Can a cumulative effects framework be applied to information literacy assessment?

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Pow, Virginia

• Environmental ecosystems are complex. Evaluating only one aspect of an ecosystem, does not provide a true measure of its impact. The same is true for information literacy. To evaluate information literacy goals only in a class setting, without taking into account other factors, does not provide us with an accurate overview of how we are doing. As resource demands grow, we must be able to measure the effects of all library information literacy activities, large and small, on values that are important to the greater University of Alberta community. Taking a framework meant for a holistic approach to our environment - may be the answer to how to evaluate our library research instruction, to ensure high quality sessions are offered, and there are enough individuals to work with the students. Currently, library research sessions evaluate on three main criteria - student feedback, faculty feedback and quality of the research assignment. Often - only one of the three areas are assessed. Areas that are currently being left out, include: services desks, individual consultations, online chat reference services and information that is provided via E Class through online modules or online tutorials. Without taking other factors into account, most library information literacy evaluation is truly only looking at one tree type - instead of the information environment.

• Date created

  2017-05-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Assessement
  • Libraries
  • Cumulative Effects

• Type of Item

  Conference/Workshop Poster

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R38G8FW9K

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International