City College of San Francisco
Department of Library Information Technology
Student Learning Outcomes, History and Development
Summarized 2006-2012
July 13, 2012
Update: 1.08.2013; 6.18.2013; 7.17.2013; 8/20/13; 9/4/13; 11/18/13; 6/17/14; 9/4/14; 5/28/15
May 28, 2015
The department is reorganizing its CTE Advisory Board and should meet once in June 2015. It is also
submitting new forms to the Office of Instruction on Certificate/Degree Sequencing for Completion –
two semesters for the Certificate, likewise for the degree major (less general education requirements).
All of the courses are evaluating a course level SLO this Spring using the new tool, Curricunet. One
Program Level Student Learning Outcome has been evaluated using this tool this semester – a brief copy
of that report is appended as a note to the document titled “PSLO.lit.mission.outcomes.6.15” and found
under the link “Department SLO Assessment Process.”
An additional Program Outcome (i.e. administrative) will be assessed similarly in the coming days.
Results on that will be reported here, and in the above named document.
September 4, 2014
One course ran in the summer, LIBR 58A Legal Resources. The class was very small and thus offered
the instructor a unique opportunity for assessment based on direct and personal observation and
classroom contact. A decision was made to report assessment for this course along with those for the
Fall of 2014.
June 17, 2014
Courses ran in the Spring Semester informed by teaching students about expected learning outcomes,
and posting outcomes along with other course objectives and expectations on the course syllabus.
Instructors for Library 51, 55A, 55B, and 58C were provided newer, recently completed course outlines,
bearing from 3 to five outcomes each. Instructors, who have been a part of their development, were
reminded that both the outline and the outcomes posted on it are to be viewed as products of process,
thus not fixed, perhaps even somewhat tentative. For this semester, one or at most two of the outcomes
were addressed with the object of developing the tools for assessment more so than the assessment itself.
This sort of development continues to be problematic in trying to find a mechanism for reporting
evidence that fits well with the college’s system of reporting. There continue to be barriers to
understanding what the college’s system is asking, exactly, of the reporter, and the sense that there are
some redundant and repetitive loops in the scheme. Still, at the end of the day the most important facts
are that the faculty are updating their teaching techniques, staying abreast of changes in their discipline,
incorporating these changes in their classroom contact. They are regularly measuring student learning
outcomes for distinctly different purposes than grade assignment, i.e. to measure the effectiveness of
their teaching, the appropriateness of the content, and the quality of the course and its instruction
through the vehicle of student learning.
November 18, 2013
All course outlines have been revised with the sole exception of Library 58B, which we intend to
complete yet this fall, so that it can be reviewed in the Spring of 2014 and offered in the Fall. Our
learning outcomes continue to be gathered for the Fall, with numerous discussions on them rounding out
the approach to continuous evaluation and assessment. The department chair will be serving in an
administrative capacity during the late Fall and Spring (as Interim Associate Dean for Instructional
Support/Library), and thus will be appointing a replacement for departmental operation as well as
replacements for instruction. The new instructors are aware that there are many outcomes mentioned on
the current course outline, that certainly they cannot evaluate all at once; but that their work too should
be in distilling the most important, the “major” outcomes for further course outline revision in the future.
Program Review drafts have been completed for Library Technology, and the key points of achievement
noticed on this review are:
o Completion of the LSSC Certification with the ALA-APA
o Utilizing the learning experience from the LSSC and from SLO assessment to build
collegiality in the department and to evaluate the program, its place in the college, and its
utility for the community
o Completing the task of revising course outlines and eliminating courses no longer
supported
o Evaluating the continuing need of instruction for library support staff in light of smaller
student populations and changing demographics
In general, the department operates efficiently, but further economies can be realized if necessary
without great sacrifice to the community.
September 4, 2013
Preparing course outlines for revision in accord with findings from initial assessements. Have submitted
revisions for 51, 53, 55B – which were passed tentatively with stipulations last Spring. Have sent
through Libr 58A and 55A for Technical Review, both moved forward; and 58C, 56 and 59 pending.
