N. Evaluate Programs and Services
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Introducation to Core Competency N. Evaluate programs and services on specified criteria. Libraries must have current and appropriate resources in order to adequately serve their communities. Librarians must be able to evaluate information-related products and services that will be used in libraries, such as online public access catalogs, databases, even Web resources that the library links to from their Website. Managing a library's collection also involves evaluation for selection and deselection as outlined in a library's collection development policy statement. Librarians must also be able to evaluate the library's reference services in light of changing user needs, such as distance learning students in academic libraries. Much of my coursework at SLIS has required evaluation of library programs and services according to specific criteria. The LIBR 240 Web Design Analysis/Comparison assignment demonstrates my competency in evaluating Websites according to the Web Design and Usability Guidelines developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). I chose five design criteria that I felt had major importance. Then I evaluated three Web sites, based on the design criteria I identified, and presented my evaluation on a Web page in a table format. The five HHS design criteria identified are the following:
The three Websites evaluated are the following:
Visit the exhibit hall of any large library conference and you get an idea of the products marketed to libraries. Librarians must be able to evaluate the products they need to purchase. In How Usable is Your Interface? Testing the Interface of De Anza College Library's Online Catalog, I evaluate the interface of the Sirsi Dynix online public access catalog (OPAC) used at De Anza library and two pages of research links and journal resources. When viewing this document please wait for the screen shots to load. For this paper, I researched Jakob Neilsen, the Web usability design expert, and chose some usability design tips from his Alertbox column. I applied his and others' usability guidelines as the basis for evaluating the OPAC and the two additional pages. I use the following five usability guidelines from Nielsen as the basis of evaluation:
And the following six Web design principles from Schneiderman and Plaisant:
I concluded that the OPAC's interface does not adhere to usability guidelines found in the literature and that a Web interface must present users with a human-behind-the-machine look and feel. The lesson learned from this experience was that a straight out-of-the-box product that ignores the unique needs and identities of the institution will never satisfy users, no matter how convenient it may be for administrators. A. Friday, instructor of LIBR 266 states, "Collection management requires regular and ongoing evaluations of the collection. To achieve this objective, some selectors divide their collection management responsibilities into sections and review one or more each month in order to effectively cover the whole subject area at least once a year." In Women in Islam: Middle Eastern Studies at a Community College Library, a collection evaluation assignment, I reviewed the general area of women in Islam using the random selection approach to assess a sample of materials for evaluation. I evaluate the current collection according to the following seven factors:
In Reference Interview Analysis I: In Person Reference, I evaluate an interaction with reference librarians at my local public library using as the criteria for evaluation the five-steps of a reference interview found in the literature--opening the interview, negotiating the question, the search, communicating the information, and closing the interview. I also examine the interview using as the basis of evaluation the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) guidelines for reference and information services professionals. In Reference Interview Analysis II: Digital Reference, I evaluate interactions with virtual reference librarians according to established reference guidelines, such as the classical questioning techniques of acknowledging or rephrasing the question, approachability, negotiating the question, and searching. In the Case Study, Are Some Students More Equal than Others? Equity for Distance Learners in Academic Libraries, we used Association of College & Research Libraries Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services and the Canadian Library Association Guidelines for Library Support of Distance and Distributed Learning in Canada as the criteria by which we evaluated the equity of library services for distance learning students at an academic library in California. In this Research Proposal for a Collection Development Policy Statement for SJPL, I evaluate the collection development policies of 22 public libraries according to best practices developed by Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), American Library Association (ALA), and Arizona State Library with the purpose of proposing a structure and format for the Revised San Jose Public Library (SJPL) collection development policy. Schneiderman, B. & Plaisant, C. (2004). Chapter 2: Guidelines, principles, and theories. Designing the user interface. Boston: Pearson Press, (pp. 59-106). |