Purpose & Goals
The poster addresses the crucial issue of thoroughly assessing and enhancing compassion within library services at the university library. As compassion is pivotal in making students feel heard and supported, our poster details an innovative compassion audit, facilitated by generative AI, specifically tailored to the library's programming and outreach initiatives. This audit encompasses considerations of physical spaces, the library environment, students’ economic factors, and behavioral, psychological, and social aspects of the student experience. Our audit, inspired by the principles of diversity audits, evaluates how well our library's existing services align with the goal of fostering a compassionate environment for first-year students. By employing detailed prompts to ChatGTP, we expedited the audit process, assessing various library facets such as policies and procedures, instruction, LibGuides, workshops, consultations, outreach, and physical spaces to gauge the presence and integration of compassionate practices. The poster will include information on leveraging ChatGTP to assist in creating rubrics and generating insights for service enhancement, thereby illustrating advancement in library assessment practices. We aim to showcase how AI can be a pivotal tool in comprehensively analyzing and improving the incorporation of compassion into library programming, instruction, and user engagement. Specifically, the poster will highlight our findings on where compassion is effectively embedded in our services and where “compassion gaps” exist. It will also discuss the implications of these findings for future library practices, emphasizing the potential of AI-assisted audits in facilitating rapid and nuanced assessments of library services. This approach not only aids in improving the student experience but also contributes to the broader discourse on integrating holistic and empathetic practices within librarianship.
Design & Methodology
Materials: We utilize existing library materials, including instructional content, LibGuides, workshop outlines, promotional materials, and policies and procedures as the primary sources for our audit. These materials are scrutinized to assess their alignment with compassionate practices and their ability to address the diverse needs of first-year students. Traditions: The audit draws on the traditions of user-centered service and outreach. By embracing traditions such as accessibility and inclusivity, community engagement, personalized services, and information literacy instruction, we ensure that our audit respects the core values of librarianship while seeking to enhance them through a focus on compassion. Methodology: Our methodology is adapted from diversity audit frameworks, traditionally used to assess collection diversity and representation. We extend methods such as collection sampling, development of criteria, data collection, benchmarking, identification of gaps, reporting and creating action plans, and continuous evaluation to inform our audit, employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches to capture a comprehensive picture of compassion in the library setting. Literature: In crafting our framework for conducting a compassion audit within our library services, we draw upon the methodologies and insights of scholars known for their contributions to diversity audits in libraries. While our focus is not on diversity audits per se, the foundational work of Shannon D. Jones and Beverly Murphy, as presented in 'Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries: A Call to Action and Strategies for Success', provides a pivotal reference point for us. This text’s comprehensive approach to assessing diversity and inclusion within library settings has offered us a valuable perspective on how to methodically evaluate aspects of compassion in our library’s programming and outreach initiatives.
Practical Implications & Value
Our proposed work aims to offer a replicable model for planning compassion audits within library settings. By sharing our framework and planning process, libraries can consider how to examine their services through a compassion lens, ultimately aiming to foster environments that support student well-being and academic achievement.