Thomas P. Mackey

What can I say? Like many of the LIS books that I read, this had some parts that I found more useful than others. For a book like this I am looking for the following: clear explanations of how things were done; if possible, samples of worksheets, instruments, guidelines, etc., and how well can something be replicated or adapted to my situation. Practicality over just theory is what I need. Overall, most of the pieces offered in this book were practical, although in some cases, they were a bit heavy on the stats and not enough on the how something was done part. Don't tell me "we got a team together, we talked about it, and poof, assessment happened." What did you talk about? What kind of questions did you ask? What instrument or product came out? Those are the things I honestly want to know. Also, at times, some of the situations and campuses seem on the ideal side. Apparently, faculty and librarians get along splendidly in these places. I am fortunate I have some receptive faculty here to get some things done, but I have been in places where that is way far from the norm. I do not know if that is just a shortcoming of the book or the profession at large. I mean, there is a lot in the LIS literature about the difficulties librarians encounter in trying to implement IL and work with faculty (solutions, well, that is so-so, but I don't think it is hopeless).

The part I found most useful for me was the chapter on student self-assessments. I like the idea of putting more of the learning in the student hands and making them have a stake in the process. I did photocopy that chapter for later reference. I also took some notes from other chapters that I will add to my blog for later reference as well.

Overall, it is a pretty good book. I think library folks in academic libraries seeking to learn about assessment will find some good things here, but I do not think this is the definitive book on the topic. Just one of others we should be reading if interested in this topic. As usual with this kind of book, you may not need to read it cover to cover. Find the parts that you need and read those. The book does contain pretty good introductions that give a sense of what specific chapters are about, so you can decide what parts to read in full, what to skim, and what to skip.
… (mehr)