Are They Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes and the Academic Library

Since the 1990s, the assessment of learning outcomes in academic libraries has accelerated rapidly, and librarians have come to recognize the necessity of articulating and assessing student learning outcomes. Initially, librarians developed tools and instruments to assess information literacy student learning outcomes. Now, academic librarians are moving to a larger scale assessment approach: the articulation and demonstration of library impact on institutions of higher education. This article considers six questions relevant to the assessment challenges librarians face in coming years: (1) How committed are librarians to student learning? (2) What do librarians want students to learn? (3) How do librarians document student learning? (4) How committed are librarians to their own learning? (5) What do librarians need to learn? (6) How can librarians document their own learning?