Purpose & Goals

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville Libraries Assessment Program was gathering information on outreach, instruction, and other engagement activities (from here on, Engagement Activities) using spreadsheets and email requests. However, this method was time-consuming and cumbersome, and it did not provide a good representation of Engagement Activities. Additionally, individuals felt their work was hidden and not being properly supported. Individual departments had tried different initiatives in the past, but nothing stuck. Could we get everyone in the Library to use the same tool to get consistent and reliable data? Could one form serve to provide individuals with the information they need for their own annual reviews and library-wide annual reporting? Could one form give departments the information they need to strategically plan their work and provide the data administration needs to quickly respond to campus and system requests about library activities? Could one form also help us craft stories of library impact beyond basic counts of library activities? Our objectives for this 2023 project were as follows: More Data, Better Process: Collect more data on engagement activities happening across the Libraries, save time, and improve the Libraries' internal and external reporting. Storytelling and Impact: Demonstrate the value of the library's work to better support patrons, see patterns and identify broader themes, and incorporate engagement reporting within existing workflows throughout the year. Improved Conversation: Facilitate a more inclusive conversation around the library's work's impact, learn from each other, and discuss issues of workload to prioritize time for innovation and improvement.

Design & Methodology

We reviewed the literature to see what other institutions were doing. Most often, reporting of this kind focused on Liaison Librarianship needs. We knew our greatest hurdles would be buy-in and motivation. We wanted to create one form for the library by conducting a formal project using Agile methodologies and project management techniques endorsed by the Project Management Institute including a project charter, and other project planning methods. We conducted listening sessions with our major stakeholders to understand how our staff were gathering information on their engagement activities. We also wanted to understand what they felt was lacking in their current process and what the new process could offer. Based on these discussions we created a central reporting form that attempts to address individual staff and institutional reporting needs. The form was created with Agile methodologies in mind. We wanted to continuously receive feedback and adjust. We created mock-ups and tested continuously throughout the Spring and into Summer 2023, officially deciding to use LibInsights. We gathered feedback from our initial stakeholder group for three months and made necessary adjustments throughout the initial mock-up and testing phase. We conducted a soft roll-out to all library personnel for the Fall 2023 semester. Again, feedback was accepted, and training conducted. We met with department heads to promote the form and build stronger communication. By January 2024, we ran an official roll-out of the form with an accompanying guide and training video. We have maintenance plans and other workflows in place for continuous assessment.

Conclusions

While the creation of our one form is complete, true adoption and results are yet to be seen. Current positives: 1) We are seeing more entries by staff than when we used our classic spreadsheet method. 2) Using one tool allows us to begin to see a bigger picture of how Engagement work is happening at our institution including mode of delivery (i.e. asynchronous, synchronous), audience (i.e. undergraduates, faculty), and our overall impact numbers. 3) We are starting to see how this data can inform future planning. For example, we have fields in the form for prep time and active time. This has been particularly valuable information to understand for individual and departmental planning purposes. We are excited to get to the point of seeing trends over time. We have received positive feedback that the form has saved individual's time. Being able to pull data and create personalized reporting with simple visualizations in LibInsight is a game changer. However, not everyone has adopted the form. Buy-in takes time. We are also in continued conversations about assessing Engagement. While our reporting needs are being met by the one form, the need to assess the impact of our activities still exists. Going forward, we want to learn if the ease of using one form outweighs the varying needs of specialized work. Is one form serving to provide individuals with the information they need for their own annual reviews and library-wide annual reporting? Is one form giving departments the information they need to strategically plan their work and provide the data administration needs to quickly respond to campus and system requests about library activities? Is one form helping us craft stories about library impact beyond basic counts of library activities?

Implications & Value

Many libraries struggle with inconsistent and time-consuming data collection for engagement activities. We believe this project contributes to the field by offering a practical example of consistent engagement data collection, sharing a structured approach to wide-scale process improvement in libraries, and sparking dialogue on measuring and communicating library impact beyond counts of Engagement activities. We want to make processes for gathering statistics easier, but we also want to use our time effectively. This topic is not just about a method for gathering statistics, but about purpose and being able to better demonstrate the value of Engagement activities. By sharing our experience transitioning to a single tool and its impact on efficiency and data quality, we hope to provide the community with one example of a unified data collection system for wider adoption. This presentation is a springboard for collective learning and improvement. Counting activities provides a starting point, but true impact lies deeper. We invite attendees to share experiences, challenges, and creative approaches to demonstrating library value related to Engagement.

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