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:

6/16: First meeting of class
6/18: Presentation by Jon Kimball on conducting research at Simmons
6/23: Guest Presentation: Matvey Palchuk to present and demo on the interlingua search feature for Harvard Catalyst Website (11:00am - 12:00pm)
6/23: Tour of GSLIS Usability Lab (12:00-12:30pm)
6/25: Talk by Candy Schwartz on research publication processes and GSLIS PhD Program 
7/14: Normal class session ends at 11:20am: The remaining class time for questionnaire pretest (assignment 3)
7/23: Extra Credit Assignment Usability Testing Presentation 
7/28:  Written evaluation research proposal due
7/30:  Evaluation proposal project presentation, class ends
 

 

Date	Topics/Activities	Readings	Assignments
6/16	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
6/18	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
6/23	Session 3: Planning Evaluation; Evaluation Models and Framework Guest Presentation: Matvey B. Palchuk, MD, MS, Faculty of Center for Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, to discuss usability consideration for the interlingua search feature of Harvard Catalyst Website Visit 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
6/25	Session 4: Evaluation Measures; Evaluating Research Papers Talk by Candy Schwartz on research publication processes and GSLIS PhD Program	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
6/30	Session 5: Survey Research and Sampling Group Presentation: Library Users and Nonusers	Weiss, Chapter 7 Hernon & McClure, Chapter 6 Matthews, Chapter 7
7/2	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
7/7	Session 7: Questionnaire Development and Interview Protocols Group Presentation: Evaluation of Reference Services	Matthews, P. 62-73; 51-52; Chapter 9, 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
7/9	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 Sonnichsen, R. C., (1994). "Evaluators as Change Agent," in Wholey, et al., (eds.), pp. 534-548. (Available on the E-Learning site)
7/14	Session 9: Observational Studies Group Presentation: Evaluation of Online Systems	Matthews, Chapter 4 (p. 50-51), Chapter 12, 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
7/16	Session 10: Historical Research Methods; User Experience Research 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
7/21	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 Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab
7/23	Session 12: Inferential Statistics 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)	Class session takes place in GSLIS TechLab
7/28	Session 13: Writing and Presenting Research Proposals; Class Summary and Evaluation	Matthews,  Scan Part IV, Evaluation of Library Hendricks, M. (1994). "Making a Splash: Reporting Evaluation Results Effectively," in Wholey, et al. (eds)., pp. 549-575. (Available on the E-Learning site)	Due: Written Research Proposal
7/30	Session 14: Evaluation Proposal Presentation

Rong Tang 2009.
Site created by Rong Tang May 2009, and updated June 15, 2009.