Libr 58B is still under preparation, but will be submitted early in October.
August 30, 2013
Ran late submitting the program learning outcomes – came in three days before deadline. Had done
work in June, but thought had submitted with all the course outcomes at that time. One reason for this is
the rather excessively complex, arcane, and reduplicative system set in place for reporting by the
college. We understand their haste to build a system which they believe will satisfy the accreditors, and
admire the effort and achievement thus far, but such systems will naturally have problems which take
time to iron out. How long? This depends on the complexity of the system and the expectations for it.
Chou En Lai, when reputedly asked by Kissenger what he thought the outcome of the French Revolution
was, replied, “Too soon to tell.”
We are in the midst of revising course outcomes as we revise course outlines. This too leads to very real
systemic problems, not least, that the culture of assessment and revision happens at locomotive speed,
but the mechanisms are neither rapid, nor forgiving, and thus the refrain, “We can’t approve this course
outline because the outcomes don’t match those previously given.” Well, no kidding folks!
Summer 2013
Summer courses are not ordinarily offered by this department. However, the college sought to expand
summer offerings, thus the only course in the department which the chair thought educationally
productive in the short, six week, term was LIBR 58A, Legal Resources – a one unit class that thus
could meet three hours each week for a total of 18 hours. The class met and the instructor considered
outcomes which she had developed in the prior year. These will be reported upon in conjunction with
the Fall offerings.
Fall offerings will be LIBR 51, 53, 56, 58B and 59. All have had outcomes assessments in the prior
academic year – 51 and 59 both in fall and in spring. This fall, LIBR 53 will initiate life as one of the
core required courses, as a product of having our curriculum more effectively match the competencies
for the Library Support Staff Certificate Program of the ALA-APA.
Spring 2013
Some preliminary assessment work will be conducted along with midterm examination and grading for
LIBR 51, 55B and 59. Email went out to instructors for LIBR 55A, 57 and 58c to recommend similar
consideration of assessments at this time, and not wait until the end of the semester to consider whether
students are learning effectively.
All courses held assessments on one or two Outcomes for the Spring. The Program Assessments were
done by two surveys, one on paper and conducted in class; another a first attempt at using Survey
Monkey. In the surveys, student self-assessment demonstrated competence with disciplinary and
industry vocabulary and concepts, PSLO 1-3. In addition, students in work experience classes asserted
skills development which match proposed PSLO 3-5.
For LIBR 51, assessments can be conducted reflecting the fundamental technologies which constitute
the first 1/3 of the course. LIBR 55b can be assessed for the conveyance of information on service
ethics, service issues and the vocabulary of employment. For LIBR 59, the issues remain effective
conduct and qualities of successful employment.
The ALA Support Staff Certification Program was approved effective March 1, 2013. A press release
was issued by the ALA-APA, a copy of which resides on the department SLO pages below.
Midterrm assessments are being conducted using surveys for LIBR 51, 55B and 59.
1.Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes for each class offered, Fall 2012
2.ALA-APA Library Support Staff Certification Program
1.Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes for each class offered, Fall 2012
The department chair was on Sabbatical in Europe during the entire semester, Fall 2012. Nevertheless,
the chair continued to monitor developments at City College generally, and in particular communicate
with faculty teaching in the department during the Fall 2012 semester.
Communication developed assessment plans for LIBR 51, 53, 56, 57 and 59 with each of the four
instructors teaching. It was decided that each would assess three Student Learning Outcomes derived
from proposed revisions to Course Outlines which are to be submitted to the college curriculum
committee in the Spring of 2013. It was decided that courses taught in the Spring will be similarly
assessed at that time.
Assessments were based on a combination of exam questions, final projects and instructor observations.
