Library Assessment Plan

1. Students will be able to give credit to the original ideas of others through attribution and/or formal conventions.

2. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

3. Students will be able to identify how information systems are organized in order to access relevant information.

End-of-Semester Library Instruction Survey

Fall 2019

Library instruction did not occur in Fall 2020 or Fall 2021 due to Covid-19.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to select research methodology(ies) based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to reflect on the search process in order to refine searches.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

BIOL 488 students who complete the pre-session homework assignment and attend the session will be able to:

1. Explain what review articles are and the benefits of using them.
2. Use MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, or Annual Reviews to locate a review article.
3. Use the Biological Abstracts, MEDLINE, and Science Citation Index databases to effectively locate research articles.
4. Use Science Citation Index to find articles using bibliographies and cited by tools.

Pre-session Homework & Article Submission Analysis

The pre-session assignment requires students to view a video describing the features and benefits of review articles and then asks them to answer a question about those benefits. The final step of the homework requires students to locate a review article and bring it to their instruction session. During the instruction session, the librarian will have the students fill out a brief form listing the title and author(s) of the article s/he located.

Learning Objective #1 “Explain what review articles are and the benefits of using them.”

• The course librarian will follow review the students' responses to the question "According to the video, which of the following are benefits of using a review article(s)?" and do the following:

1. Determine what percentage of students provided the correct answers to the question.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, or Annual Reviews to locate a review article.”

• The course librarian will review the article supplied by each student and do the following:
  1. Locate the article listed in each form
  2. Confirm that the article is a review article
  3. Calculate the percentage of students that submitted an article via the form.
  4. Determine what percentage of students’ article submissions are review articles.

By completing the exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objective listed above. Students' responses and submissions will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

1. Students will be able to identify authoritative information sources based on information need.

2. Students will be able to recognize that similar content may be presented in different contexts, which may affect interpretation of the content.

3. Students will be able to select a source that best meets an information need based on the audience, context, and purpose of the content.

4. Students will be able to formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to select research methodology(ies) based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

ENGL 202 students who complete the pre-instruction tutorial and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Use Gale Literary Sources to find background information about a literary research topic.
2. Identify keywords related to a search topic for literary research using Gale Literary Sources.
3. Use the navigation tools of books (i.e. index and table of contents) to locate relevant portions of a larger piece of literary criticism.
4. Use MLA International Bibliography database to locate literary criticism.

The pre-instruction tutorial introduces students to Gale Literary Sources and requires them to answer five questions. During the session, the in-class exercise calls for students to navigate through two books and search MLA International Bibliography database. Throughout the activity, students will answer questions using the navigation tools of books and the results screen from MLA International Bibliography.

Learning Objective #1 “Use Gale Literary Sources to find background information about a literary research topic.”

• The course librarian will review the pre-instruction tutorial results of each student and do the following:

1. Review the submissions to questions 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Gale Literary Sources tutorial exercise and determine how many questions each student answered correctly (For questions with 2 or more parts, partial credit will be given if a student gave one correct answer, but missed one or more additional answers).
   • Correct answers will demonstrate that students were able to find background information using Gale Literary Sources.
2. Determine what percentage of students answered 3 or more questions correctly.

Learning Objective #2 – “Identify keywords related to a search topic for literary research using Gale Literary Sources.”

• The course librarian will review the keywords provided by each student in question 3 of the Gale Literary Sources tutorial exercise and do the following:
  1. Confirm that the terms provided are mentioned in the paragraph they are directed to in the exercise.
  2. Confirm that the terms are related to the topic of the exercise.
  3. Determine what percentage of students’ keyword submissions meet both criteria.

Learning Objective #3 – “Use the navigation tools of books (i.e. index and table of contents) to locate relevant portions of a larger piece of literary criticism.”

