Tabatha Farney
Assess for Success: Building Your Self-Assessment Toolkit
Web Services Librarian tfarney@uccs.edu
Beth Larkee Kumar
Electronic Resources Librarian bkumar@uccs.edu
What is Self-Assessment?
A process used to examine and measure oneself based on
a set of predetermined criteria such as productivity and
outcomes that match individual job descriptions.
Our Toolkit:
There are many ways to record your daily output for both qualitative and quantitative methods. If your library
does not already have tracking software in use, you could develop your own or use a customizable online tool.
Many of these tools are freely available, but some may have more advanced features that require a subscription.
Tracking Tools
The purpose of our self-assessment study was to better prepare ourselves for
promotion and tenure, but we realized the set of tools we compiled could be of use to
any librarian at any stage of his or her career.
Despite the type of library, all librarians will undertake a review process, and this
information about your contribution can demonstrate the value
you bring to your workplace.
Organizational tools can assist your project management, keep track of your
time, store your documentation and share it with others.
Statistics Tools: These tools can quantify your productivity
by recording your reference, instruction, cataloging or
other statistics. We use RefSTATS, an in-house reference
tracking tool. Other customizable options, such as Zoho,
can be used with little technical expertize.
Time Tracking Tools: These tools can be used to record how you spend your
time, in user defined areas such as research and service, or by specific tasks.
Some tools, such as toggl and BeeBole have mobile interfaces to make it easier
to track your time on the go.
Survey Tools: These tools can offer qualitative feedback to
evaluate your performance. While we use several survey
tools, one of our favorite methods is to embed a Google
Form into LibGuides. Other tools include SurveyMonkey,
which allows you to send your surveys via email.
Cloud Computing for Documentation: Cloud Computing is any place to store
your documents online, so they can be easily accessed from anywhere. These
tools are great for online collaboration because you can edit your documents
jointly with your colleagues. We use the PBWorks wiki for working together on
projects and research.
Polling Tools: These tools can analyze results on the fly,
such as a mobile or clicker device, which can provide
instant response in an instruction session or workshop.
Our library has the iClicker system, but you could use
software such as Poll Everywhere that uses mobile phones
to text a response.
Tracking Tips:
We wanted a better way to track our progress and measure our accomplishments
based on our Library’s criteria for the tenure process. However, we quickly
realized that the tools we utilized could be used by other librarians in any type of
library who are interested in tracking and assessing their work.
Our Goals
1. Prepare for the Tenure Process: Tenure requirements vary
by university, but in general you need to collect evaluative
data about your work to clearly show how you matched the
requirements stated in your tenure guidelines.
2. Organize ourselves for Annual Evaluations: Each year we go
through an annual evaluation. We wanted to regularly track
our accomplishments to make this process easier for
ourselves and our supervisors.
3. Track our Progress as New Professionals: We wanted a
method for personally assessing our improvements and
identifying areas to grow.
4. Share our Toolkit: First we shared these tools between us to
collaborate. A colleague suggested we repurpose our toolkits
for new librarians in our library and the profession.
Job specific tools can assess specialized tasks you are expected to perform
as part of your position’s responsibilities.
Visibility tools help promote your work beyond your institution .
Many of the tools allow others to leave feedback on your work or
track usage.
Examine tools to determine which will help portray
your work. Equally important is to make sure the tools
are ones you will use. To make it easier, you can keep
them accessible in your browser’s bookmarks or by
using a wiki.
3.
Assess often! Once you are using these tools,
periodically review your results and modify as necessary.
For example, you may need to revise a survey or add
categories to your time tracking for more relevant data.
Unexpected Benefits & Outcomes
Overall, using these tools made us more organized and collaboration easier.
In addition, we found an interesting and practical topic to research.
1.
Compile your dossier: We found gathering data throughout the year, helped
us contribute to our dossiers continuously, making the process smoother.
2.
Help justify needs: By using the documentation we created, we were able to
show where improvements could be made. For instance,
Beth realized that there was enough volume in electronic
serials management to warrant student help.
3.
Learn about yourself: We added an assessment tab to
our LibGuides that included an online form to evaluate our
library instruction. Through the feedback gathered we
could make improvements for future sections.
4.
Understand your users: Through statistics,
such as our reference tracking tool,
Tabatha was able to incorporate
common questions at the reference
desk into the design of the library’s new website.
5.
Inform new librarians: We have recently hired a new tenure-track librarian
and we have shared our toolkits with her to help her start tracking her
tenure process. We thought other librarians outside of our library would also
benefit, and we hope other librarians will share their tips and tools with us.
Web Usage Tools: If you develop content for your library’s website, blog,
or other web presence, you can use web analytic tools to measure your
content’s effectiveness. Google Analytics is one of the most popular tools.
Blog Tools: These tools can allow you to share your professional
knowledge in a public forum. Many free tools are available and
simple to set up, such as WordPress and Blogger.
Presentation Tools: These tools allow you to post your presentations
and workshops online for colleagues and patrons to view. Tools such
as slideshare and Prezi are two different modes of sharing
information, but both allow viewers to leave comments.
2.
Job Specific Tools
Visibility Tools
Website/Portfolio Tools: These tools allow you to present your
accomplishments and potentially network with other professionals.
LinkedIn is a way to share this information without requiring
technical expertise, but you could also take the time to develop your
own website.
Start with an updated job description or tenure
guidelines. It is important to make sure your toolkit
is actually measuring your responsibilities. You should
use the same language as your job description, as it will
be easier for your supervisor to track your progress.
Choose tools you will use.
• Find tools you can incorporate into your daily activities.
• Try mobile apps if you are always on the move.
• Cloud computing is a great choice if you divide your time between
your office and the reference desk.
• Don’t overcomplicate your tracking, it will be easier
to use if you keep it simple.
Our Focus & Goals
Our immediate focus was our own promotion and tenure process. Tabatha
recently finished her Comprehensive Review, which is the halfway point before
the Tenure Review. Beth is in the process of creating her first dossier for the
Preliminary Review, which is the beginning of the tenure process at our
university.
1.
Organizational Tools
Tracking tools can be used to measure statistics and
feedback with a report feature to analyze the data.
Our Purpose
Building Your Own Toolkit
Database Usage Tools: If you collect statistics about database and journal
use in your position there are a number of options available. This can be
done manually or with online tools, such as Serials Solutions 360 Counter.
Tips for your job:
Try to match your job description to the tools.
• Research & Publishing Responsibilities: Track your research impact
using Scopus or Google Scholar.
• Exhibit Creation: Document your work and track comments on
displays if you are using tools such as Flickr or Picasa.
• Service Responsibilities: Create a survey to collect feedback or use a
project management tool to record your service activities.
Share Your Tips & Tools!
Do you have some great tips or tools you use to assess yourself?
Let us know by going to http://libguides.uccs.edu/selfassessment
or scanning the QR code. Click on the Share tab!