The assessments were to be drafted into a tabular form with the Student Learning Outcome desired in
the columns, and numbers representing each student in rows. Instructors were warned that in no way do
these assessments impact on student grading. Indeed, these are intended to be assessments of US, not
the students, and of our effectiveness in identifying and presenting significant issues for learning. As
such, the identities of the students were to remain anonymous, thus, students appear as numbered rows.
For the record, instructors did identify each student with initials in their internal documents, however the
department chair, in his digest and reconciliation, has stripped all vestiges of student identification from
these documents.
RESULTS:
In general, it was found that that students do effectively learn what the department sets out to teach, with
one significant exception occurring during the fall semester. We considered a 70% pass rate for each
outcome a measure of success, however, in LIBR 53, outcome A, concerning an understanding of
primary Intellectual Freedom documents, the pass rate was but 60%. Since these documents are
fundamental to the practice of librarianship in the United States, and since no library employee should
be ignorant of them, it is not the desire to diminish their importance as a result of this outcome. Indeed,
and instead, this informs us that the instructor must work more effectively to view, transmit, analyze,
and present these documents in a fashion that nearly universal comprehension is the result. We have
already begun a departmental dialogue to this end.
The tables reflecting this data can be linked from the department website, and from the website hosting
this discussion, in a “bullet point” link below to “Fall 2012 SLO assessment tables”. Tables for all
classes will be held here in a single document.
The discussion of this matter will be carried on vis-à-vis departmental email communication.
2.ALA-APA Library Support Staff Certification Program
The department continued in its work to seek approval of its curriculum under the Library Support Staff
Certification Program of the American Library Association – Allied Professional Association. As of
December a complete portfolio of course mappings were submitted, and as of January 2013 the
evaluator has forwarded a recommendation for approval to the ALA-APA. We await final notification
of approval. The course mappings can be viewed by returning to the previous web page, then following
the link to “ALA-APA Support Staff Certification Documents”.
CKox, Chair, 1/8/13
Student Learning Outcomes Development
The consideration and development of Student Learning Outcomes, and their assessment, has played a
major role in departmental direction over the past several years. The reasons for this are obvious:





To justify disciplinary instruction
To maintain currency in disciplinary instruction
To assure outside stakeholders of quality instruction
To guide students making vocational choices
To certify ethical standards of teaching and learning
All library work is service oriented. As such, the standards for service are ethical, and relatively timeless
even in a vocational environment. One can teach, and assess, the narrow techniques of today – soon
obsolete – or one can teach and assess the foundations of a service oriented discipline. Indeed, one of the
most succinct, and almost cryptic, statements of philosophy is Ranganathan’s “five laws” first published
in 1931. To a large measure, the learning processes for library support staff are those which inculcate a
culture of ethics and responsibility, and the standards defining library service – yet always within the
community and institutional context. To this end, the primary documents that inform the discipline are:
ALA Code of Ethics
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics
Library Bill of Rights (and Office of Intellectual Freedom)
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom
Library Customer Bill of Rights (a typical example, from Haverhill, MA)
http://www.haverhillpl.org/about/policies/library-customer-bill-of-rights/
United States Constitution and Bill of Rights Amendments (US Archives, typical)
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science
City College of San Francisco Mission
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/about-city-college/mission-and-vision.html
The term Library Information Technology has long ante-dated the concept of “information technology”
as used today and generally designates the work of library support staff, assistants or paraprofessionals.
This, and other terms for library support staff (pages, clerks, associate specialists etc.) are fairly uniform
and are understood to mean the application of library practice, process and service rather than
developmental or administrative functions. To this end, the structure of the military, with commissioned
and non-commissioned officers, serves as the best analogy. Technical assistants are the NCOs of the
library world. To choose library assisting is to choose a career, not a job. Often, “techs” have worked
their way up through the ranks (having entered with a high-school diploma) and now command a great
deal of authority in the trenches. Our long-term expectation is that we are fostering career building, i.e.
teaching those who are willing, patient and devoted enough to hold a succession of jobs that lead
eventually to the supervisory level. Those who teach and those who study should be reasonably well
versed in job titles, tasks and basic qualifications. To this end, there are very good government and
organizational resources which describe and summarize tasks, tools, knowledge, skills and the abilities
needed and rewarded in the workplace. In the process of outcomes analysis some of the resources we
have consulted include O*NET and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (both online from the U.S.
