of Library Services Can Be Associated with a Positive Effect on First-Year Students’ GPA and Retention
No full textA Review of:
Soria, K. M., Fransen, J., & Nackerud, S. (2014). Stacks, serials, search engines, and students’ success: First-year undergraduate students’ library use, academic achievement, and retention. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(1), 84-91.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.12.002
Abstract
Objective – To investigate the degree of relation between first-year undergraduate students’ library use and their academic achievement (measured by cumulative GPA) and first- to second-year retention.
Design – Quantitative data obtained from library systems combined with regression analyses.
Setting – A large public university located in the United States of America.
Subjects – The study included 5,368 non-transfer first-year students, with a total of 5,162 students retained for the final sample.
Methods – Data on 10 library usage variables were collected using student logins to library databases and websites and analyzed using SPSS. These variables included logins to databases, use of electronic books and journals, chat reference questions, and workshops signed up for, among others. There were 2 separate regressions utilized to predict students’ cumulative GPA by these 10 types of library use. Two separate logistic regressions were utilized to predict first- to second-year retention by the same library usage variables.
Main Results – 81.9% of first-year students used at least one library service. Overall, students who used their academic library’s services and/or resources once or more during an academic year had a higher average retention rate and GPA compared to their peers who had not used the library. It was found that four library use areas, including book loans, database logins, electronic journal logins, and library workstation logins, were positively associated with students’ GPA. Database logins and library workstation logins were positively associated with retention. Each of the models used to predict either student GPA or retention by library use were found to be statistically significant.
Conclusions – The study suggests that there is a positive and significant relationship between a number of library activities and students’ GPA and retention. The effect size of these activities upon the primary outcome variables of GPA and retention is small, though this is logical considering the one-time use of a library service is unlikely to meaningfully influence one’s academic success. Other non-library factors in the student experience must be considered