2012 Conference Highlights: Conducting Environmental Scans

Each week between now and the 2012 MLA/DLA Joint Conference, we’re highlighting one of the conference sessions sponsored by ACRL MD. The conference will be held from May 9-11 at the Clarion Resort – Fountainbleau Hotel in Ocean City, MD. For more information on the conference, please take a look at the conference program (PDF). 

Conducting Environmental Scans: Assessing User Needs and Library Functions
Thursday, May 10
2-3:15pm

How do libraries assess the needs of their users? With shrinking budgets and the emphasis on moving from print to electronic resources, how can academic libraries stay relevant in the current landscape? What about staffing the library? To answer these questions and more, the Task Force on Science Libraries and Collections at UNC was created in October, 2010. At UNC, an extensive environmental scan with user feedback from surveys and focus groups was conducted. This session will highlight the process of conducting an environmental scan and the interesting yet sometimes surprising results.

Presenter:

Rebecca Vargha, Librarian, School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill

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