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ABSTRACT
The San Diego Christian/Southern California Seminary Library
1
uses its objectives as the organizational
framework for its strategic plan, annual report, assessment plan, and policies and procedures manual.
This article describes how the library’s objectives compare to the Association of College and Research
Libraries’ Standards (to ensure best practices), relate to the areas covered in the library strategic plan,
annual report, and operations manual, and correspond to the standards and criteria from their respective
accrediting agencies, showing how easy it is to identify supporting evidence for a program review or
self-study when using this organizing method.
Introduction
Academic libraries, like other areas of an academic institution, always seem to be in a
cycle of self-evaluation. Whether it is the routine data collection that leads to annual
reporting and assessment or the need for strategic planning in an effort to keep
the library current with innovations in collections, technology, and user-centered
service, academic librarians need a strategy to help them collect data, report findings,
and plan for the future in a logical and organized manner. For the last decade,
1 The San Diego Christian/Southern California Seminary (SDC/SCS) Library is a joint library
operated in two branch locations (Santee and El Cajon, California) for two separate academic
institutions. The SDC/SCS Library shares a library website, library catalog, collections, 100+
databases, and the knowledge and skill of its four librarians and two paraprofessionals. This article was
originally a workshop, “Stop Going In Circles! Using Your Library Objectives in Strategic Planning
and Annual Assessment to Map Out Your Library’s Self-Study or Program Review,” presented at the
2015 Association of Christian Librarians Conference at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City,
Tennessee.
Using Your Library’s Objectives as the Organizational Framework for Library Documentation in Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation
Using Your Library’s Objectives
as the Organizational Framework
for Library Documentation
in Planning, Assessment, and
Accreditation
Jennifer S. Ewing, Library Director
Southern California Seminary
Ruth E. Martin, Director of Library Services
San Diego Christian College
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Using Your Library’s Objectives as the Organizational Framework for Library Documentation in Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation
the San Diego Christian/Southern California Seminary (SDC/SCS) Library has
been organizing all of its data collection and documentation around the library’s
current objectives. This method has been extremely useful for planning, reporting
and assessment, when completing national library surveys, and for providing
documentation about the library for accreditation.
Library Objectives
Before planning or assessment can take place, a review of the library’s mission
statement and objectives is necessary. First, the library should have a useable mission
statement which supports the institution’s mission statement. Second, the library’s
objectives should clearly relate to the library’s mission, cover all aspects of the library,
and represent best practices. They must be concrete and somewhat measurable. The
SDC/SCS Library objectives are based upon the primary functional areas of the
library: collections, services, and operations. The SDC/SCS Library Committee
revises the objectives or wording of the objectives as needed. Listed below are the
library’s objectives as of April 2015. The main focus for each objective is in bold face.
1. Increase depth and breadth of the collection, in a variety of formats, by
continuous evaluation and improvement of the library’s resources.
2. Create an environment that promotes study and research by maintaining and
improving the physical environment of the holdings and use of the library.
3. Improve access to the library collections and promote library services to
students and faculty.
4. Partner with faculty to provide support for information literacy, critical
thinking and life-long learning.
5. Continue systematic updates of computer hardware and enhance access
to new software technologies.
6. Assess and strengthen the operations and administration of the library
through quality staff, resource management, and user-centered service.
7. Secure sufficient and consistent financial support for maintenance and
improvement of the library.
For those libraries who have not reviewed their objectives recently, the Association
of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Standards for Libraries in Higher Education
(2011) are a useful set of best practices in academic librarianship. They “are designed
to guide academic libraries in advancing and sustaining their role as partners in
educating students, achieving their institutions’ missions, and positioning libraries as
leaders in assessment and continuous improvement on their campuses” (Association
of College and Research Libraries, 2011). They include nine principles and 57
performance indicators.
