This panel presentation will present four perspectives from librarian team leaders and team members from all three cohort years of ACRL’s Assessment in Action (AiA) Program. All of the assessment research projects reflect the theme of the value of the academic library by providing concrete data about the effects of its services on students and faculty. The panelists will report on both their experiences participating in the 14-month long AiA program and on the status and success of the programs undertaken.  Panelist projects include assessing the impact of information literacy instruction models in composition courses at both a small liberal arts college and a large public university, and assessment related to identifying and addressing the information literacy needs and skills of transfer students.

The panelists will report on the learning community they were part of and describe the process and content of key elements of action research that they learned about and put into practice during the various AiA projects. They will discuss strengths and weaknesses of the program and discuss the long-term effects of the projects on their competency as researchers, on the team and on the institutions and students. The panelists will also offer advice on how to do the kinds of creative collaborative assessment projects sponsored by AiA without having the benefit of the framework of the AiA learning community.

Panelists:

Sharon Radcliff, Associate Librarian, California State University, East Bay

Stephanie Alexander, Social Sciences Librarian, California State University, East Bay

Gina Kessler Lee, Information Literacy Librarian, St. Mary’s College

Sara Davidson Squibb,  Head, User Communication & Instruction, University of California, Merced