• The course librarian will review the answers provided by each student for the 7 questions of the book exercise and do the following:
  1. Review the submissions to questions 1-4 of the in-class book exercise and determine how many questions each student answered correctly (For questions with 2 or more parts, partial credit will be given if a student gave one correct answer, but missed one or more additional answers).
  2. Determine what percentage of students answered 3 or more questions correctly.

By completing the pre-instruction tutorial and in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to identify markers of authority recognized by disciplines, professions, and other communities of knowledge and practice.

2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.

3. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

ENGL 203 students who attend the instruction and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Use MLA International Bibliography database to locate scholarly/peer reviewed literary criticism.
2. Identify search terms to find literary criticism in anthologies by using synonyms, geography, time period, genre, etc.
3. Differentiate scholarly sources from non-scholarly ones based on four criteria.

During the ENGL 203 library instruction session, students are introduced to four criteria needed to gauge the scholarship of literary criticism. After reviewing what is needed for scholarship in terms of the author, publisher, citations, and length of the criticism, students are given a book article to evaluate. Once they have an article, students will evaluate the source by examining all four criteria and fill out a form explaining their findings for each category, whether or not the criticism is an acceptable source for their course assignment and explain how they came to that decision.

Learning Objective #3 – “Differentiate scholarly sources from non-scholarly ones based on four criteria.”

• The course librarian will review each of the forms submitted and do the following:
  1. Examine the students' responses for each category (Author, Publisher, Citations, and Length), as well as their final evaluation of the book article they used.
  2. Use a checklist rubric to determine the number of behaviors every student indicated in each of the categories.
  3. Determine how many categories met the target number of behaviors for each student.
  4. Determine what percentage of students met the target number of behaviors in 4 or more categories of the rubric.

By completing the in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objective listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met the target number of behaviors in 4 or more categories with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

In reviewing the initial forms submitted, it was noted that students did not supply enough detail about the information they considered during their evaluation. To address this, additional questions were added to the form and some of the previous questions (that had been left blank by students) were changed to required status so that students would elaborate on their judgments. (Fall 2020)

In Fall 2021, the assessment was repeated. While the adjustments listed above were changed, the librarian noticed that form they used to submit their assessment of the piece of criticism did not provide adequate space for students to provide more detail to meet this target when students responded Yes or Maybe to the initial citations question. This too was corrected so that a better determination of students' evaluation skills can be assessed next fall.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to identity markers of authority recognized by disciplines, professions, and other communities of knowledge and practice.
2. Students will be able to select research methodology(ies) based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

EXER 101 students who attend the session and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Differentiate peer-reviewed articles from those that are popular or scholarly.
2. Use Ebsco Discovery to locate articles by title and author.
3. Use SPORTDiscus to locate articles by topic that are recent, in English, full text, and peer reviewed.
4. Locate citation information, permalink, and full-text for journal articles in Ebsco Discovery and SPORTDiscus.

In-class Exercise

In-class Exercise requires students to locate an article by title in Discovery, locate the appropriate permalink, and access the full-text of the article to identify the 3rd resource listed in the bibliography. The exercise also directs students to locate a full-text, peer-reviewed article in English published during the previous 5 years using the SPORTDiscus database.

Learning Objective #2 “Use Ebsco Discovery to locate articles by title and author.”

• The course librarian will follow the permalink provided for the article each student was assigned and do the following:

1. Determine if the link provided takes the user to the Discovery record for the article.
2. Review the submissions to the question, “Access the full-text and visit the list of references at the end. List the TITLE of the 3rd item on the references list below” to ensure that students’ responses are correct.
   • Correct answers will demonstrate that students were able to access not just the record, but the full text.
3. Determine what percentage of students provided the permalink to the assigned article.
4. Determine what percentage of students provided the correct entry from the article’s references.
    

Learning Objective #3 – “Use SPORTDiscus to locate articles by topic that are recent, in English, full text, and peer reviewed.”

• The course librarian will locate the article supplied by each student and do the following:
  1. Confirm that the article is in English
  2. Confirm that the article is available full text
  3. Confirm that the article was published within the last five years
  4. Confirm that the article is peer reviewed
  5. Determine what percentage of students’ article submissions meet all four criteria.