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Table 1 shows how the SDC/SCS Library Objectives were mapped to the principles
outlined in the ACRL Standards. The mapping was done by reviewing the 57
performance indicators under the nine principles; some principles are applicable
to more than one library objective. In the review of the ACRL Standards for the
presentation this article is based on, it was discovered that library Objective 6 did
not align well with the principles. During the last SDC/SCS Library Committee
meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year, Objective 6 was revised, shifting the
emphasis from the development of staff to include the broader area of library
operations and administration. Interestingly, this revision also aligned Objective 6 to
the functional area of “Library Operations and Administration” already present in
the Library Strategic Plan.
Table 1. A Comparison of ACRL Principles and SDC/SCS Library Objectives.
ACRL Principles SDC/SCS Library Objectives
1. Institutional Effectiveness 6. Library Admin
2. Professional Values 6. Library Admin / 3. Access & Service
3. Educational Role 4. Information Literacy
4. Discovery 3. Access & Service / 5. Computer Hard/software
5. Collections 1. Collections
6. Space 2. Physical Environment / 3. Access & Service
7. Management/Administration 6. Library Admin / 7. Financial Support
8. Personnel 6. Library Admin
9. External Relations 3. Access & Service
Once a library’s objectives have been identified and reviewed against best practices,
the next step is to examine how the library organizes its core documentation: the
strategic plan, assessment reports, and policies and procedures manual.
Planning and Assessment
While planning and assessment take place primarily in the fall semester, the SDC/
SCS Library conducts data collection year-round. Figure 1 shows the library’s
annual cycle of data collection, planning, and reporting. The timeline is fluid at times
(depending upon how busy the individual branch libraries are and the demands of
the parent institutions). For example, the SDC budget requests are due before the
end of the fall semester, while the SCS budget requests are not due until the spring
semester (usually February). Even though the strategic plan and library budgets are
forward-looking (what is going to be done?) and the assessment and annual report
are backward-looking (what and how well was it done?), they are interconnected
and should share a similar organization.
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Using Your Library’s Objectives as the Organizational Framework for Library Documentation in Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation
Figure 1. Planning and Assessment Cycle
Library Strategic Plan
The SDC/SCS Library Strategic Plan (LSP) was first developed in 2000 by the SDC
Director of Library Services. The LSP is reviewed and updated each fall semester by
the joint SDC/SCS Library Committee. This committee is comprised of library staff, a
student representative, and faculty from both SDC and SCS. The LSP grew organically
over the years until the 2006-2007 academic year when it was reorganized by “functional
areas” that aligned generally to the library objectives. The current structure, which
directly aligns the plan to the library objectives, was applied to the 2012-2013 LSP.
The LSP starts with the library’s vision, mission and objectives. The objectives are
mapped to the SDC Strategic Initiatives and the SCS Institutional Strategic Direction
(developed by the respective boards of directors). The LSP includes both routine
library tasks and specific projects, additions in technology, and/or the development
of areas of the collections. Where relevant, an item can have a target date or, when
accomplished, a completion date. The functional areas in the plan mirror those of the
library objectives: collections, facility, library access and services, information literacy,
library technology, library operations and administration, and budget and finances.
The budget and finances section takes all the items from the rest of the plan that
have a direct financial cost and lists them by library priority. This priority list is
used to determine what will be included when the following year’s library budget
requests are submitted. At the end of each academic year, before the next round of
strategic planning, the SDC Director of Library Services removes the items that
have been completed and records them in a document called Progress Made. Each
accomplishment is listed under its corresponding functional area (library objective).
Reporting on the progress made to the LSP by library objective has helped the SDC/
SCS Library demonstrate that the library is actively being improved.
