Evaluation of an embedded librarian program: Patron use and perception

Objective: To evaluate an embedded librarian program using rigorous, meaningful, and measurable methods including a survey and librarian activity data. Methods: An initial national survey of librarians embedded in the health sciences and a literature review identified few evaluation tools, leading the librarians to begin developing an embedded evaluation toolkit. The evaluation toolkit consists of locally collected data on various service transactions and a survey aimed to measure use of embedded librarians. The team collaborated with the university’s educational research institute to draft and begin validating the survey. It was distributed to students, residents, and faculty in April 2015. Results: The survey was distributed to over 4,000 students, faculty and residents with 381 completed surveys. Over 58% of participants who completed the survey reported being aware of their college or department's embedded librarian and 55% of participants indicated one or more librarians had worked with them. Participants noted contacting librarians primarily through email and in person with few contacts through online courseware. The majority of faculty strongly agreed that embedded librarians saved them time and were an integral part of their group. Faculty used librarian assistance primarily in literature searching, while students used librarian assistance for assignments, searching the literature, and in finding online resources. Conclusions: The survey results are helping to direct the future course of the embedded librarian program by indicating areas of strength and areas where more effort needs to be expended. Embedded librarians were contacted primarily through in-person exchanges, demonstrating the strength of having a librarian embedded in physical areas of colleges and departments. A lack of contacts through online courseware shows an opportunity to expand the embedded program into virtual areas as well. Literature searching was the primary use of embedded librarian assistance, illustrating a possible need for greater marketing of other services