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Abstract Objective – This study aimed to identify assessment opportunities and stakeholder connections in an emerging technologies department. Such departments are often overlooked by traditional assessment measures because they do not appear to provide direct support for student learning. Methods – The study consisted of a content analysis of departmental records and of weekly activity journals which were completed by staff in the Emerging Technologies and Services department in a U.S. academic library. The findings were supported by interviews with team members to provide richer data. An evidence based framework was used to identify stakeholder interactions where impactful evidence might be gathered to support decision-making and to communicate value. Results – The study identified a lack of available assessable evidence with some types of interaction, outreach activity, and responsibilities of staff being under-reported in departmental documentation. A modified logic model was developed to further identify assessment opportunities and reporting processes. Conclusion – The authors conclude that an evidence based practice research approach offers an engaging and illuminative framework to identify department alignment to strategic initiatives and learning goals. In order to provide a more complete picture of library impact and value, new and robust methods of assessing library technology departments must be developed and employed.

Web Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms have matured to a point where they offer attractive capabilities for collecting, analyzing, sharing, and visualizing in-library use data for space-assessment initiatives. As these platforms continue to evolve, it is reasonable to conclude that enhancements to these platforms will not only offer librarians more opportunities to collect in-library use data to inform the use of physical space in their buildings, but also that they will potentially provide opportunities to more easily share database schemas for defining learning spaces and observations associated with those spaces. This article proposes using web GIS, as opposed to traditional desktop GIS, as an approach for collecting, managing, documenting, analyzing, visualizing, and sharing in-library use data and goes on to highlight the process for utilizing the Esri ArcGIS Online platform for a pilot project by an academic library for this purpose.

has long served as a philosophy for the practice of librarianship. The original five laws remain relevant almost ninety years after they were originally proposed (Ranganathan, 1931). As new modes of information and access, as well as resources and technology, have come into existence, these laws have remained flexible and open to adaptation. However, library literature has not yet situated Ranganathan's Five Laws within the context of open educational resources (OER). As freely accessible teaching and learning resources, OER reflect the core values of Ranganathan's Five Laws; further, viewing OER through Ranganathan's lens offers new opportunities for librarians to situate their OER work within one of the discipline's most foundational philosophies. The following sections introduce Ranganathan's five laws and their recent adaptations and provide a new interpretation of these laws within the context of OER. The implications for situating OER within Ranganathan's Five Laws are also shared.