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Library Annual Report
The next core document is the Library Annual Report (LAR). The LAR is
completed each fall semester by the SCS Library Director using data collected from
all areas of the library. The LAR in its present form was not initially designed to
be the assessment instrument of the library. The data was collected to speed up the
completion of national library surveys. Before 2005, it took days to complete the
Academic Libraries Survey (now part of IPEDS) and the ACRL library survey. Each
question was individually researched and answered as it was asked in the survey;
reports were produced on an as-needed basis. The process of completing a survey
was time consuming and dreaded by library staff. Ten years ago, the library began
the active collection of information. This intentional data collection reduced the
survey completion from weeks to hours. From this collected data, the librarians also
developed a formal Library Annual Report for internal distribution.
The LAR became the tool for annual data collection and reporting of library progress
(assessment). Each successive year this document has been developed and refined,
giving the library the ability to conduct longitudinal studies. Table 2 shows how each
library objective is represented by a corresponding area in the LSP and the LAR.
Every summer the library compiles a new binder of organized, raw data containing:
circulation and collection reports (if it moves, count it), library visits, reference
question statistics, budget information, library staffing, hours, an organizational
chart, information literacy statistics, library marketing emails to students and faculty,
survey data, and every other interesting piece of data that was collected or reported
for that year. The resulting LAR is divided into eight sections:
1. Year in Review/Major Changes – presented by functional area with highlights
from the year, including improvements in facilities and technology (this first
page can be distributed as a separate document from the rest of the report)
2. Library Use – visits to the library, circulation by patron, by call number and
format, database use, and ILL
3. Collections – changes to the holdings by call number, new acquisitions,
donations, periodical subscriptions, and databases
4. Budgets – actuals by area: books, e-books, AV, periodicals, databases, supplies,
and staff
5. Staffing and Professional Development – a listing of the meetings, conferences,
workshops/webinars, publications, etc., performed by or attended by each
library staff member
6. Information Literacy – how many sessions, which departments, how many
students
7. Surveys – results of the surveys of students, faculty, and alumni
8. Assessment – what needs improvement
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In the assessment section, the library staff reviews the annual report and select data
and reports used for its creation (including student and faculty surveys) to determine
what areas need study or improvement. Items in the list that have been accomplished
from the previous year’s assessment are marked completed (they are removed the
following year). The items listed in the assessment section can also include a cross-
reference to a related item listed in the LSP (the annual report for the past year and
the strategic plan for the next year are created each year at the same time during the
fall semester).
Table 2. A Comparison of Areas Covered in the Library Objectives, Strategic Plan
and Annual Report
Objectives Strategic Plan Annual Report
1. Collections 1. Collections 3. Collections
2. Physical Environment 2. Facility 1. Major Changes
3. Collection Access /
Promotion of Service
3. Library Access & Services 2. Library Use
4. Information Literacy
Instruction
4. Information Literacy 6. Information Literacy
5. Updates of Computer
Hardware & Software
5. Library Technology 1. Major Changes
6. Library Administration 6. Library Operations &
Administration
5. Staffing & Professional
Development
7. Surveys
8. Assessment
7. Stable Financial Support 7. Budget & Finances 4. Budgets
Library Operations Manual
The final core library publication that is organized around the objectives is the
policies and procedures manual: the Library Operations Manual (LOM). The LOM
is the working document of the library, which covers all processes and activities of
the joint library. The purpose of the LOM is not just a record of the policies and
procedures; it also contains a detailed description of the SDC/SCS Library facilities
(the two library branches), collections, and services. The LOM is intended to be
used as: 1) a guide to the policies and procedures of the library, 2) a training tool
for new staff members, and 3) a mechanism for refining and reviewing the library’s
current policies and procedures. Initially started in 2005, it took several years to
fully compile. Its creation was a time-consuming task but it has been a useful tool
for examining not just how the library staff completes a required task but also for
asking why the library staff is doing it. This documentation process has also helped
the library staff to clarify conflicting legacy policies. Documents in the manual are
updated as needed and the entire manual is scheduled for a full review every few
years (it was last revised in 2014-2015). The LOM includes the following areas of
the library:
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Part I Introduction – provides a description of the library including: its mission,
objectives, cooperative agreements and memberships, statement of academic
freedom, and its physical descriptions
Part II Management – personnel overview, organizational chart, library
committee, budgets, emergency plans, and technology polices, etc.
