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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (3 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2014)
This article presents a qualitative evaluation methodology of academic departments for library organizational learning and library enhancement planning. This evaluation used campus units’ academic program review reports as a data source and employed collaborative content analysis by library liaisons to extract departmental strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and priorities. We illustrate how a systematic review of internal planning documents facilitates the understanding of programmatic goals, identification of cross‐unit synergies, and prioritization of library services. Our evaluation utilized a mix of technological, methodological, and analytical activities suitable for implementation in other academic library settings.
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2014)

    The UC Berkeley Library has developed an innovative approach for gathering insight from particular academic departments, programs, and campus communities for Library strategic planning and organizational learning without deploying another survey for departmental input.  

    The Academic Program Review (APR) exercise guides academic departments at Berkeley through a comprehensive assessment of their opportunities and challenges, helping them assess their future and analyze what is needed for pursuing new paths of inquiry and discovery.  Each academic department is scheduled for this review every eight years. The APR reports amass a wealth of data and provide valuable insight into the needs, experiences, and plans of academic units.  Informed by the aspirations of academic departments, library liaisons will be better able to enhance and adapt library services, programs, and resources with a greater sense of focus and impact. The Vice Provost approved the Library’s request to receive copies of all past and future APR reports prepared by academic departments.  In 2012-2013, the Library developed and piloted the methodology for distributing the APR reports, extracting and documenting key data, coding and summarizing findings, identifying commonalities and potential enhancements, and setting priorities for action. 

    This poster session presents the methodology for a qualitative library-centric evaluation of academic departments’ needs and objectives as evidenced in the APR reports.  The Library employed collaborative content analysis and qualitative coding methods to extract departmental strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and priorities (SWOT+P).  This SWOT+P model mapped content from the APR reports to a series of strategic planning and action items for the UC Berkeley Library. 

    This analysis was beneficial to our library in several ways.  The reports added an evidence-based and qualitative dimension to our understanding of academic departments’ needs and experiences, and helped the library collect ideas for improving, adding, or evolving services and resources in meaningful ways.  By seeing how the Library was discussed in these APR reports, we developed a deeper awareness of how the Library relates to the University and individual departments in order to spotlight opportunities for aligning with wider organizational initiatives and for cultivating campus awareness of the Library’s academic value.  In addition to helping the library plan strategically, this process engaged library liaisons in organizational learning that allowed them to draw on their unique areas of expertise as well as to engage in dialogue through the shared vocabulary of the project.  By observing affinities and commonalities between different liaison subject areas, we also sparked conversations that may lead to greater mutual support and collaboration. 

    With the evaluation frameworks, coding models, data sharing agreements, and communication methods in place, the UC Berkeley Library is now positioned to use our APR reports review exercise for continuous assessment and strategic planning.  This scheduled cycle is an opportunity for libraries to regularly study academic departments’ needs and plans in order to design responsive library enhancements.  This is an important mechanism that helps the Library to respond to changes as they develop.  The analysis utilized a mix of technological, methodological, and analytical activities that, taken together, suggest a useful approach that could be implemented in other academic library settings with any artifact that documents the goals, programming, and priorities of an academic unit.  

      Cover page: Qualitative Analysis of Academic Program Review Reports: UC Berkeley Library’s Collaborative, Research-driven Approach for Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2016)
      University of California, Berkeley librarians have incorporated the flipped instruction model into information literacy training by focusing on two primary elements: assigning pre-class assignments and increasing active learning techniques. We explore these two elements across five diverse instructional cases, which include one-shot and semester-long classes that were conducted through online or in-person delivery for both graduate and undergraduate students across a range of subject areas (sciences, social sciences, and humanities). We examine the enabling factors and the perceived outcomes of this instructional paradigm. Because students came to class with enhanced library understanding and experience from the pre-class assignment, they were better prepared to engage with the material and articulate additional learning needs. We note students' increased engagement during class and more time available for higher-order learning exercises and discussions. As a result, flipped instruction appears to enable more learning opportunities without increasing classroom time. The challenges of this model are the requisite commitment of time and effort, the need to foster class participation, and the facilitation of active communication within the class. We propose a framework of catalysts, building blocks, and instructional outcomes to help library instructors incorporate flipped instruction elements into their instructional design.
        Cover page: Flipped Instruction for Information Literacy: Five Instructional Cases of Academic Librarians
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