By completing the exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objective listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

After reviewing the exercises submitted in Fall 2019 for the assessment trial, it was discovered that several students utilized SPORTDiscus, rather than Ebsco Discovery, to find the full text of articles by title. Because this method does not work for all articles the students will need for their coursework, the titles supplied to students were thus changed to ones that are NOT listed in SPORTDiscus; the full text is available through other databases and/or ejournals so that students have the opportunity to develop this important skill. The new titles will be utilized in Spring 2020 and compared to the initial Fall 2019 data before the assessment takes effect in Fall 2020.

Changing the activity to include articles not available through SPORTDiscus worked well. (Fall 2021)

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to select research methodology(ies) based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to reflect on the search process in order to refine searches.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

EXER 377 students who complete the pre-session homework assignment and attend the session will be able to:

1. Explain what review articles are and the benefits of using them.
2. Use MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, or Annual Reviews to locate a review article.
3. Use the SportDISCUS, MEDLINE, and Science Citation Index databases to effectively locate research articles.
4. Use Science Citation Index to find articles using bibliographies and cited by tools.

Pre-session Homework & Article Submission Analysis

The pre-session assignment requires students to view a video describing the features and benefits of review articles and then asks them to answer a question about those benefits. The final step of the homework requires students to locate a review article and bring it to their instruction session. During the instruction session, the librarian will have the students fill out a brief, anonymous form listing the title and author(s) of the article s/he located.

Learning Objective #1 “Explain what review articles are and the benefits of using them.”

• The course librarian will follow review the students' responses to the question "According to the video, which of the following are benefits of using a review article(s)?" and do the following:

1. Determine what percentage of students provided the correct answers to the question.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, or Annual Reviews to locate a review article.”

• The course librarian will review the article supplied by each student and do the following:
  1. Locate the article listed in each form
  2. Confirm that the article is a review article
  3. Calculate the percentage of students that submitted an article via the form.
  4. Determine what percentage of students’ article submissions are review articles.

By completing the exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objective listed above. Students' responses and submissions will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

In an effort to determine if students had trouble locating review articles or simply submitted a research article by mistake, a question was added to the article submission form asking students "did you have trouble locating a review article?" Students' responses to this questions should help us determine if research articles are submitted in error or on purpose (Fall 2020).

Unfortunately, the sample of articles submitted in Fall 2021 was too small to determine if this change was effective. This assessment will be repeated next fall.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to select research methodology(ies) based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

MARK 104 and 411 students who complete their pre-instruction tutorial and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Use Mergent Intellect to locate company and industry information.
2. Use Statista to locate statistics related to their chosen brand/product/company.
3. Use Passport GMID to research industries and consumers.

The pre-instruction tutorial introduces students to Mergent Intellect and Statista, providing opportunities for students to list what they learn about their brand/product/company. During the session, the in-class exercise calls for students to use Passport GMID to research the industry where the brand/product/company being researched falls. Throughout the activity, students will complete a form listing any helpful information they locate.

Learning Objective #1 “Use Mergent Intellect to locate company and industry information.” 

• The course librarian will review the pre-instruction tutorial results of each student and do the following:

1. Review the submissions to the Mergent Intellect portion of the tutorial exercise and determine if each student identified at least 1 fact or statistic related to their company (or the company that makes their brand/product).
2. Review the submissions to the Mergent Intellect portion of the tutorial exercise and determine if each student identified at least 1 fact or statistic related to the industry their brand/product/company falls in.
3. Determine what percentage of students meet both criteria.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use Statista to locate statistics related to their chosen brand/product/company.” 

• The course librarian will review the pre-instruction tutorial results of each student and do the following:
  1. Review the submissions to the Statista tutorial exercise and determine if each student identified at least 1 statistic related to their brand/product/company.
  2. Determine what percentage of students identified at least 1 statistic related to their brand/product/company.

