Purpose & Goals

It may seem counterintuitive to launch a new assessment project during a time of massive institutional change, but we wanted to hitch a ride on the wave of change and innovation sweeping our university and leverage it to establish a culture of continuous assessment and improvement of our library instruction offerings. Our project had two specific goals. First, we wanted to minimize the cognitive load needed to understand the format and purposes of our webinars. In the wake of National University and Northcentral University's recent merger, our students were bombarded with a vast number of new resources and updated information. It was therefore essential that our library services (including webinars) were intuitive and easy to understand. Our second goal was to ensure effective return-on-investment of librarian time by identifying both less-attended and highly popular webinars, in the wake of an increased, post-merger student population.

Design & Methodology

We conducted a quantitative analysis of webinar attendance data over the previous year. Data collection involved collating and correcting data from two Libcal systems, due to the recent merger of two library systems. Attendance data was then averaged and correlated with the audience, time of day, and day of the week. The results were then color-coded to support rapid interpretation of the results. The quantitative analysis was augmented with a qualitative assessment of librarian feedback and published literature to contextualize attendance data, interpret meaning, and extrapolate best practices.

Findings

From our research, we generated a list of best practices for webinar titles, descriptions, branding, and tags. We also were able to identify several under-attended webinars suitable to be retired from their current live webinar format, as well as some highly popular webinars that should be offered more often. Through the internal assessment process, we also identified our webinars as an opportunity for continuous review and improvement.

Action & Impact

Our first output was a written report of recommendations shared with library leadership. From there, we conducted presentations on our findings to library leadership, the library instruction team, and the campus teams. Impacts included implementing our recommendations and launching a biannual systematic assessment to foster a culture of continuous improvement among our instruction team.

Practical Implications & Value

Attendees will take away practical tips for collecting and analyzing library webinar data and gathering internal expertise to contextualize the data. Attendees will be prepared to implement a similar project at their institution, share findings with internal and external stakeholders, and generate support for continuous assessment and improvement of their library instruction offerings. Institutional change can feel overwhelming, but embracing that change creates the opportunity for impactful and meaningful assessment.

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