Author Archives: Nancy Turner

On Citizen Science and Library Assessment

I first got hooked on watching birds when living on Peaks Island, Maine. Sitting at my kitchen table one morning and gazing out a window to the back yard, a flock of cedar waxwings settled onto a tree. I never … Continue reading

Posted in data-driven decision making, service assessment, statistics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on On Citizen Science and Library Assessment

We’re Getting Social

Reaching out to students where they are is a critical part of our communication and outreach program, and our new assistant director for editorial, Ella Lathan, is expert at creatively using social media platforms to connect with our community. She … Continue reading

Posted in data-driven decision making, statistics, web analytics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

An Assessment Librarian Converses with ChatGPT

Inspired by Hyangeun (Jenny) Ji’s workshop out of the Scholars Studio yesterday on How to Talk with AI: Prompt Engineering, I continued my exploration of how generative AI tools might support my work in data analysis and assessment. Jenny’s lesson … Continue reading

Posted in assessment methods | Tagged , | Comments Off on An Assessment Librarian Converses with ChatGPT

A Better Understanding of Library Work Effort

Happy New Year! What a year we had in 2023. Tumultuous. I predict that 2024 will be equally filled with change and uncertainty. Before we move on to those new challenges, a brief update on an important assessment effort conducted … Continue reading

Posted in data-driven decision making | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Asking for help from ChatGPT

I’ve been exploring prompt engineering this week in my efforts to learn more about the uses of AI – for personal interests and professional work. It connects to our thinking about the use of AI tools for instruction and by … Continue reading

Posted in instruction and student learning, research work practice | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Designing Libraries: Finding New Adjacencies to Improve Experience

The ways in which we use libraries is changing. How we conduct research. How we use (and don’t use) print collections to seek information. How we design our physical spaces to welcome students and create a sense of belonging for … Continue reading

Posted in conference reports, library spaces, user experience | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Assessing the Impact of Purchasing (and Promoting) Etextbooks 

We start the semester off with a post from Karen Kohn and members of the Open Education Group (Steven Bell, Andrew Diamond, Courtney Eger, Kristina De Voe, Janeen Lamontagne, Alicia Pucci) that describes in detail how Karen and the team … Continue reading

Posted in collections | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Letters from the Field: Evidence-Based Research for Librarians

This month’s post is from Sarah Bauman, Head of the Charles A. Kraus Library at Temple’s Schools of Podiatric Medicine. Sarah was so excited by the recent conference she attended, I asked her to post about it. Here’s Sarah’s account: … Continue reading

Posted in conference reports, research work practice | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

There’s Always Room for Improvement

In my capacity as coordinator of library assessment, I’m often consulted about survey design. I even represent the Libraries on the University’s Survey Coordinating Committee. So I should know and use best practices.   But frequently we want to toss … Continue reading

Posted in surveys | Tagged | Leave a comment

Creating Spaces for Community and Connection 

The crowds are back! For ALA’s annual conference, almost 16,000 registrants gathered at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. The return to fully in-person meetings, coupled with sessions on the new hybrid work environment, has me revisiting the question of how … Continue reading

Posted in conference reports, library spaces | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Creating Spaces for Community and Connection