Learning Objective #3 – “Use Passport GMID to research industries and consumers.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided on the in-class Research Worksheet and do the following:
  1. Review the submissions to the industries questions and determine if each student identified at least 1 fact/statistic related to their brand/product/company.
  2. Review the submissions to the consumers questions and determine if each student identified at least 1 relevant fact/statistic related to their potential customers.
  3. Determine what percentage of students meet both criteria.

By completing the pre-instruction tutorial and in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to identity markers of authority recognized by disciplines, professions, and other communities of knowledge and practice.
2. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

MNGT 214 students who attend the session and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Differentiate between academic journals, magazines, and trade publications based on given criteria.
2. Use Business Source Premier to locate academic journal and trade publication articles.

Pre-session Homework Assignment and In-class Research Workshop

The pre-session homework assignment provides detailed criteria for academic journals, magazines, and trade publications. Using this information, students will need to answer 2 questions about these publications. The in-class research workshop will introduce students to searching Business Source Premier. Throughout the session students be researching their chosen topics for the semester using this database. At the end of the session, students will submit one article they located during the session and identify the type of article it is.

Learning Objective #1 “Differentiate between academic journals, magazines, and trade publications based on given criteria.”

• The course librarian will review the pre-session homework assignments submitted each student and do the following:

1. Review the submissions to the question, "Which of the publication types use specialized language or terminology?"
   • Determine what percentage of students provided the 2 correct answers to this question.
      
2. Review the submissions to the question, “Which of the publication types may not cite their sources?"
   • Determine what percentage of students provided the 2 correct answers to this question.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use Business Source Premier to locate academic journal and trade publication articles.”

• The course librarian will locate the article supplied after the in-class research workshop by every 3rd student and do the following:
  1. Confirm that the article is located in Business Source Premier
  2. Confirm that the article publication type indicated by the student is the same one indicated by Business Source Premier
  3. Determine what percentage of students’ article submissions meet both criteria.

By completing the pre-session homework assignment and attending the in-class research workshop, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to identify markers of authority recognized by disciplines, professions, and other communities of knowledge and practice.
2. Students will be able to distinguish between format and method of access, understanding that these are separate entities.
3. Students will be able to formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

POLS 104 students who complete the pre-instruction tutorial and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Choose a research topic of appropriate size with sufficient published, scholarly sources available.
2. Identify two scholarly books.
3. Find scholarly articles using Ebsco Discovery and JSTOR.

During the session, the in-class exercise calls for students to use the library's Discovery search to find scholarly books related to their topic, as well as search Ebsco Discovery and JSTOR for journal articles. Throughout the activity, students will complete a form listing any helpful titles they locate.

Learning Objective #2 “Identify two scholarly books.” 

• The course librarian will review the responses provided in the book exercise portion of the Research Worksheet and do the following:

1. Review the submissions book title/link submissions and determine if each student identified at least 2 scholarly books (i.e., published by a university press) related to their topic.
2. Determine what percentage of students identified at least 2 scholarly books related to their topic.

Learning Objective #3 – “Find scholarly articles using Ebsco Discovery and JSTOR.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided in the Discovery article and JSTOR exercise portions of the Research Worksheet and do the following:
  1. Review the title/link Discovery submissions from each student's form.
  2. Determine if the article is scholarly.
  3. Review the title/link JSTOR submissions from each student's form.
  4. Determine if the title/link is an article (i.e. not a book review).
  5. Determine what percentage of students were able to find a scholarly article in both places.

By completing the in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with the previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview supplied to faculty.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, based on information gaps or by reexamining existing information.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
3. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

POLS 277 students who complete the pre-instruction tutorial and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Use subject headings in Henry (the book catalog) to limit their searches by topic.
2. Use Academic Search Premier to locate scholarly articles.
3. Use the citation and reference tools in Social Science Citation Index to locate additional relevant research.

