Value is relative and not static. Too often in our efforts to prove our worth and stake out a piece of the budget pie we measure everything from gate counts to link-clicks without fully understanding how we will connect these measures to value in terms of stakeholder priorities. Few libraries and librarians take the time to consider how outside stakeholders define value and how those definitions are changing as a result of changes in higher education. Those that do consider these stakeholders find they spend much less time gathering data and explaining value, and more time transforming services and engaging as valued partners in campus decision-making.
This preconference workshop will encourage participants to shake off the politics, consider value in higher education from non-library perspectives, develop authentic and meaningful assessment, share strategies and assessment plans, and leave this preconference with strategic plans for actionable areas of assessment for their libraries. Activities in this preconference will include a Peer-Share Pre-Activity (How might others describe the value of your library? How might you describe the value of your library?); discussion and activities related to : “What”: Strategic, Purposeful, Iterative, and Transformative Assessment; “How”: Inclusive, Translatable, and Alternative Approaches; “Who”: Assessment Collaborators, Communicators, Advocates; “What Now?”: Shifting the Library from generators/defenders of value to generators/acknowledged providers of value; and will end with a Close-the-Loop Activity.
During this preconference participants will:
-Identify stakeholders in library value discussions;
-Identify hurdles to articulating value;
-Articulate plans to tackle challenges to communicating value; and
-Start planning authentic assessment of at least one library service to demonstrate value to campus stakeholders
Presenters:
Colleen S. Harris-Keith, Information Literacy Coordinator, California State University, Channel Islands
Debra Hoffmann, Head of Public Services and Outreach, California State University, Channel Islands
Janet Pinkley, Reference and Circulation Coordinator, California State University, Channel Islands
Amy Wallace, Dean, John Spoor Broome Library and AVP, Continuous Improvement, California State University, Channel Islands