LOEX Conference Proceedings 2010

Document Type

Structural Supports: Assessment and Evaluation

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

Until recent years, library instruction (LI) was usually conducted in face-to-face (F2F) settings. Statistical reporting of LI activities tends, therefore, to focus on measures relevant to F2F settings -- for example, the number of "sessions" (classes) and the number of "participants" (students). However, newer forms of LI conducted in the online realm (from librarians embedded in classes through courseware, to online library tutorials, to for-credit online library research courses, and beyond) may be difficult to count in traditional ways, with significant implications: the way librarians quantify their activities can affect everything from advocacy efforts to funding decisions to individual or departmental workloads. The authors will outline the issues related to reporting online LI activities, discuss how their institution has grappled with these issues, and reveal the results of an exploratory survey on this topic. It is hoped that this discussion and the exploratory survey will heighten awareness of the issues involved and lead to greater exploration of this topic in the future -- and perhaps eventually to solutions and standards that will help librarians to more accurately account for LI activities conducted in the online realm.

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