Department of Labor), the American Library Association (ALA) Support Staff Resource Center, the
ALA-Allied Professional Association web-sites, and the Council on Library/Media Technicians
(COLT).
ONET
http://www.onetonline.org/find/quick?s=library+technicians
Occupational Outlook
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/library-technicians-andassistants.htm
ALA – Support Staff Resource Center
http://www.ala.org/offices/hrdr/librarysupportstaff/overview_of_library_support_staff
ALA-APA
http://ala-apa.org/
ALA – Library Support Staff Interests Round Table
http://www.ala.org/lssirt/
COLT
http://colt.ucr.edu/
In addition, numerous “job-sites” serve the department well in alerting us to current standards and
employer expectations. These include sites at the ALA, Higher Education Jobs, BayNet Libraries,
California Library Association to name a few. (We typically refer students to the list of “Job and Career
Networking Resources” posted by the Diablo Valley College Library Technology program:
http://www.dvc.edu/org/departments/library/lit/jobs-network.htm).
Department Meetings, Flex Days, 2008-2011
The department is small, 1.25 FTE faculty, and adjuncts from a variety of professional settings are
employed for one-half of all instruction. The employment of adjuncts is preferred to assigning librarians
from City College because they bring to us specialized knowledge and valued external contacts. The
down side to this being that there is precious little time to meet as a unit. Although the college holds four
annual “Flex Days” they do not necessarily fall on their scheduled teaching days. Still, voluntary
participation in department meetings has been productive and this has provided an opportunity to discuss
assessment along with the usual matters of discipline. These limits on communication are alleviated
somewhat by personal meetings, prior to class time, email and telephone. Nevertheless, conversations on
curriculum and accountability have been fruitful given the constraint of time, especially as two of our
adjuncts (Kobayashi and Dear) are involved with similar matters at other institutions.
Incorporating Expertise from Other Colleges and Organizations
A good share of learning outcomes techniques, and outcomes used by other programs teaching library
technology, or library science, has been located by searching and visiting the websites of programs that
have published them. These have likewise been supported by the study of accountability measures, and
by specific examination of the literature of learning outcomes. An entire industry has emerged around
this, thus, the literature is too numerous to summarize here, though a good clearinghouse is the National
Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment at the University of Illinois. To this end too, and perhaps
more importantly, we have been coordinating with the ALA Library Support Staff Certification program
to map our courses against the norms and standards for support staff certification. To be clear, the ALA
venture does not assume that library staff seeking certification attended college or vocational school.
Indeed, ALA-LSSC emerged from the desire to formally recognize the career commitment of library
support staff learning through experience. Nevertheless, formal schooling is seen as an avenue to obtain
certification, in whole or in part, and programs such as City College’s can serve the broader library
community through acknowledged parallel curricula.
Where we are now and where we are going
As we move forward to examine, promote, and evaluate student learning outcomes, and to measure our
delivery though finding means to fairly assess them, we do note that we have posted learning outcomes,
by broad themes, and assigned them to courses on our departmental web page:
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/educational-programs/school-and-departments/libintech.html. A study of
the learning outcomes as posted on our website should read familiarly to any library professional and
most current support staff. They are derivative of the values embodied in the above mentioned codes of
Library Ethics, and standards of service, no less than the legal environment in which we operate which
acknowledges the rights or copyholders no less than access to information and a free press in the US
Constitution and Bill of Rights.
We have used learning outcomes on our syllabi for the past academic year, and we consider them in
advising for study, degree or certificate completion and career goals (see Appendix I, below). We are
currently submitting a statement into the college catalog to direct readers to the department website for
this discussion and enumeration. In addition, we are developing revisions of each course for designating
outcomes and their measures. The department does maintain a list-serve for former students which was
initially designed to distribute job notices and news on educational opportunities, but is being stretched
to provide a means to inquire as to the whereabouts, employment and satisfaction of alumni.
