Webcast Title: Demonstrating the Value of Your Library – Data That Makes a Difference Webcast Date: May 22, 2014 School libraries make a difference. Or do they? What measurements are being used to show the strength and effectiveness of the resources and programs offered to students and teachers? Hear from library representatives at Oxford (MI) High School and Hinsdale (IL) Central High School who will cover: • Defining useful anecdotal and statistical data • Building relationships with students and teachers to create curriculum and assessments • Collecting and using assessment data to measure student growth About the speakers: Carrie Conner, Media Specialist, Oxford (MI) High School Carrie has been a Library Media Specialist at Oxford High School for two years. Prior to this she worked as a librarian for three years and interim library director for a year at a private high school in the Washington, DC area. Carrie has an MIS from the University of Michigan and a BS in Biology from Western Michigan University Kathleen Krepps, Library Director, Hinsdale (IL) Central High School Kathleen is the Library Director for Hinsdale Central High School. She earned National Board Certification as a Library Media Specialist in 2011 and has an MLIS from Dominican University and an MA in Communications from University of Illinois at Chicago. Kerrin Riley, Teacher-Librarian, Hinsdale (IL) Central High School Kerrin is a National Board Certified Librarian at Hinsdale Central High School. Before becoming a librarian she worked for a large telecommunications company as a data network specialist. Kerrin earned an MLIS from Dominican University and is currently working on an Ed.D in Instructional Technology at Northern Illinois University. Myles Laffey, Teacher-Librarian, Hinsdale (IL) Central High School Myles Laffey is a National Board Certified Teacher-Librarian at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, IL. Prior to his past 8 years teaching in the library, he spent 13 years teaching English.

1. Demonstrating the Value of
Your Library – Data That
Makes a Difference
May 22, 2014
Gale K12 Webinar

2. • Library Assessment Data
• Build Relationships
• Assess Student Growth
Agenda

3. Carrie Conner
Media Specialist
Oxford (MI) High School
Guest Speakers

4. Kathleen Krepps
Library Director
Hinsdale Central (IL) High School
Kerrin Riley
Teacher-Librarian
Hinsdale Central (IL) High School
Myles Laffey
Teacher-Librarian
Hinsdale Central (IL) High School
Guest Speakers

5. Library Assessment Data

6. We start by counting ….

7. Then comparing ….

8. Then analyzing trends ….

9. … To find meaning and tell a story.
“Two Freshman English
teachers piloted a sustained
silent reading program in
the 2011-2012 school year.
Three additional teachers
joined this program in the
2012-2013 year…”
…”These efforts align with the college readiness
standards in reading and support the building
goal of increasing the reading and writing scores on
the MME and ACT Plan.”

10. What is the story behind the data?

11. Product Description SessionsFull Text Retrievals Searches
S1 2013 Power Search (multiple databases) 1,644 2,144 6,301
S1 2012 Power Search (multiple databases) 2,294 2,852 11,557
S1 2013 Opposing Viewpoints 2057 1100 7928
S1 2012 Opposing Viewpoints 2284 691 11125
S1 2013 Gale Virtual Reference Library 3820 6556 10380
S1 2012 Gale Virtual Reference Library 2480 4693 11823
“While session and searches went down in some products, retrievals
stayed near the same or increased in all products. This may indicate
that students are using better searching techniques to find more
relevant results in fewer searches or we are delivering more targeted
resources to students that are yielding more useful results.
Whatever the cause, the overall result is that more articles are being
looked at by students.”
Show AND tell: Database Use

12. Guide ID Guide Name Views
1. 389522 Oxford Community Schools Library Home 1683
2. 430329 Chemistry 1304
3. 466314 Science Guides 1209
4. 468538 Language Arts Guides 1009
5. 398491 Chemistry- Elements 625
6. 392830 Databases (updated!) 211
7. 404983 US History 181
8. 404746 Evaluating a Resource 106
Guide Tracking - All Guides, 2013-09-01 - 2013-12-31
Guide Tracking - Total Views Sept 1- Dec 31 2013
60 guides, 6838 views
Additional sources: Don’t forget website traffic!

13. Additional sources: Google Analytics

14. Title Author
1. Divergent Roth, Veronica
2. Insurgent Roth, Veronica
3. Catching Fire Collins,
Suzanne.
4. Looking for Alaska Green, John
5. House of Hades Riordan, Rick
Top Title Statistics
Which is more appealing?

