In terms of KPIs you could look at Queensland Uni of Technology's
Strategic Plan and KPIs 2003-6 at
http://www.library.qut.edu.au/pubspolicies/
as they've been using a Balanced Scorecard approach for a few
years and they also have a strong focus on information literacy.
A key objective (from this document) is “Facilitate the development
of informed and independent learners” and the 2 most obviously
relevant KPIs are:
“1. 70% of students who undertake the Library’s generic
Information Literacy program indicate a high/very high degree of
satisfaction.
“2. 50% of first year undergraduates exposed to basic Information
Literacy principles through one of their core units.”
With the 2nd one, what they specify must be constrained by what
is pragmatically achievable, given that the library can't do it on its
own (as the work is dependent on collaboration with academics),
even if the library might prefer a KPI which is more related to
student learning outcomes (rather than just "exposure"). If the
information literacy contribution of a library becomes an
increasingly direct part of education then different kinds of quality
measures (e.g. measuring outcomes of student learning) seem
appropriate...
For evaluation/assessment of *an individual's* information literacy
(inside or outside formal education), I'd agree with Mark that lists of
attributes and indicators are not enough, unless you're looking at
some aspects of information literacy that are more mechanical.
I was attracted to the idea of a gamers approach to IL (cool! etc.),
tracking patterns of use. I would have thought that might work for
questions like - "what pattern of browsing and searching behaviour
do I have on the web - what does that say about my information
literacy" and would be interesting to follow up. However, there are
other aspects (e.g. using non-electronic sources, recognising when
you need information, critical thinking) where it would be
problematic, I think.
Sheila
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Sheila Webber, Lecturer, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK.
Email [log in to unmask]
Tel. (0044) 0114 222 2641
Fax 0114 278 0300
The Information Literacy Weblog: http://ciquest.shef.ac.uk/infolit/
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