There are 14 class sessions. The table below displays the course schedule by Session Number and Date, Topics, Readings and Assignments.

Here is a list of important dates and no-class dates:

9/4: First meeting of class
9/11: Presentation by Jon Kimball on conducting research at Simmons
9/18: Tour of GSLIS Usability Lab (12:00-12:30pm)
9/18, 9/25: Part of the class will play DVD of special panel of evaluation research and practice
10/30: Normal class session ends at 11:20am: The remaining class time for questionnaire pretest (assignment 3)
11/20: Class meet in GSLIS techlab classroom; Extra Credit Assignment Usability Testing Presentation 
11/27: No class: Thanksgiving Break
12/4:  Evaluation proposal project presentation Day I, written proposal due
12/11:  Evaluation proposal project presentation Day II, class ends
 

 

Date	Topics/Activities	Readings	Assignments
9/4	Session 1: Course Overview and Introduction to Evaluation of Information Services	Course Web Resource Section ALA Guidelines for Information Services	Distributed: Group Presentation Project
9/11	Session 2:Domain and Purpose of Evaluation; Evaluation Standards; Research Ethics Talk by Jon Kimball, Director of Sponsored Program at Simmons, on conducting research at Simmons	Weiss, Chapter 1, 2, 4 Matthews, Chapter 1 Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, (1994). The Program Evaluation Standards. NIH training module: Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams	Distributed: Assignment 1
9/18	Session 3: Planning Evaluation; Evaluation Models and Framework Visit to GSLIS Usability Lab; Evaluation Research/Practice Special Panel DVD	Weiss, Chapter 4 Mattews, Chapter 2 Sharp, Rogers, & Preece, Chapter 12-13 GSLIS Usability Lab	Distributed: Term Project; Extra Credit Assignment
9/25	Session 4: Evaluation Measures; Evaluating Research Papers Evaluation Research/Practice Special Panel DVD (cont.)	Weiss, Chapter 6 Matthews, Chapter 3 Evaluating Research Guidelines excerpted from Pyrczak, F. (2005). Evaluating Research in Academic Journals (Available on the course E-Learning site)	Due: Assignment 1 Distributed: Assignment 2
10/2	Session 5: Survey Research and Sampling Group Presentation: Library Users and Nonusers	Weiss, Chapter 7 Hernon & McClure, Chapter 6 Matthews, Chapter 7	Team Formation for the Term Project
10/9	Session 6: Evaluation Designs and Quantitative Tools Group Presentation: Evaluation of the Physical Collection	Weiss, chapters 8-9 Matthews, Chapter 5  (skip p. 62-73),  Chapter 8-9
10/16	Session 7: Questionnaire Development and Interview Protocols Group Presentation: Evaluation of Reference Services	Matthews, P. 62-73; 51-52; Chapter 10 Miller, T. I. (1994). "Designing and Conducting Surveys," in Wholey, et al. (eds). pp. 271-292 (Available on the E-Learning site) Frary, R. A brief guide to questionnaire development.	Due:Assignment 2 Distributed: Assignment 3
10/23	Session 8: Qualitative Evaluation Methods; The Role of the Evaluator Group Presentation: Evaluation of Technical Services	Weiss, Chapter 5, Chapter 11 Matthews, Chapter 4 (skip p. 50-52), Chapter 11-12 Sonnichsen, R. C., (1994). "Evaluators as Change Agent," in Wholey, et al., (eds.), pp. 534-548. (Available on the E-Learning site)
10/30	Session 9: Observational Studies Group Presentation: Evaluation of Online Systems	Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapter 13 Marchionini, G., et al., (2003). "The people in digital libraries: Multifaceted approaches to assessing needs and impact," in Bishop, et al., (eds.), pp119-160. (Available on the E-Learning site)	Questionnaire Pilot Testing Time
11/6	Session 10: Experimental Design and Usability Testing Group Presentation: Evaluation of Bibliographic/Library Instruction and Information Literacy	Weiss, Chapter 9 Matthews, Chapter 6 (p.79-91), Chapter 14 Rubin, Chapter 1. Overview of Usability Testing Sharp, Rogers, & Preece, Chapter 14. Usability testing & Field Studies
11/13	Session 11: Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics Group Presentation: Evaluation of Customer Services	Weiss, Chapter 12 Matthews, Chapter 6 (p.79-91), Chapter 15 Leedy & Ormord, Chapter 11 (p.245-267). (Available on the E-Learning Site) Samuel, J. (2003). Getting started with SPSS for Windows. Indiana University (Available on the E-Learning Site)	Due: Assignment 3
11/20	Session 12: Inferential Statistics and Writing Research Proposals Extra Credit Assignment Presentation: Running Usability Testing Sessions	Weiss, Chapter 13 Matthews, Chapter 6 (p. 92-94), Scan Part IV, Evaluation of Library Leedy & Ormord, Chapter 11 (p.267-281). (Available on the E-Learning Site) Hendricks, M. (1994). "Making a Splash: Reporting Evaluation Results Effectively," in Wholey, et al. (eds)., pp. 549-575. (Available on the E-Learning site)
11/27	No class: Thanksgiving Break
12/4	Session 13: Evaluation Proposal Presentation Day I       Due: Written Research Proposal
12/11	Session 14: Evaluation Proposal Presentation Day II                Course Summary & Evaluation

Rong Tang 2008.
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