Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library develops and promotes access to information in support of the mission of Gustavus Adolphus College. The Library provides resources and information services to meet the needs of curriculum and research, the administration, and the intellectual life of the college and wider community. The library advances the teaching mission of the College through selecting and facilitating access to all forms and formats of information, and instructing in the use, interpretation and evaluation of information. The Library participates actively in the development and integration of evolving technologies for information access. The Library endeavors to create and nurture a learning environment that promotes respect, fairness, diversity, and intellectual growth and excellence. (revised 3/7/00)

INTENDED STUDENT OUTCOMES

• Students will develop an understanding of how knowledge is produced and disseminated and will recognize that they play a role in knowledge production.
• Students will understand how knowledge is organized and will be able to use that understanding to pursue information independently.
• Students will be competent and confident in the use of print and electronic research tools in their major discipline(s).
• Students will develop a sensitivity to and an appreciation of the diversity and wealth of knowledge created by different communities throughout time.

• Surveys will be given to students and faculty in classes participating in the library's instructional program. These surveys, distributed typically two to three weeks after the session, will briefly ask students and faculty to reflect on the semester's work and provide feedback on whether the instructional program was successful in meeting the course's research goals. Individual instructors may selectively distribute surveys in other years. Instructors may opt to use an instrument that includes items on teaching evaluation. These will be collected and results collated very second or third year; individual instructors may opt to survey classes in other years.
• A small group of students will be tracked through four years at the college, with interviews to assess their attitudes, experiences, and beliefs about the library and about their research needs and skills throughout their undergraduate program. Seniors will be asked how they assess their own abilities as researchers and how they feel their understanding of knowledge production and organization has grown in their years at Gustavus. Four year cycle beginning 1999/2000.
• Librarians will collect and examine (using a rubric) a sample of the finished work of students writing from sources to see how they make use of sources in writing and to determine where problems lie. Every third or fourth year beginning 1998/1999.
• The library will display student research that has been published or presented off-campus and will use this data to get a sense of the significance and nature of college-wide student research activities. Annually.

All of the librarians will be involved in collecting and reviewing assessment data, with the librarian coordinating the instruction program assisting. At the end of each academic year the librarians will review assessment data and set goals. The librarian coordinating the instruction program will prepare a summary with goals for the library's annual report.

REPORTING

The library's annual report will track the library's progress toward the stated student outcomes. The annual report, posted on the web, will be available to the entire community. Librarians will also convey results specific to the Dean and to individual faculty and departments in order to improve our collaborative teaching.