A Method for Evaluating Library Liaison Activities in Small Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

This article presents a practical method for formative, self-reflective assessment of the liaison activities of individual librarians and to evaluate liaison activities in general. Many libraries evaluate their liaison programs, but few evaluate the effectiveness of individual librarians’ efforts within the program. Librarians of Rollins College redefined and re-branded their liaison program as “Your Librarian.” As part of this effort, the author surveyed the faculty and assessed the program and the effectiveness of individual librarians. The author outlines the liaison responsibilities, the survey instrument, and how the results are analyzed and used in a process of continuous reflective improvement for the program and librarians.

KEYWORDS:

• liaison librarians
• survey
• assessment
• formative evaluation
• college libraries

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks Jonathan Harwell, Bethany Hicok, Susan Montgomery, and Cynthia Snyder for valuable input on previous drafts.

Notes

¹ See a listing of existing relationships at http://www.rollins.edu/library/yourlibrarian/index.html.

² See http://www.rollins.edu/library/about/histplan.html#libqual for details.

³ The discrepancy between this figure and the one noted in Table 1 is the difference between adjuncts, etc., and those respondents who chose to identify themselves as visiting faculty or who chose not to answer the question.

⁴ The issue of how we support adjuncts and part-time faculty is very important to us. However, this attempt to survey them was clearly not effective. First, the number of adjunct faculty employed at Rollins in the spring semester of 2013 was 117, not 148. So the original email list includes some inaccuracies. Secondly, of the 117 employed, only 14 responded to our survey. This is most likely because many of them do not regularly check their Rollins email. We are seeking a more effective way to survey this group and, more importantly, to support them.