“Advancing Learning and Transforming Scholarship”: Challenges and Opportunities Ann Campion Riley University of Missouri Mississippi Library Association, October 2014

Thanks for coming today!

Association of College and Research Libraries Formed from ALA’s College Library Section, started in 1890; became a Division in 1940 About 20% of ALA membership, with over 12,000 members (2013) Core Purpose To lead academic and research librarians and libraries in advancing learning and scholarship.

. Desired Future (from ACRL) Long-term Envisioned Future Vision Academic and research librarians and libraries are essential to a thriving global community of learners and scholars. ACRL’s directions identified in the “Plan for Excellence”

Three Areas in Plan  ACRL’s Plan for Excellence focuses attention on “ three areas that capitalize on our strengths, deliver high member value, and heighten our impact”: • Value of Academic Libraries • Student Learning • Research and Scholarly Environment

Linked Concepts and Projects

Information Literacy (Student Learning) and Scholarly Communications Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment. White paper on the overlapping issues Related to teaching students the value and appropriate use of information Addresses the context of scholarly writing and the paper/journal/database/monograph system

Student Learning and Value of Libraries Closely linked in most cases ACRL “Assessment in Action” project developed to document the linkage Part of the ACRL “Value of Libraries” project begun in 2009 Two IMLS grants, two summits, reports

Direct Result of Assessment Regional accrediting agencies (for many here, Higher Learning Commission of North Central Association) have shifted focus to outcomes- based assessment rather than output measurements, like how many of what. Groups asking, “What does a diploma mean? Why go to college? Why is it so expensive?” Diploma

What Does It Mean for You? This Value of Libraries research is intended to help document the effects that a library’s presence on campus, and/or involvement in the curriculum, has on student learning, student retention and other goals of the institution, e.g, how do libraries matter? For the summits, ACRL partnered with the Council of Independent Colleges, Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, and Association for Institutional Research

The “Heart of the Campus?”

Spaces, Collections vs. Services Ithaka survey (2012) documents faculty still think of libraries first as collections Administrators seem to think of libraries first as spaces Librarians seem to think first of our staff and services

Challenge of Survival

ACRL Advocacy Consistent, multi-year effort to communicate Value of Libraries and other research results to administrative associations in higher ed ACRL officers and staff present to meetings of provosts, chancellors, business officers and other professional groups in higher ed including CHEA (Council of Higher Education Accrediting Associations) ACRL Council of Liaisons reps work with additional subject-based organizations

A Few Recommended Actions for Librarians (from Summits) Develop a library research agenda to consider questions like: How can we increase and document library impact? What partnerships can increase and document impacts? Develop strategies to advance library participation in learning analytics initiatives; some use technology applications to look at student learning

Data Gathering at Your Institution

Librarians Learn Assessment Outcomes must be incorporated into library activities, facilities planning and evaluation Librarians should know the uses of assessment data, including the roles of quantitative and qualitative data, sources of data, and data analysis and interpretation, and who does this work on your campus Look at tools like National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) http://nsse.iub.edu/html/about.cfm

Focus on Institutional Goals

Use the Tools Standards: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standards libraries (free) New online resource, provides access to academic library data collection by ACRL and the National Center for Education Statistics: ACRL Metrics http://www.acrlmetrics.com/ (Unfortunately, costs $199 for contributors)

New Info Lit Framework ACRL group looking at updating the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (2000) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (draft) http://acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp- content/uploads/2014/02/Framework-for- IL-for-HE-Draft-2.pdf

Opportunities for Us

Challenge = Opportunity How do we demonstrate libraries contribute to results like: Potential students are more likely to choose the school. Students learn more, achieve better grades, win more awards, and stay at the institutions to graduate. Faculty teach more effectively, publish more and receive more grants. Institutions get higher rankings. Alumni donate more.

Old and New Roles Librarians become key players in campus assessment teams Libraries help maintain scholarly identity and campus atmosphere of learning Librarians document their value to the institutions by focusing on student recruitment and success Librarians help lead technology innovation Librarians manage print collections and the shift to online as partners in learning Librarians play a central role in research data

Questions and Comments “Advancing learning and transforming scholarship…” Questions and Comments Or email me at rileyac@missouri.edu

Sources Association of College and Research Libraries. Connect, Collaborate and Communicate: A Report from the Value of Libraries Summit. Chicago: ACRL, 2012. ---. Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment. Chicago: ACRL, 2012. ACRL Plan for Excellence. Chicago: ACRL, 2011. http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/strategicplan/st ratplan Ithaka S+R Survey US. Faculty Survey 2012. Ann Arbor, Mich. : Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2012.      National Survey of Student Engagement. http://nsse.iub.edu/pdf/exp_items/2013/NSSE%2 02013%20Experimental_INL_Codebook.pdf Oakleaf, Megan. The Value of Academic Libraries. Chicago: ALA, 2010. Pew Research Center. “The Rising Cost of Not Going to College.” 2014. (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the -rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/)