The Academic Library Association of Ohio sponsored a number of sessions related to assessment for its annual conference last Friday at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio.
Leah Lehman and Jennifer Donley of Ohio Northern University presented Low Tech Space Study on a Budget. Using cell phones and simple materials, such as laminated floor plans and dry-erase markers, ONU librarians and staff were able to assess student use of their library spaces. Their analysis led to reconfiguration of study spaces, the library entrance, and the opening of additional group study rooms. It will also inform future campus renovation plans.
Terese DeSimio and Ximena Chrisagis of Wright State University presented Rethinking Our LibGuides to Engage Our Students: Easy DIY LibGuide Usability Testing and Redesign that Works. This session was of particular interest to me as the OSU Libraries plans to migrate to LibGuides in the near future. I liked the idea of a mobile usability cart: Wright State librarians and staff wandered around campus and tested guides outside of the library. More information about this project is available at http://guides.libraries.wright.edu/LGUX
Later in the afternoon Maureen Barry, Mandy Shannon, and Piper Martin, also of Wright State University, presented Demonstrating Our Value: Using Assessment Data as Advocacy Tools . This session illustrated how local data, combined with data from national research initiatives, such as Project Information Literacy, can be leveraged to successfully increase student and faculty participation in library workshops and also the number of consultations with reference librarians.
I also attended the pre-conference workshop Who Gives? Advocacy & Outreach That Makes Things Matter led by Char Booth and came away with a number of ideas to follow-up on for the OSU Libraries.
Char offered two simple definitions for advocacy and outreach:
- Advocacy = making people care
- Outreach = making people aware.
She also graciously shared her workshop slides.