System Services in the CSU
Learn what services the CSU is offering.
Origins of the Assessment
In 2000/01 a systemwide taskforce of librarians, faculty and library administrators undertook a study to assess the skill levels of CSU undergraduates in the area of information competence—the ability to find, evaluate and use information resources. Conducted by the Social and Behavioral Research Institute at CSU San Marcos, the study involved a wide range of methodologies including focus groups, interviews, and screen captures and filming of actual searching. The results of the study pointed to the need to design and implement an assessment tool to better gauge student abilities, a tool that creates a simulated search environment that permits assessment of how searches are actually conducted and how information is evaluated and used to solve problems or complete an assignment. Creation of such a sophisticated tool was considered beyond the means of the CSU, however.