Part III Service – services, publications, website policies, reserves, ILL, open/
close procedures, circulation policies and procedures, guest access cards, etc.
Part IV Collections – collection development and management policies,
selection and acquisition policies and procedures, donation and gift policies,
collection descriptions, weeding, cataloging procedures, etc.
Part V Instruction – information literacy plans
Part VI Assessment – information about the strategic plan, annual report, surveys,
and a list of the various assessment instruments
Once a library’s core documents are organized by library objective (and are kept
current), the writing of the narrative and identification of supporting evidence for
accreditation purposes is fairly straightforward.
Program Reviews, Self-Study Reports, and the Library
Accreditation not only provides an assurance to students about the quality of their
education, but it is also an opportunity for the library to assess itself against national
and regional standards and criteria. The SDC/SCS Library is responsible to two
accrediting agencies: SDC is accredited by WASC Senior College and University
Commission (WSCUC) and SCS is accredited by Transnational Association of
Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS). In the last five years, the library has
completed a Department Program Review (SDC) and the Library and Learning
Resources section for a Ten-Year Reaffirmation II Self-Study Report (SCS).
WASC Senior College and University Commission
The WSCUC is the western regional accrediting agency. Its 2013 Handbook of
Accreditation Revised (WASC Senior College and University Commission [WSCUC],
2013) includes three core commitments, four standards of accreditation and 39
criteria for review. The core commitments express accreditation values. Standards
build on these three commitments with broad principles for good practice. The
standards are explicated by 39 criteria for review (CFR). These elements provide
“a coherent basis for institutional review and at the same time assure quality and
integrity” (WSCUC, 2015, p. 2). The library staff identified five CFRs under two
standards that are applicable to the library.
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Standard Two, Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions, is divided
into three core functions with 14 criteria. Under Teaching and Learning, CFR 2.2a,
SDC is to demonstrate that students are prepared for lifelong learning including
information literacy (Objective 4). CFR 2.3 is the only mention of “library” in the
standards or 39 CFRs. The bolded text is the core concept for each criteria.
2.2a Undergraduate programs engage students in an integrated course of study of
sufficient breadth and depth to prepare them for work, citizenship, and life-long
learning… and ensure the development of core competencies including, but not
limited to, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information
literacy, and critical thinking…
2.3 The institution’s student learning outcomes and standards of performance…
are reflected in academic programs, policies, and curricula, and are aligned with
advisement, library, and information and technology resources, and the
wider learning environment. (WSCUC, 2015, p. 14-15)
Standard Three, Developing and Applying Resources and Organizational Structures
to Ensure Quality and Sustainability, is divided into three core functions with ten
criteria. Under Faculty and Staff, CFR 3.1 and 3.3 address the need for an adequate
number of dedicated faculty and staff who have the ability to perform assessment,
program reviews, and engage in professional development (Objective 6). CFR 3.5,
under Fiscal, Physical, and Information Resources, describes the need for information
and technology resources that support the academic offerings and the research and
scholarship of its community (Objectives 13, 5, 7).
3.1 The institution employs faculty and staff with substantial and continuing
commitment to the institution. The faculty and staff are sufficient in number,
professional qualification, and diversity and to achieve the institution’s
educational objectives, establish and oversee academic policies, and ensure the
integrity and continuity of its academic and co-curricular programs wherever and
however delivered.
3.3 The institution maintains appropriate and sufficiently supported faculty
and staff development activities designed to improve teaching, learning, and
assessment of learning outcomes.
