Evviva Weinraub Lajoie

Using a principal agent model to explain user-centered design challenges for mother tongue reading in Kenya

Digital books may read to the reader, allowing parents with the lowest levels of literacy to explore stories with their children and help break the chain of illiteracy. An interactive electronic format also allows including multiple languages without sacrificing space on a page for attractive images---both key features for teaching young children to read in a setting where multiple languages are spoken in the home, or where a mother tongue is not the language of instruction. This paper describes collaborative development of a digital, multi-language reading tool that facilitates translation of local stories by Kenyan community groups, led by a librarian, into a mother tongue. Despite being built faithfully using a well-established design methodology in an iterative process among beneficiaries, program leaders, and technologists, and in a process embedded in a program also designed according to those design standards, tool development has faced serious challenges. This paper uses a principal agent model to identify technology-mediated communication and spatial distance among critical participants as major hindrances to progress. Analysis reveals critical disparities between, on one hand, the design thinking of development practitioners and funders, which rhetorically promote a circular, dynamic, participatory design process, and, on the other hand, traditional funding structures which impose at least partial adherence to a top-down approach.

The Possibilities are Assessable: Using an Evidence Based Framework to Identify Assessment Opportunities in Library Technology Departments

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.