Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research © 2017 Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. This work is issued under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license CC BY-NC 4.0. Citation: Association of College and Research Libraries. Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research. Prepared by Lynn Silipigni Connaway, William Harvey, Vanessa Kitzie, and Stephanie Mikitish of OCLC Research. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2017. Association of College & Research Libraries A division of the American Library Association Chicago, Illinois 2017 Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................................vii Introduction: Demonstrate the Library’s Value ........................................................................................1 Communicate the Library’s Contributions ...........................................................................................................2 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 3 Match Library Assessment to Institution’s Mission ...............................................................................................3 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 4 Include Library Data in Institutional Data Collection .........................................................................................4 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 5 Quantify the Library’s Impact on Student Success ................................................................................................5 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 6 Enhance Teaching and Learning ............................................................................................................................7 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 7 Collaborate with Educational Stakeholders ..........................................................................................................8 Suggested Actions ............................................................................................................................................................ 8 Research Questions Requiring Further Study ................................................................................................................ 9 Using This Report ...................................................................................................................................................9 Literature Review .....................................................................................................................................10 Evaluation and Assessment Literature .................................................................................................................10 Learning and Success ............................................................................................................................................12 Measuring Student Learning and Success outside the Library ...........................................................................13 Relevant ACRL Documents ..................................................................................................................................14 Methods ....................................................................................................................................................15 Data Collection .....................................................................................................................................................16 Selected LIS and Higher Education Literature ............................................................................................................ 16 Focus Group Interviews ................................................................................................................................................ 16 Semi-structured Individual Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 17 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................18 Coding ........................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Descriptive Statistics and Post Hoc Analysis ................................................................................................................ 20 Findings ....................................................................................................................................................20 Selected LIS and Higher Education Literature ....................................................................................................21 Analysis of Studies within the Selected Literature Review .......................................................................................... 26 Differences in AiA Projects versus Non-AiA Projects .................................................................................................. 26 Focus Group Interview .........................................................................................................................................28 Provost Semi-structured Individual Interviews ..................................................................................................31 Comparing Three Data Sources ...........................................................................................................................35 Discussion.................................................................................................................................................36 Priority Areas for Future Research and Effective Practices ....................................................................43 iii Identifying the Priority Areas ..............................................................................................................................43 Identifying Effective Practices ..............................................................................................................................44 Identifying Exemplary Studies .............................................................................................................................44 Identifying Research Questions ...........................................................................................................................44 Identifying Research Designs ...............................................................................................................................45 ACRL Research Agenda for Student Learning and Success ....................................................................45 Communicate the Library’s Contributions .........................................................................................................45 General Discussion........................................................................................................................................................ 45 Effective Practices to Implement at the Library ........................................................................................................... 46 Exemplary Studies ........................................................................................................................................................ 48 Research Questions Requiring Further Study .............................................................................................................. 49 Proposed Research Design ............................................................................................................................................ 49 Match Library Assessment to Institution’s Mission .............................................................................................50 General Discussion.......................................................................................................................................................