Outstanding Achievement in Assessment Nominees -- Group Category

How has the nominee contributed to assessment practices (e.g., identifying outcomes, assessing results, and modifying procedures/services) in the UGA Libraries, as well as the nominee's department? Please provide specific examples.

The work that the Research Central Development Team did to improve Research Central spans across departments in the UGA Libraries. The Research Central Development Team outlined an assessment project in order "to provide the UGA Libraries timely, accurate information to support decisions about areas for improvement of Research Central." Research Central, a research tool that helps students during the entire research process, was made available for students to use in 2001. The Research Central Development Team, however, acknowledged that they needed a thorough and reliable assessment of the product in order to determine areas where the Research Central product could be improved.

According to the report of the entire evaluation process, the assessment the Team executed was thoroughly accomplished by utilizing three different methods to obtain data: 1) Usability observation of UGA undergraduate students using Research Central; 2) Expert reviews of Research Central by Instructional Technology Ph.D. students, and 3) Online survey of UGA undergraduate students, teaching faculty, and librarians.

The entire report of the assessment process can be found on the web at the following URL: http://www.arches.uga.edu/~cutshall/edit8350/evalreport.html. I highly recommend you take a look at the entire report, as the work and time that went into improving an already valuable product are impressive! Additionally, take a look at the final product at: http://www.libs.uga.edu/researchcentral/.

How has the nominee's assessment contributed to the continuous service quality improvement within the UGA Libraries?

They have exemplified the true meaning of the idea behind assessment, in that they've identified outcomes, assessed the results, and modified the Research Central product to better serve its users. And now the group is repeating the process to continue to augment and improve Research Central for its users.

The UGA Libraries is constantly acquiring more and more technical resources for student use. Currently, a student has an abundance of print, audio, visual, and microform materials available, as well as a choice of over 300 databases from which to choose in GALILEO, and billions of websites. It is an overwhelming experience -- especially for a first-year student. Research Central assists students in managing the resources available at the UGA Libraries. The product takes them beyond using Google and the like for research, and leads them into a whole new world of e-indexes of scholarly articles, e-resources for statistics, virtual libraries for primary resources, print materials for historical data, etc.

Not only does Research Central focus on resources and direct students to the proper resources, it also walks students throughout the research process. The Research Central Development Team identified that there was a need for such a service to assist students through the research process. Through interactive web pages, Research Central helps students 1) define their research topic; 2) choose and use research tools; 3) work with search results; and 4) write their paper and cite sources properly. This entire section has been created and improved upon by implementing feedback from librarians, usability testing with students, etc.

How with the assessment the nominee has been doing this past year affect the Libraries in the future?

To most people the library is a building with books. By modern standards, a library exceeds such walls and physical boundaries. The official library web page is the gateway to the holdings in the UGA Libraries, as well as pathway for research. The Research Central Development Team acknowledges that students continue to use tools accessible by computer to do their research. Additionally, with students able to do research from off-campus, web-based help is an alternative for those students who need immediate assistance. Unfortunately, librarians are not always available to help a student get started on their research, and students sometimes do not find a need to come into the physical building. Given the aforementioned limiting factors, Research Central is a feasible alternative for students to use from their computers.

With the Research Development Team constantly assessing and improving both the interface and content of Research Central, it will continue to be a valuable resource for students writing papers, looking for information for a presentation, or any of a number of permutations involving beginning research.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

The Development Team members are pioneers in conceptualizing and executing the assessment process for applications such as Research Central. Other libraries have since studied the Team's assessment method as a model for tackling their own assessment needs for applications similar to Research Central.

The Research Central Development Team is fully aware of the importance of assessment; further, the Team realizes that assessment is a continual process. They have truly shown what assessment can do to improve a product and service.

Thank you for considering the Research Central Development Team for an award in Outstanding Achievement in Assessment.