Librarians Across Institutions: Establishing Outreach Programs
A study of Effective Outreach Programs and Support Groups in Academic Libraries.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jloe.v1i1.467Keywords:
Academic Libraries, Outreach, Outreach Programs, Librarians, Outreach LibrarianAbstract
The data used for this study was collected from Librarians Across Institutions: Establishing Outreach Programs, a study to gather data from academic outreach librarians across the United States to find what factors contribute to effective outreach programs. Conversely, the study also collects data on factors that hinder outreach programs. This study examines support for the most effective and least effective outreach programs carried out by outreach librarians in five support areas: support from other librarians, support from staff, support from faculty, support from students, and support from volunteers. The results collected from the survey contains data from 75 outreach librarians across the United States in 2020.The analysis was completed using dependent sample (t-tests) using Stata software V.16.1.
The target group was identified by the creation of a comprehensive list from LinkedIn profiles of academic librarians whose profiles contained outreach in their job title or had outreach experience listed on their profiles. The data shows there is a difference in support levels for library outreach programs of the most effective in contrast with the least effective programs. In the most effective programs’ category, (80%) of the respondents had librarian support and (60%) from the least effective programs had librarian support. The results also revealed that there were significant statistical differences in librarian, staff, and student support groups. In conclusion, results from the study suggest that outreach librarians are innovative and use communication and collaboration techniques to outsource support from librarians, staff, faculty, students, and volunteers to create effective outreach programs.
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