3.5 The institution provides access to information and technology resources
sufficient in scope, quality, currency, and kind at physical sites and online,
as appropriate, to support its academic offerings and the research and
scholarship of its faculty, staff, and students. These information resources,
services, and facilities are consistent with the institution’s educational objectives
and are aligned with student learning outcomes. (WSCUC, 2015, p. 18-19)
Table 3 shows how the library’s objectives can be mapped to the WSCUC Criteria
for Review. Because of the broad nature of WSCUC’s accreditation standards, several
CFRs can be applicable to a single library objective.
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Table 3. A Comparison of Library Objectives and WSCUC CFRs
Library Objectives WSCUC CFRs
1. Collections 2.3 Library, information & technology resources
3.5 Access to information resources, services and facilities
2. Physical Environment 3.5 Access to information resources, services and facilities
3. Collection Access / Promotion of
Service
2.3 Library, information & technology resources
3.5 Access to information resources, services and facilities
4. Information Literacy Instruction 2.2a Lifelong learning & Information literacy
5. Updates of Computer Hardware
& Software
2.3 Library, information & technology resources
3.5 Access to information resources, services and facilities
6. Library Administration 3.1 Sufficient number of faculty & staff
3.3 Faculty & staff assessment & development activities
7. Stable Financial Support 3.5 Access to information resources, services and facilities
Practical Application: A WSCUC Department Program Review
The SDC Library was tasked with completing a department program review
in 2011. It took approximately 20 hours to write and assemble the supporting
documentation; the library submitted a 30-page review with over 40 supporting
documents. The library’s biggest challenge was that it could not adopt the model used
by the academic departments because their emphasis was primarily on curriculum
and instruction, and the library does more than provide instruction. Instead, using
the same structure as other department program reviews (document the current
state of evidence and identify areas of proposed improvement), the library program
review used the library’s objectives as the areas for evaluation. Table 4 shows an
abbreviated sample of the content for the library’s information literacy objective.
Table 4. SDC Library Department Program Review (2011)
Objective 4: Library Instruction
Current State of Evidence (Areas of Review):
- The Cayot Room (description of
instructional lab)
- Information Literacy (description of
information literacy plan, statistics,
working with faculty)
- Research Guides (LibGuides, etc.)
Proposed Improvement:
- Perform a citation analysis of the bibliographies
from summative projects
-
Contact departments doing program reviews to have
library questions included in the alumni surveys
- Encourage use of the Information Literacy Rubric
- Develop more LibGuides in underrepresented
disciplines
- Create library video tutorials using Camtasia
Documentation:
- Library Annual Reports, 2005-06 to 2009-10
- Library Surveys
- Information Literacy Rubric
- LibGuides http://sdcc.libguides.com/
- Library Operations Manual (2010-2011 revision)
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Using Your Library’s Objectives as the Organizational Framework for Library Documentation in Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
TRACS is a national accrediting agency of postsecondary institutions which have
a distinctly Christian purpose. The Accreditation Manual (Transnational Association
of Christian Colleges and Schools [TRACS], 2015) is divided into foundational
and operational standards with 23 total standards and 213 evaluative criteria; the
standard for library and learning resources has seven evaluative criteria. The library
and learning resources are also referenced under the sections for alternate delivery
methods/online education (12.17, 12.18), branch campuses (13.14, 13.15) and
teaching sites (14.9), as well as institutional assessment (19.15), with two information
literacy criteria located under undergraduate and graduate programs (11.14, 11.15).
The bolded text is the core concept for each evaluative criteria.
21.1 Furnishes information resources and services and instructional and
information technology appropriate to support the institution’s mission, academic
programs, and administrative functions, through strategic, operational, and
financial planning.
21.2 Provides sufficient and consistent financial support for the library/LRC
and the effective maintenance and improvement of the institution’s information
resources and instructional and information technology.
21.3 Utilizes instructional technology appropriate to its academic mission and
the modes of delivery of its academic programs.
21.4 Employs an adequate number of professionally qualified staff who
administer the institution’s library, information resources/services, and instructional
and information technology support functions.
