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Librarians at Washington State University Vancouver helped the campus develop a method of assessing its General Education Program, a program based on university learning goals, one of which is information literacy. The assessment method, which relies on an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) along with rubrics to evaluate work in the ePortfolio, enables the librarians to evaluate their information literacy program based on ACRL best practices guidelines, authentic assessment techniques, and the tenets of phenomenography. This paper will describe the library's use of this assessment method, while looking at the advantages and disadvantages of this process for assessment. (Contains 1 figure, 1 chart, and 28 notes.)

This interview focuses on usability testing, one method for evaluating whether library Web sites are useful for users. Discussion includes: benefits and drawbacks of usability testing; why it is important; lessons learned from testing; advice for someone interested in doing a study; and recommendations. (AEF)

Background: Over the last twenty-five years the focus of public services librarianship has migrated toward teaching. Often librarians are not aware of how neighboring institutions are managing that transition. The authors report the results from a survey of information literacy instruction and IL programs in libraries at institutions belonging to the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium in the northwestern United States. Methods: After a literature review and round of testing, a survey link was sent to a contact person at each institution. Results: 38 survey responses were obtained from a range of academic libraries in size and scope. Twenty-seven respondents have had an information literacy program for more than five years; four respondents had had a formal information literacy program for fewer than three years. Seven respondents reported that they did not have an IL program Conclusions: Librarians vary widely in the number of sessions they teach; one-shot sessions are still the most frequent mode of instruction; over half of Alliance libraries' institutions have a written statement of objectives for information literacy; the use of active learning and technology is increasing; and librarians continue to struggle with student learning and instructional program assessment. (Survey appended) Keywords: information literacy; information literacy programs; survey; instruction; assessment, Introduction Over the last twenty-five years the focus of public services librarianship in academic institutions has migrated toward teaching. As the delivery of bibliographic instruction has dominated their teaching experience, [...]