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Overview

The ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ Libraries (Oxford campus) provide "Personal Librarians" for undergraduate ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs in the first year. In addition to offering additional ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ support, this program focuses on fostering librarian-to-¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ communication and relationships beyond the immediate point of need. A key part of this program is communication via regular e-mails designed and sent using the Emma e-mail marketing platform. E-mails highlight library services and resources, plus give helpful hints tailored to first-year ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs. 

Program outcomes are to: increase library engagement, reduce library anxiety, and foster relationships. Assessment in the past year has focused on questions relating to the program's outcomes and structure.

1. Is e-mail a viable means of communication? This question is crucial to the success of the program, given that some studies show college ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs prefer other modes of communication. At the end of the 2016/2017 academic year, Miami ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs were asked via survey to rate their preferences for the following communication media: e-mail, social media, text message, chat, and in-person. A total of 197 ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs completed the survey, and 79.8% of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs listed e-mail as their first preference for communication, while 14.9% listed it as their second preference. The open rates for personal librarian e-mails were also examined. Open rate refers to the amount of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs who view any given e-mail that is sent out. In e-mail marketing, traditional open rates average in the lower 20% range, and in education, rates trend slightly lower.¹ Over the course of the 2016/2017 academic year, the average open rate for personal librarian e-mails was 58.65% for a total of 21 e-mails sent, with no individual e-mail having an open rate of less than 49.8%. Open rates were fairly consistent throughout the year, with the expected maximum occurring at the beginning of the year (open rates around 70%), and then falling between 50% and 60% for the rest of the academic year.
2. What is the relationship between the program and library engagement? To answer this question, library engagement was examined for a sample (15%) of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs who had a personal librarian, and a sample of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs who did not have a personal librarian. For each ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ, we examined library engagement via the following data: library checkouts, study room reservations, library event attendance, and library consultations.

The table below shows the results.

Next Steps

As a result of this assessment, the personal librarian program was expanded to all incoming ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs beginning with the 2017/2018 academic year. Future analysis will occur to determine the program's impact on library engagement in the long term.

¹The Hidden Metrics of E-mail Deliverability. (2017). Retrieved January 3, 2018, from 

February 2018