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This paper aims to discuss a 2015-2016 University of Washington Libraries project focused on understanding the needs and challenges of transfer students on the Seattle campus and developing innovative ways to support transfer student success.

The study uses design thinking methods, including interviews and rapid iterative prototyping and feedback, to understand and emphasize the user experience.

Transfer students at the Seattle campus identify themselves as a unique group separate from other undergraduates because of their prior experience, shortened timeline at the university and their need to balance academic, work and family commitments. Because transfer students often have little time to learn about and effectively use campus resources, the authors found that working with campus partners to enrich transfer-specific student orientations and events with educational and practical content was the most effective means of supporting new students.

This pilot study was conducted over an 11-month period with a small number of participants, but the iterative nature of design thinking allowed the authors to gather new feedback from a variety of students and staff at each phase.

This study showcases how design thinking methods can increase understanding of transfer student and other user needs. The design thinking approach can also enable the rapid development of library and campus services, as well as outreach efforts, to meet user needs.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of developing an information literacy assessment project, and to discuss key findings from the project.

A variety of assessment tools were used to gather information about student learning and information literacy instruction: pre‐ and post‐surveys, student feedback surveys, faculty feedback to librarians, librarian self‐reflection, library worksheets, student research journals, and citation analysis of students' final research paper bibliographies.

It was found that the authors' initial suite of assessment tools did not provide the information wanted about students' research processes, so the authors' “assessment toolkit” was modified. It was found that more meaningful information could be gathered about students' research processes when the authors worked closely with faculty to embed information literacy assessments into course assignments. From the authors' analysis of student work, it was discovered that, for many students, library instruction was most valuable in helping them refine and explore research topics.

This paper will be useful to librarians and faculty seeking to implement an information literacy assessment project. The authors provide ideas for ways for faculty and librarians to collaborate on information literacy assessment, as well as on assignment and course design.