There are 13 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:

9/2: First meeting of class
9/9: Presentation by Jon Kimball on conducting research at Simmons (2:35-3:15pm)
9/16: Tour to GSLIS Usability Lab (4:30-5:30pm)
9/23: Talk by Candy Schwartz on research publication processes and GSLIS PhD Program  (2:45-3:30pm)
10/28: Normal class session ends at 4:30pm: The remaining class time for questionnaire pretest (assignment 3)
11/4: Maria Cervone, Senior Informatics Project Manager at Harvard CBMI speaks about usability studies of Harvard Catalyst Website  (4:15-5:00pm)
12/2:  Written evaluation research proposal due. Extra Credit Assignment Presentation. Evaluation proposal project presentation day I
12/9:  Evaluation proposal project presentation day II, class ends
 

 

Date	Topics/Activities	Readings	Assignments
9/2	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
9/9	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
9/16	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
9/23	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
9/30	Session 5: Survey Research and Sampling Group Presentation: Library Users and Nonusers	Weiss, Chapter 7 Hernon & McClure, Chapter 6 Matthews, Chapter 7
10/7	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
10/14	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
10/21	Session 8: Qualitative Evaluation Methods; The Role of the Evaluator   Group Presentation: Evaluation of Technical Services	Weiss, Chapter 5, Chapters 11-12 Matthews, Chapter 4 (skip p. 50-52), Chapter 11 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)
10/28	Session 9: Observational Studies; Group Presentation: Evaluation of Online Systems	Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapters 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) 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
11/4	Session 10: Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics Maria Cervone, Informatics Project Manager at Harvard speaks on usability and Harvard Catalyst Website redesign Group Presentation: Evaluation of Bibliographic/Library Instruction and Information Literacy	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 Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab
11/18	Session 11: Inferential Statistics; Writing and Presenting Research Group Presentation: Evaluation of Customer Services	Weiss, Chapters 13-14 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)	Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab
12/2	Session 12: Extra Credit Usability Project Presentation Evaluation Research Proposal Presentation Day I            Due: Written Research Proposal
12/9	Session 13:Evaluation Proposal Presentation Day II

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