The Library as a Central Hub for Assessment Resources Embedding Accessibility, Equity, and Pedagogical Alignment into Assessment Reform

ENGAGEMENT & DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN AI

How to cite this learning scenario

Arantes, J. (2025). The Library as a Central Hub for Assessment Resources. www.AI4education.org. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
abstract
This scenario explores how positioning the library as a central hub for assessment resources can strengthen governance, support consistent quality standards, and enhance both accessibility and academic integrity during major educational reforms. It highlights how libraries can move beyond content custodianship to become active partners in pedagogical change, helping to embed institutional values into assessment design, delivery, and support. The scenario prompts critical reflection on resourcing, cross-unit collaboration, and sustaining pedagogical coherence over time.

"A library is not just a repository of knowledge; it is the infrastructure that sustains equitable, ethical, and enduring learning communities."

The Heart of Assessment Reform

In your institution, a new assessment reform requires the consistent application of principles around academic integrity, inclusivity, and transparency. Recognizing the risk of fragmented implementation across different departments, leadership proposes that the university library take on a new role: acting as a central hub for all assessment resources, exemplars, rubrics, guides, and support services. You join a working group tasked with operationalizing this vision. From the outset, a governance framework is established that emphasises shared leadership, participatory consultation, and continuous feedback loops. Academic and library staff, student representatives, and support teams are all formally embedded into the governance structure, with clearly defined roles and transparent decision-making processes. Meetings are minuted, feedback channels are open, and iterative prototyping of resources ensures that staff and students can see their contributions meaningfully shaping the outcomes. Early discussions reveal both excitement and tension: while many staff see the benefit of having a ‘one-stop’ resource centre, others voice concerns about academic autonomy, duplication of effort, and whether the library has sufficient pedagogical expertise. Instead of dismissing these concerns, the governance group actively surfaces tensions and uses them to inform adaptive design processes. The library’s role is positioned not as a gatekeeper but as an enabler — supporting disciplinary diversity within a consistent institutional framework. Evaluation mechanisms, such as staff and student feedback cycles and external peer review processes, are built into the governance model to ensure the hub remains dynamic, equitable, and pedagogically aligned over time. You must now consider: how will you continue to monitor whether the governance practices themselves are building trust and value? What indicators — relational as well as procedural — would show that the hub is supporting a culture of collaboration, innovation, and shared ownership?

ResearchTopics

Research Questions

The role of libraries in pedagogical governance Infrastructure for sustaining educational reforms Libraries as enablers of academic integrity and consistency Cross-sector collaboration models in educational institutions Embedding accessibility and inclusion through resource centralization
How can libraries support pedagogical alignment without eroding academic autonomy when GenAI advances change so rapidly? What governance structures best support collaborative resource curation around AI? In what ways does centralizing assessment resources about AI and integrity impact equity of access for students? How do students perceive the effectiveness of library-based assessment hubs that support their negotiation of assessment with or without GenAI? How are libraries be repositioned as active partners in teaching and learning innovation? 

Data collection

Practicing teachers could collect data by conducting short student surveys evaluating the clarity, accessibility, and usefulness of library-provided assessment resources. TAFE teachers could gather data through focus groups where learners discuss how centralised resources affect their understanding and completion of assessment tasks. Higher education academics could collect data by analysing patterns of student engagement with library-based assessment resources through learning analytics. Researchers could collect data by conducting longitudinal case studies tracking the evolution and uptake of the library hub model over successive cohorts. Leaders could collect data by administering institution-wide staff and student satisfaction surveys focused on perceptions of resource accessibility, consistency, and support quality.
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Acknowledgement of Country We acknowledge the Ancestors, Elders and families of the Kulin Nation (who are the traditional owners of the land. where this work has bene predominantly completed. As we share our own knowledge practices, we pay respect to the deep knowledge embedded within the Aboriginal community and recognise their ownership of Country. We acknowledge that the land on which we meet, learn, and share knowledge is a place of age-old ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal, and that the Traditional Owners' living culture and practices have a unique role in the life of this region.