Why I Like Assessment

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I know I've published a post about assessment and research in the past, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately so I wanted to share.

Before I get into why I like it, I want to share two of my pet peeves about assessment:

• Assessing "because we have to." This can take a number of forms, but in my part of librarianship it mostly takes the shape of a looming threat from an accrediting body. Because of poor (or good?) timing on my part as I've moved from job to job, I've managed to be on the ground for three major reaccreditations and even more minor ones. Middle States twice and NEASC once. One thing I've learned from these experiences is that assessment must be for a purpose, and for a real purpose, not just because Mommy Middle States and Daddy NEASC are gonna spank you otherwise. Besides, they will notice if you assess but don't do anything with the data.
• And that's my other pet peeve: assessing and not doing anything with it. Let me repeat: they will notice. This is how you actually piss off an accrediting agency - gather info but never do anything with it. You MUST close the loop, otherwise why are you gathering the data in the first place? (Other than the obvious things that everybody who gathers stats wants to know, like reference transactions and such. But that's a pet peeve for another day.)

Now onto the reasons I enjoy doing that word that so many pronounce as though it's an invective:

• Assessment can help you improve. The whole point of libraries, in my mind, is public service. Say what you will about preservation of the scholarly record or the democratization of knowledge, because even those boil down to public service. Whether your "public" is a bunch of lawyers who need help identifying the relevant case law or a bunch of toddlers trying to learn their ABCs, librarians and libraries are in this to help - and looking at how we've done in the past can help us do it better in the future.
• Assessment can help you prove the things you already know. We are doing a space use survey and will be doing a kindness audit in advance of reworking how we use the space in my library. I already *know* that we get filled to the brim with students since there are few spaces on campus where small groups can work and even fewer spaces allocated for quiet study, but in order to get permission from the powers that be to reapportion the space, I need to be able to prove the need. So... space use survey it is!
• Assessment can be a marketing tool. I've talked before about marketing and it's once again germane to this conversation. We're in the process of evaluating a new database provider and I'm fairly set on switching to them from our current provider for a number of reasons (more complete coverage that will support departments that haven't before been supported, cost savings, better product, etc.). Rather than just dictate WE ARE CHANGING from on high, I've asked members of the community to look at the new database and to fill out a survey about what they like and dislike. I have been able, in some cases, to answer people's concerns directly. I'm even running a drawing for prizes like a $10 gift card to our bookstore as a way to get people to participate. Marketing is a conversation, and soliciting feedback is a fantastic way to get the conversation started.

So, how about you? Are you an assessment lover already? If so, why? If not, why the heck not (and did I maybe convince you to change your opinion)?

Content, Not Format

Can we PLEASE stop pretending that just because it's on paper it's good and just because it's on the web it's bad? #librarianlament
— Jessica Olin (@olinj) September 17, 2013

I sent this tweet (and posted it as a status update on Facebook as well) in a moment of deep frustration. Leading up to that point, I'd had a string of interactions, with students, faculty, and staff that left me slightly gobsmacked. Although the specifics were different, in each moment I was being told, "Paper good. Electronic bad." I don't want to share further details since I'm not interested in shaming the people involved. What I want is to educate them. Even still, I can't help imagining these people talking like characters from Animal Farm:

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When I posted the above to my social networks, I was expecting it to be one of the many many tweets/Facebook status updates I send off into the abyss. I was wrong. In fact, the response was so strong, that I realized there was a blog post in it. However, before I go any further, I want you to know that I know writing this post to my typical audience is preaching to the converted. I see this more as me giving you ways to present the topic to those who still need convincing.

So, we need to ignore my previous exhortations that all sources should be evaluated based on the Five Ws, and pretend that we know absolutely nothing about the merit of different resources. Let's look at the kinds of arguments that might work to convince someone to change their stance on this issue:

• There is no such thing as a source that is never appropriate (go ahead, write an essay about Wikipedia without citing Wikipedia, and see what kind of response you get).
• Also, there is a risk in professors taking this kind of stance around students, particularly those who are younger than 25 and whose brains are still maturing, is that students can be so literal. I have, more than once, tried to bring a student over to a computer to show him/her how to use the online public access catalog, only to be told, "Oh, I'm not allowed to use online sources."
• What about all the craptastic, self-published books?
• What about all the refereed, web-based publications? One example is Disability Studies Quarterly, a source that, in the past, I required my own students to read.
• We also need to remind people that so many online sources are faithful reproductions of publications that were originally hard copies.
• A more practical argument is that, with book budgets being slashed, the books in the physical library can sometimes (though not always) be terribly out of date.

I tell people all these things, and yet some of them still insist that paper is supreme. Usually, though, if I'm persistent and keep presenting examples, I win them over.

How do you change people's minds about this? Also, why do you think we're still fighting this fight? Is it that nobody has tried to convince the "Paper good; electronic bad" crowd? Or is it something deeper?

Congress Shall Make No Law

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I've got a longer post brewing for next week, but I thought a short post about a pet peeve.

The first amendment protects against the government silencing you or erasing your words, and only the government. If someone else deletes your words, like GoodReads or The New York Times or even a blogger (yes, I have deleted comments from this blog - not often, but I have), it is not a violation of your first amendment rights.

Here's my question: how is it that so many people misunderstand this?

I genuinely don't understand this, so I'd love hear your opinions.


Post Script: It feels weird to look at that title considering what Congress is doing - or not doing, which is more to the point - today.