Present:   Bartley, Cohn (chair), Harter, Horowitz, Locknar, Perkins (minutes) Sweeney, Szarko

Announcements:

• Jen (IAP Coordinator) asked the group to encourage staff to post their IAP offerings.
• Anita noted that the Factiva training session (12/5, 2:15, Dewey) is open to all interested staff.

Discussion of Assessment Plan for MIT Libraries Information Services:

Lisa highlighted key points of the plan and led the discussion.  

• Benchmarks or "guiding principles" (page 2) and basic tenets of good assessment (Appendix I) are based on a review of the literature on library assessment (Appendix V).  Benchmarks may be revised as our values and priorities evolve over time.
• Benchmarks for assessment will be selected according to a multi-year cycle, to be determined by PSLG. 
• Assessment activities need not be major projects.  An assessment project might focus on data already gathered (for example in last year's survey) on a specific topic.
• By February PSLG hopes to have information from public service groups on their assessment plans for the current academic year:  questions to be asked; measurable objective(s); tools.  RISG will begin working on this at the next meeting (Dec. 13).
• PSLG will ensure that the committees' assessment projects are not duplicative.

Progress report from System-wide Instruction Plan subgroup:

Peter reported on the subgroup's progress on an outline, and on his conversation with Steve about the instruction plan.  The plan will focus on undergraduate education.  Work will include a statement of goals, an environmental scan, and identification of future opportunities.  Cross-unit cooperation and the use of self-help tools will be addressed.  Angie noted that a new group is being formed to coordinate the Libraries' efforts in the area of self-help tools.

Reference and Instruction Committees' web pages:

Discussion of the list (compiled by Peter) of this web content: what to archive, what to migrate to the new RISG web presence, etc. 

Membership:

Discussion and decision on a support staff representative for the committee.Next meeting:  December 13, 10 - 12, Rotch Seminar Room