15. What library resources do you use? (Check all that apply)
“The staff has been
FANTASTIC in helping me
and my students this year.
They have been proactive,
resourceful and really go
above and beyond their
duties in helping out.”
Ask your users! Surveys: Data and Testimonials
“you guys
rock”
“more audio books
would be nice.”
Choice Year 1 Year 2
books 75% 88%
subscription databases N/A 70%
magazines 34% 37%
newspapers 28% 45%
movies (dvd and vhs) 45% 52%
microfilm 1% 3%
computers 53% 64%
Reference hard copy 45% N/A
Reference Online 64% N/A
“I just don’t use the library
often enough to really know.”

16. Record Observations: Internal data collection

17. How do you count class interactions?
Faculty Collaborators by Department

18. Building Relationships

19. Building Relationships by Scheduling
Collaborative Opportunities

20. Building Relationships by Inviting
Requests for Partnerships
PEDesigns.com

21. Building Relationships by Gathering Data
PEDesigns.com

22. Assessing Student Growth

23. Using TRAILS to Assess Student Growth
Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills
TRAILS is a self-guided, self-administered assessment tool
designed for use by library media specialists and teachers to
determine the information literacy competencies of their
high school students.
Tips and Ideas for using TRAILS can be found on their
website and is FREE to use!
http://www.trails-9.org/

24. TRAILS: Sample Questions

25. 202009 2010 2011 20122008 2013
Refined TRAILS
assessment process by
capturing both
individual student and
class scores.
• Collabratively created a customized
asssessment reflecting instructional
goals of E1 curriculum.
• Standardized instruction.
• Focused on search strategies and
source types.
• Students produced annotated bibs.
• Librarians graded student work.
• Partnered with
TRAILS.
• Placed TRAILS
assessment in context
of a freshmen
research paper.
• Measured class scores.
• E1 teachers included Trails
assessment scores in course
grade. Partnered with two E1
teachers to pilot the design of an
instructional plan.
• Systematized pre and post
testing.
• Refined E1 assessment to
measure three skills.
• Partnered with E2 to
develop assessment.
• Synched E2 library
instruction.
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
• Initial TRAILS
assessment with all
freshmen classes.
• AASL Fall Forum
focus on TRAILS.
A Six-Year Journey on the TRAIL of Assessing
Information Literacy at Hinsdale Central High
School Library

26. 202009 2010 2011 20122008-09 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
Initiated TRAILS assessment with
all freshmen classes.

27. 202009 2010 2011 20122008-09 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
Class scores on TRAILS
provide a compelling “WHY?”
for students and teachers
preparing to start a research
project.

28. Sample 2009 Results

29. 202009-10 2010 2011 20122008 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
• Formalized a partnership with TRAILS.
• Presented assessment results to English department and
parents.
Collaborated with one E1 teacher to place TRAILS results
in context of a freshman research project

30. 202009 2010-11 2011 20122008 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
First use of post-assessment; first tracking of individual
scores for all freshmen
• Developed specific library instruction for search strategies and
source types.
• Students produce annotated bibliographies.
• Librarians grade student work.

31. 202009 2010 2011-12 20122008 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
• Standardized instruction using class sets of articles.
• Library instruction: search strategies and source types using
Student Resources in Context.
• Students produce annotated bibs.
Collaborated with two E1 teachers to pilot a
standardized curriculum

32. 202009 2010 2011 2012-132008 2013
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
• Standardized instruction using class sets of articles.
• Students produced annotated bibs.
• Limited searching to two databases including Student Resources
in Context.
Collaboratively created and implemented a customized
asssessment in for all freshmen

33. 202009 2010 2011 20122008 2013-14
ASSESSMENT MILESTONES
• Refined E1 assessment to measure three skills: search
strategies, source type, using information responsibly.
• Standardized E2 library instruction.
Partnered with English 2 to customize sophomore
assessment

34. 2013-14 Assessment Results
English 1 Honors
Pre-test Post -test

35. 202009 2010 2011 20122008 2013-14
Data supported the Library’s ability to:
• Assess information literacy skills of all incoming
freshmen
• Collaborate with English teachers on planning and
grading research projects
• Teach students to use library resources
• Sync library resources with research goals
• Validate the influence of library instruction on
student growth

36. Resources to Help You Share Your Value
• Gale Admin (Pull Database Usage Statistics):
http://www.gale.cengage.com/galeadmin/
• Reports: http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/Reports
• Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/
• Pictographs: http://www.iconarray.com/
• Digital publishing platform: http://issuu.com
• Scheduling Solutions: www.PEDesigns.com
• TRAILS Student Assessments: http://www.trails-9.org/

37. QUESTIONS? PLEASE CONTACT US!
Dinah Ramirez
Product Training Specialist
dinah.ramirez@cengage.com
1-800-877-4253 ext# 8047
-- OR --
Your Gale Representative
1-800-877-4253
To learn more about our K12 resources, please visit
www.gale.cengage.com for product info, training services,
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