The Academic Library and the Culture for Learning

Several components of a campus culture affect learning, yet assessments regularly neglect some of them. Academic librarians should evaluate how they impact courses and student learning through their support of these neglected components. Assessment goals to address some of the components include measuring the level of support for courses with engaged-learning and civic-learning activities and the service for wide ranges of student populations over time. This article examines a method of using campus information systems to identify courses with engaged-learning and civic-learning components supported by the library and the level of library service for a range of student populations over three years. Once identified, data from the course syllabi can be used to determine the level of the library’s support for these components at both the individual course and the institutional level. These data can result in the formulation of new assessment goals that directly address student-learning outcomes. Though undertaken at one institution, Texas Tech University in Lubbock, libraries at other universities with similar online resources can use the method described to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the value the library provides in supporting its parent institution’s mission and goals.