10 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 290 2017 scores according to ACT concordance tables. Students’ college of enrollment was dummy-coded with the liberal arts college (which admits the greatest proportion of first-year students) serving as a common referent. Environmental measures: Students’ use of academic libraries. The environmental or “treatment” variables included students’ use of academic libraries at least once during the academic year based upon at least one use in five primary areas: checking out books (including interlibrary loans and electronic books), using electronic resources (including academic journals accessed, websites used, and databases searched), logging into library computer workstations, engaging in library instruction sessions (introduction courses, workshops, or course-integrated instruction), and reference services used (e.g., meeting with a peer research consultant or chatting with a reference librarian). The sample of 472 was equally matched such that half of the students had used a library resource at least once and half had never used a library resource. We extracted collection loans—primarily book checkouts and renewals—from the university’s Ex Libris Aleph catalog transaction records27 and no distinctions were made between initial checkout and renewal. E-book views, database logins, and electronic journal logins used a “click-through” script to capture usage of these resources. Computer workstation use at the libraries required that users log in through a shared computer management software service called Cybrarian.28 Login data included Internet ID and date of transaction, which we extracted from the Cybrarian database. We gathered reference transactions that occurred via live Internet chat from QuestionPoint29 and we parsed the data into a list of Internet IDs. Library services staff train undergraduates (a.k.a. peer research consultants) to help students narrow down The environmental or “treatment” variables in- cluded students’ use of aca- demic libraries at least once during the academic year.
Previous Page Next Page