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
For the past year, the entry-level course has taken an initial survey of incoming students (see Appendix
II, below). The intention of doing so has been to assess the goals and directions of each incoming class,
for the purpose of effective advising and direction. A set of questions attempts to learn their age,
previous level of schooling; their stated career goals; the level of prior library work experience; their
exposure to, and use of technology. At the other end, a survey will be designed, in the form of an exit
interview, which will be distributed through the previously mentioned list-serve, in an attempt to elicit
information about long-term outcomes for alumni.
Appendix I: Syllabus, Library 51, Fall 2012: Learning Outcomes
LIBR 51, Fall 2012, Introduction to Libraries
CRN 70342 (T/R 9 AM) & 70343 (W 4:30)
Text:
No text book required: Lectures and discussions ARE the primary text.
Readings and assignments:
Other course materials including readings and assignments will be distributed in class and/ emailed using the class list serve.
Computers and Email:
You are responsible for managing your official CCSF email account and your preferences. You are responsible for checking that account
for occasional class missives and information. I will only use the official CCSF class list and the email addresses associated with it. If you
do not know how to use email, or how to change your CCSF preferred address, then check with the Library Reference Department, 4th floor
Rosenberg, for advice and direction.
As for general computer skills, LIBR 51 expects that you already know how to start a computer, log on, use email and use the world-wideweb. You need not be an expert. To further develop your basic computer skills you may consult the Reference Librarians, take basic
Library Skills Workshops that are offered by Library Services, take FREE non-credit division courses in word processing, keyboarding etc.
and/or take credit division courses in the business department under MABS.
The Library Technology department maintains a computer lab and library in Room 518 Annex. There are ten PCs set up, with student barcode access log-in. You may set passwords for your bar-code at the Reference Desk, 4th floor, or at the service kiosk, 5th floor outside
room R521. For campus wireless pleas see: http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/library/library-services/computers.html.
Attendance, drops and grading:
Rule 1: Show up in class. LIBR 51 is not offered for independent study. The instructor reserves the right to lower your grade for absences
no matter how well you perform on exams.
Rule 2: No matter how many absences you accrue, I will NOT drop you from the class. You are responsible to drop yourself. Pay careful
attention to the CCSF drop deadlines.
Rule 3: Homework will be examined for general worth with a check, check plus and check minus system. Homework will count toward
your mid-term and your final grades to the extent that good and complete homework may elevate borderline grades.
Rule 4: The mid-term exam serves to identify students who are in danger of failure. Your final grade will not necessarily be an average of
mid-term and final exams.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the semester students should be able to:
*Distinguish library employment for support staff and professionals in public and technical services.
*Characterize library service ethics, institutional missions and goals.
*Distinguish basic fields of information in the (surrogate) catalog or database record.
*Identify the sources of catalog or database description
*Translate thesauri into subject headings (descriptors) and cross references.
*Perform simple database and catalog searches for known items.
*Perform simple database and catalog searches by subject
*Search and interpret library periodical and vended database holdings.
*Search major shared resource databases.
*Relate five to seven fundamental criteria for the critical evaluation or selection of resources.
*Enumerate major types of reference materials.
*Craft simple MLA style bibliographic reference citations for a books and periodicals.
* Distinguish reference from footnote style citations.
*Relate the most fundamental scholarly reasons for citation and documentation.
Supplemental reading, Rosenberg Library Reserves:
Wolf, Carolyn. Basic Library Skills, 5th ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland 2006.
Gates, Jean Key. Guide to the Use of Libraries …, 7th ed. New York: McGraw, 1994.
Mann, Thomas. Oxford Guide to Library Research, 3rd ed.. New York: Oxford, 2005.
