Assessment Cycle or Circular File: Do Academic Librarians Use Information Literacy Assessment Data?

Academic librarians design and implement information literacy assessments, but do they use their assessment results? This survey-based study explores the degree to which academic librarians assess information literacy, produce assessment data, and use results to achieve the purposes of information literacy assessment. It identifies numerous barriers that impede librarians progress throughout the assessment process including too little time and too few resources, difficulties understanding of assessment and how to produce and use results, a need for centralized support of assessment activities and increased campus collaboration, and a lack of assessment tools that adequately measure information literacy and provide detail descriptions of student skills. Finally, areas for supporting librarians who seek to overcome these assessment barriers are suggested.