Course Schedule

Schedule

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:

9/7: First meeting of class
9/14: Presentation by Jon Kimball on conducting research at Simmons (11:50am-12:30pm)
9/21:Tour to GSLIS Usability Lab (11:30am-12:30pm)
9/28: Talk by Candy Schwartz on research publication processes and GSLIS PhD Program (10:00-10:45am)
10/26: Instructor attends ASIST Annual Meeting, the lecture is delivered through Camtasia screencast
11/2: Normal class session ends at 11:30am: The remaining class time for questionnaire pretest (assignment 3)
11/9: Maria Cervone, Senior Informatics Project Manager at Harvard CBMI speaks about usability studies of Harvard Catalyst Website (11:15am-12:00pm)
11/30: Written evaluation research proposal due. Extra Credit Assignment Presentation. Evaluation proposal project presentation day I
12/7: Evaluation proposal project presentation day II, class ends

-- Click the buttons below to go to each month of the semester--

Date Topics/Activities Readings
Assignments

9/7

Session 1: Course Overview and Introduction to Evaluation of Information Services

Course Web Resource Section

ALA Guidelines for Information Services

Hernon, P., & Dugan, R. E. (2009). Assessment and evaluation: What do the terms really mean? C&RL News, 70(3).

Distributed: Group Presentation Project

9/14

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

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

9/21
Session 3: Planning Evaluation; Evaluation Models and Framework

Tour to GSLIS Usability Lab

Weiss, Chapter 4

Mattews, Chapter 2

Sharp, Rogers, & Preece, Chapter 12-13

GSLIS Usability Lab

Distributed: Term Project; Extra Credit Assignment

9/28
Session 4: Evaluation Measures; Evaluating Research Papers

Linda Watkins visits class to describe evaluation research literature search workshops

Talk by Candy Schwartz on research publication processes

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

10/5 Session 5: Survey Research and Sampling
Group Presentation: Library Users and Nonusers

Weiss, Chapter 7

Hernon & McClure, Chapter 6

Matthews, Chapter 7

10/12
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

Team Formation for the Term Project

10/19
Session 7: Questionnaire Development and Interview Protocols

Group Presentation: Evaluation of Reference Services

Matthews, P. 62-73; 51-52; Chapters 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. (Avaiable on the E-learning site)

Due:Assignment 2

Distributed: Assignment 3



10/26

Session 8: Qualitative Evaluation Methods; The Role of the Evaluator
Instructor Attends ASIST; Class lecture delivered via screencast

Weiss, Chapter 5, Chapters 11-12

Matthews, Chapter 4 (skip p. 50-52)

Sonnichsen, R. C., (1994). "Evaluators as Change Agent," in Wholey, et al., (eds.), pp. 534-548. (Available on the E-Learning site)

Creswell, (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design. Chapter 4: Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry. (Avaiable on the E-Learning site)

11/2 Session 9: Observational Studies;
Group Presentation: Evaluation of Technical Services

Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapters 11

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)

Oh, S., & Wildemuth. (2009). Think-aloud protocols. In B. Wildemuth (ed.) Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science. (Available on the e-learning site)

Questionnaire Pilot Testing Time

11/9

Session 10: Historical Research Methods; User Experience Research Research

Maria Cervone, Informatics Project Manager at Harvard speaks on usability and Harvard Catalyst Website redesign

Group Presentation: Evaluation of Online Systems

Weiss, Chapter 9

Matthews, Chapter 13

Rubin, Chapter 1. Overview of Usability Testing

Sharp, Rogers, & Preece, Chapter 14. Usability testing and field studies.

Due: Assignment 3

11/16

Session 11: Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics

Group Presentation: Evaluation of Bibliographic/Library Instruction and Information Literacy

Weiss, Chapter 12

Matthews, Chapter 6 (p.79-91), Chapter 14

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)

Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab

11/23 Session 12: Inferential Statistics; Writing and Presenting Research
Group Presentation: Evaluation of Customer Services

Weiss, Chapters 13-14

Matthews, Chapter 6 (p. 92-94), Chapter 15; 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)

Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab

11/30

Session 13: Extra Credit Usability Project Presentation

Evaluation Research Proposal Presentation Day I
         Due: Written Research Proposal

12/7
Session 14: Evaluation Proposal Presentation Day II

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:

-- Click the buttons below to go to each month of the semester--

Matthews, P. 62-73; 51-52; Chapters 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. (Avaiable on the E-learning site)

Instructor Attends ASIST; Class lecture delivered via screencast

Weiss, Chapter 5, Chapters 11-12

Matthews, Chapter 4 (skip p. 50-52)

Sonnichsen, R. C., (1994). "Evaluators as Change Agent," in Wholey, et al., (eds.), pp. 534-548. (Available on the E-Learning site)

Creswell, (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design. Chapter 4: Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry. (Avaiable on the E-Learning site)

Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapters 11

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)

Oh, S., & Wildemuth. (2009). Think-aloud protocols. In B. Wildemuth (ed.) Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science. (Available on the e-learning site)

Maria Cervone, Informatics Project Manager at Harvard speaks on usability and Harvard Catalyst Website redesign

Rong Tang 2010.
Site created by Rong Tang August 2010.

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:

-- Click the buttons below to go to each month of the semester--

Matthews, P. 62-73; 51-52; Chapters 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. (Avaiable on the E-learning site)

Instructor Attends ASIST; Class lecture delivered via screencast

Weiss, Chapter 5, Chapters 11-12

Matthews, Chapter 4 (skip p. 50-52)

Sonnichsen, R. C., (1994). "Evaluators as Change Agent," in Wholey, et al., (eds.), pp. 534-548. (Available on the E-Learning site)

Creswell, (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design. Chapter 4: Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry. (Avaiable on the E-Learning site)

Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapters 11

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)

Oh, S., & Wildemuth. (2009). Think-aloud protocols. In B. Wildemuth (ed.) Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science. (Available on the e-learning site)

Maria Cervone, Informatics Project Manager at Harvard speaks on usability and Harvard Catalyst Website redesign

Rong Tang 2010. Site created by Rong Tang August 2010.

Rong Tang 2010.
Site created by Rong Tang August 2010.