Before the in-class session, students will complete an online assignment with strategies for identifying a research topic, developing a list of keywords, finding books published by scholarly presses, and citing sources using APSA. Students will answer questions demonstrating their ability to use subject headings when searching Henry.

During the session, the in-class exercise calls for students to use Academic Search Premier to locate one or more scholarly articles. In addition, students will search Social Science Citation Index for articles, locate at least one, and use the citation and reference tools to locate another source. Throughout the activity, students will complete a form listing any helpful titles they locate.

Learning Objective #1 – “Use subject headings in Henry (the book catalog) to limit their searches by topic.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided for page 5 of the pre-instruction library assignment and do the following:
  1. Review the answers provided for each of the three questions that require students to use subject headings.
  2. Determine if the student anwered the questions correctly.
  3. Determine what percentage of students answered each question correctly.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use Academic Search Premier to locate scholarly articles.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided in the Academic Search Premier exercise portion of the Research Worksheet and do the following:
  1. Review the title/link Academic Search Premier submissions from each student's form.
  2. Determine if the student located one or more scholarly articles.
  3. Determine what percentage of students located a scholarly article.

Learning Objective #3 – “Use the citation and reference tools in Social Science Citation Index to locate additional relevant research.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) exercise portions of the Research Worksheet and do the following:
  1. Review the title/link SSCI submissions for Articles 1 and 2 from each student's form.
  2. Locate Article 1 and visit the Citations or References link for the article (as listed in the form). 
  3. Determine if the title/link listed as Article 2 is a source from the indicated link.
  4. Determine what percentage of students were able to find a relevant source using either the Citations or References link provided.

By completing the pre-instruction assignment and in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.

Library instruction and assignments will focus on the following IL Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry.
2. Students will be able to design searches strategically, considering and selecting systems to search and evaluate search results.

IL Learning Objectives to Address this Outcome:

SOCW 280 students who complete the pre-instruction tutorial and complete the in-class activity will be able to:

1. Use Global Road Warrior to locate facts and/or statistics related to their chosen topic/country.
2. Use Statista to locate statistics related to their chosen topic/country.
3. Apply the strategies demonstrated during the in-class instruction session to locate a book(s) on their chosen topic/country.

The pre-instruction tutorial introduces students to Global Road Warrior, Country Watch, Statista, and CIA World Factbook, providing opportunities for students to list what they learn about their topic/country. During the session, the in-class exercise calls for students to use the library's Discovery book search to find books related to their topic/country and search across relevant Ebsco databases for journal articles. Throughout the activity, students will complete a form listing any helpful titles they locate.

Learning Objective #1 “Use Global Road Warrior to locate facts and/or statistics related to their topic/country.” 

• The course librarian will review the pre-instruction tutorial results of each student and do the following:

1. Review the submissions to the Global Road Warrior tutorial exercise and determine if each student identified at least 1 fact or statistic related to their topic/country.
2. Determine what percentage of students identified at least 1 fact or statistic related to their topic/country.

Learning Objective #2 – “Use Statista to locate statistics related to their chosen topic/country.” 

• The course librarian will review the pre-instruction tutorial results of each student and do the following:
  1. Review the submissions to the Statista tutorial exercise and determine if each student identified at least 1 statistic related to their topic/country.
  2. Determine what percentage of students identified at least 1 statistic related to their topic/country.

Learning Objective #3 – “Apply the strategies demonstrated during the in-class instruction session to locate a book(s) on their chosen topic/country.”  

• The course librarian will review the responses provided in the book exercise portion of the Research Worksheet and do the following:
  1. Review the topic and title/link submissions to each students' form.
  2. Determine if each student located a book.
  3. Determine if book listed is related to stated research topic.
  4. Determine what percentage of students meet both criteria.

By completing the pre-instruction tutorial and in-class exercise, students will demonstrate whether or not they met the learning objectives listed above. Students' responses will be evaluated to determine what percentage of students met each objective with a target of 80% or better achievement. Results will be compared with previous semester's responses and any differences will be noted in the overview that is supplied to faculty.