The instructors and staff at the Cabrillo College Library deliver both credit instruction and a wide range of services to students. 

The Library’s credit instruction program centers on Library 10, a co-requisite course with English 1A.

The library’s information services are:  Reference, Collection (books and videos), Reserves, Interlibrary Loan, and Course related information resources sessions

 
Assessment of the Library's information services was developed through a series of open meetings, attended by both faculty and classified staff, to identify non-class-related services and assessment options. The following services and their contributions to core competencies were identified:

Transaction Services
Online & Electronic Services
Information & Instruction Services
Collection
Service Management

 The meetings resulted in a detailed assessment plan for each service and a time line for that assessment .

 
Information and Instruction services (including assessment of Library 10) will utilize the course-embedded method designed by the Faculty Senate for all transfer and basic skills courses, scrutinizing student achievement in the midterm and final of that course.  In addition, the Library 10 instructors will meet every semester to discuss problems, changes, and new instruction elements in the course.  The results of these meetings, plus any identified ambiguities in the Library 10 workbook and feedback based upon patterns of student errors or confusion, are folded into the following semester’s workbook.  Other Instruction services use short surveys at the end of each activity to assess their effectiveness.

 
For the other major library services, a survey was selected as the assessment instrument; the group developed a general survey to assess a review of all library services. It was piloted in Fall 2005 and Spring 2006, when the survey was made available at both Library exits, and over 100 responses were collected during three days of each semester. Survey questions were intended to measure satisfaction with the specific activities a patron was engaged in, as well as self-assessment questions addressing several core competencies. The staff assessed the results based on question responses and frequency of problem areas mentioned in written comments.  The results of that pilot assessment and subsequent plans for improvement are captured in the Library Services Assessment Analysis form which was attached to the Library’s Instructional Plan and presented to the Council for Instructional Planning in Spring 2007.  The assessment survey will be repeated each year.