Developing the 'Understanding Library Impacts' Protocol: A Method for Detecting and Communicating Academic Library Impact on Student Learning

The Understanding Library Impacts (ULI) protocol is a suite of instruments designed to demonstrate connections between undergraduate student use of the academic library and faculty-defined expectations for student learning. The ULI protocol features a Critical Incident Technique (CIT) survey for exploring student use of the library during `high-impact' academic experiences such as capstone courses. A `Learning Activities Crosswalk' links student use of the library to faculty-defined, discipline-specific and general education expectations for student learning. This methodological study evaluated the protocol with a population of undergraduate students enrolled in upper-level and capstone history courses at six colleges and universities. The protocol focuses on students' use of traditional and electronic information resources, library services, and library facilities during learning activities associated with `high-impact' experiences in the academic major. Learning activities are stages in `high-impact' coursework during which students develop and demonstrate desired learning outcomes. The Learning Activities Crosswalk creates credible connections between information use behaviors during these learning activities and faculty-defined expectations for student learning. A web-based survey using the Critical Incident Technique gathers quantitative and qualitative data about students' information uses when completing `high-impact' coursework. Created and refined in two interview-based pilot studies, respondents identify the information resources, services, and facilities used when completing coursework and the learning activities each use supported. Partially-open questions identify the factors of library use that were helpful or problematic to students during their coursework. Open-ended questions gather qualitative data and user stories that reinforce other findings. Undergraduates enrolled in history courses at the six study sites reported 127 critical incidents. Responses from the survey and results from the Learning Activities Crosswalk were entered into a database for analysis and presentation to study sites. Statistical and qualitative techniques were used to assess the validity and reliability of findings. The study demonstrated a method for exploring library use as a component of student effort within the context of academic `work tasks' and illustrated the power of the CIT for exploring library impact. The project also generated an extensible and scalable framework for detecting and communicating library contributions to student learning.Doctor of Philosoph