Tentative schedule of broad topics (subject to change):
Week
8/15-16
1
8/21-22-23
Administrative Notes:
No Tuesday Class. Eve begins Wed, Day
begins Thursday
First Monday class 8/22.
Topics*
Orientation
Weeks 1-12: general matters including
history, ethics, bibliography,
classification and cataloging, “shared
resources”, thesauri & subject headings,
alphabetization, periodical holdings and
databases
2
8/28-29-30
8/31 last day for full refund drop
9/2 last day to add online
No Monday class
9/8 Last day to drop without “w” or 50%
nonresident refund
3
9/4-5-6
4
5
6
9/11-12-13
9/18-19-20
9/25-26-27
7
8
10/2-3-4
10/9-10-11
9
10
11
12
10/16-17-18
10/23-24-25
10/30-31-11/1
11/6-7-8
13
11/12-13-14
14
15
11/20-21-22
11/27-28-29
11/17 last day for leave of absence and
for student or instructor withdrawals
No class Thursday 11/24
Last day instructor Late Adds 11/28
16
17
18
12/4-5-6
12/11-12-13
12/18-19-20
FINAL EXAM T/R 12/15
FINAL EXAM M 12/19
9/29 last day to petition for degree or
certificate
No Monday class 10/10
MID TERM EXAM T/R 10/13
MID TERM EXAM M 10/17
Weeks 13-17: Reference sources,
evaluation of resources, documentation,
copyright, fair use and “plagiarism”
Appendix II: Incoming Student Survey
Survey Incoming Students, Library 51
This survey is ANONYMOUS. DO NOT PLACE YOUR NAME or any other information on this form. The purpose of my collecting this information is to
inform advising for college and career goals, and to help establish bench-marks for students in the program.
1. What is the main reason for your taking this class?
___ Develop better library skills
___ Interested in library careers
___ Meet a distribution requirement in another department
2. What is your age range:
___ 20 or under
___ 31-40 years
___ 51 or over
___ 21-30 years
___ 41-50 years
3. Degrees earned:
___ high school diploma or GED
___ junior college certificate or degree
___ bachelor’s degree
___ master’s degree
___ doctor’s or post-bac professional degree
4. What desktop software applications have you used:
___ Word processing
___ Spread sheet
___ Small databases
___ Power point
___ graphic design/CAD ___ web design/construction
5. What net/web skills do you have:
___ browsing and email
___ social networking
___ other
___ Blogging
___ Skype/telephony
6. If you have a home computer, indicate type of service:
___ Cable
___ DSL
___ Satellite
___ Dialup
7. What mobile devices do you use?
___ Cell phone
___ Netbook/Ipad/tablet
___ Blackberry/Iphone/Droid etc.
8. Do you now use mobile for all your information needs (and let the computer collect dust)?
9. What types of news sources keep you informed?
___ Newspaper (print)
___ Television (broadcast/cable)
___ Radio
___ Newspaper online
___ Newsfeeds online
___ Radio/television online
10. Pick the three (3) most important purchases for the CCSF Library
___ general and reference books
___ magazines and journals
___ text books
___ databases
___ non-book media (cd/dvd/film/video)
___ computers and networking equipment
___ desktop software
11. Pick the three (3) most important services in the CCSF Library
___ a place to study
___ computers and wireless access
___ text books held on reserve
___ guidance, consultation and personal assistance (Reference)
___ instruction for library literacy
___ lectures and events
___ exhibits and displays
12. What is the following resource and what/who is it about?
Ellen Lambeth, “Totally Weird Turtles,” Ranger Rick, August 2010: 30-35.
13. What is the following resource and what/who is it about?
Kristine Setting Clark, Undefeated, Untied and Uninvited…the 1951 University of San Francisco Dons Football Team, Irvine, CA: Griffin, 2002.
14. What is the following resource and what/who is it about?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt
15. These three labels appear on the spines of books. Place them in shelf order, numbered 1-3.
G26
H4
G226
H4
G26
H39
___
___
___