we’re focusing more in my library on data driven decisions, so I was excited to attend this morning’s user experience session. Joyce Chapman, a consultant for the State Library of North Carolina, shared with us her thoughts about assessment practice. She specifically talked about the assessment cycle, which includes: planning, implementation, analysis/reporting and reacting/refining results. Chapman encouraged us to carefully consider the questions we want answered when planning our assessments and emphasized that the data we collect should be meaningful. Her definition of assessment resonated with me, as she explains: “assessment is a continuous and cyclical process by which we evaluate and improve services, products, workflows and learning. We can’t hold on to the belief that assessing a program, outreach effort or website one time effort. We must think of assessment as an ongoing process.
Sarah Horowitz of Augustana College shared with us her efforts at assessing instruction sessions in their department. She conceived of an assessment program that would divide instruction into three tiers: first year curriculum, mid-level, and senior research. In her presentation she focused on the first year instruction program. Horowitz emphasized that they are most interested in assessing student learning outcomes. She assesses their work on the day an assignment is turned in and works with the faculty to ensure that the students complete the assessment.
The last presenter, Alana Miller, shared her experiences with user research at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The impetus for their user research was the increase in reference questions that the staff believed could be answered using information on their website. Miller discussed three types of user research: usability, content inventory and competitive analysis. All three types of assessment compel the practitioner to rethink how we create our tools and who we create them for.
I’d love to hear more about how other archivists are assessing their programs and tools! Please share!