21.5 Makes available, through ownership or formal arrangements or agreements,
library and information resources necessary to fulfill the institution’s mission
and objectives which support the academic and research programs and the
intellectual development of students, faculty, and staff.
21.6 Provides appropriate training and support to allow faculty, staff, and students
to make effective use of library and information resources, and instructional and
information technology.
21.7 Ensures appropriate access and availability to library and information
resources and services for all students, regardless of program location or mode of
delivery to support and enrich student academic work. (TRACS, 2015, p. II.J.-1)
Table 5 shows how the library’s objectives map to the TRACS evaluative criteria.
They are very similar. The only objective that is not explicitly reflected in the
TRACS evaluative criteria is Library Objective 2, physical environment or facility,
so it was placed under 21.2, financial support.
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Table 5. A Comparison of Library Objectives and TRACS Evaluative Criteria.
Library Objectives TRACS
1. Collections 21.5 Library & information resources
2. Physical Environment 21.2 Financial support
3. Collection Access/Promotion of Service 21.7 Appropriate access & availability
4. Information Literacy Instruction 21.6 Training & support… effective use of
library & information resources
5. Updates of Computer Hardware & Software 21.3 Instructional technology
6. Library Administration 21.1 Strategic, operational, & financial planning
7. Stable Financial Support 21.2 Financial support
Practical Application: A TRACS Self-Study Report
During 2015, SCS wrote a self-study report for its Ten-Year Reaffirmation II. The
SCS Library Director discovered that because of years of data collection, the problem
was not a lack of information and documentation to support compliance to each
criteria, but rather too much. The documentation needed to support compliance for
each evaluative criteria was completed before the self-study narrative for the library
was started. The real task was to be selective about which documentation to include.
Table 6 shows an abbreviated sample of the content for two library objectives.
Table 6. SCS Self-Study Report: II. J. Library and Learning Resources (2015)
21.2 Financial Support
21.7 Access & Availability of Resources
& Services
- Exhibit: Library Operations Manual,
Management, Part II.4.1 Library Budgets &
Reimbursements
- Exhibit: SCS Library Budget Requests, 2015-
2016*
- Exhibit: Library Budget Year-end Stats, 2013-
2014*
- Exhibit: Library Annual Report, 2013-2014,
“Budget,” pg. 9
- Exhibit: Library website: sdcc.edu/library
- Exhibit: Library Catalog: sdcclibrary.worldcat.
org
- Exhibit: Library LINC email, 5/12/2015
- Exhibit: Library Handbook (flyer)
- Exhibit: Library Operations Manual, Service,
Part III.1.1 Library Services
* From LAR binder (raw data, library internal
reports)
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Conclusion
Academic libraries have the continual challenge to be both agents of innovation and
guardians of the status quo. With the ever-present pressures of the academic year,
the willingness to create and maintain documentation for the library can be lost in
the need to do the job. However, with the use of its objectives as an organizational
framework, a library can develop a strategic plan, provide for the annual reporting
and assessment of collected data, and produce a working policies and procedures
manual which is both useful for the library staff and data rich for the departments and
agencies to which it reports – whether it is the institution’s chief academic officer,
vice president for institutional effectiveness, dean of assessment and institutional
research, a national library survey, or an accrediting agency.
REFERENCES
Association of College & Research Libraries. (2011). Standards for libraries in higher education. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standardslibraries
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. (2015). Accreditation manual. Retrieved
from http://tracs.org/documents/2015JuneAccreditationManual.pdf
WASC Senior College and University Commission. (2015). 2013 Handbook of accreditation revised.
Retrieved from http://www.wascsenior.org/content/2013-handbook-accreditation
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jennifer S. Ewing is Library Director at Southern California Seminary in El Cajon,
California. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Ruth E. Martin is Director of Library Services at San Diego Christian College in
Santee, California. She can be contacted at rmartin@sdcc.edu.
