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portal: Libraries and the Academy 3.3 (2003) 531-532



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Library Evaluation: A Casebook and Can-Do Guide, ed. Danny P. Wallace and Connie Van Fleet. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001. 300 p. $45 softcover (ISBN 1-56308-862-2)

All librarians today face an increasingly complex world of programs, resources, policies, services, and collection evaluation. Not only are today's libraries required to do more with less, libraries are now held more accountable for documenting how services and collections are producing measurable outcomes for tax payers and patrons.

Navigating changing accreditation standards, increasing accountability, and implementation of outcome measurements is difficult. Librarians trying to understand these increasingly important phenomena quickly find that the professional literature is filled with either theoretical tomes of what to do or anecdotal tales of what was done. Quality resources are scarce, especially those providing practical applications and theoretically sound library evaluation tools. Library Evaluation: A Casebook and Can-Do Guide fills this void in the professional literature by providing the perfect mix of conceptual overviews and pragmatic case studies that can be utilized by a wide range of library professionals from the most experienced library administrators preparing for a major accreditation visit to novice library administrators charged with incorporating evaluation into their daily practices.

The publisher notes that the intended audience is library managers, especially administrators in public libraries. As an academic librarian beginning an outcomes-based assessment program of services and collections for my institution, I find Library Evaluation a practical and valuable addition to my professional monographic collection and a welcome tool to help me with my current administrative charge. As someone who also teaches as an adjunct professor in an ALA-accredited MLS program, I find this book well written, easy to read, and easy to comprehend from a student's point of view. The practical case information helps to fill a gap in the library literature for instructional discussion. I plan to add this book to my required reading list for the Foundations, Library Administration, and the Library Research courses I teach.

A major asset of Library Evaluation is the scholarly strength and academic credentials of the co-editors, Danny P. Wallace and Connie Van Fleet, co-editors of Reference & User Services Quarterly. In addition to their editing work, Dr. Wallace is director and professor, and Dr. Van Fleet is an associate professor, at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, School of Library and Information Studies. In addition to the numerous professional awards received by both authors, a quick review of their names in Library Literature reveals a progressively developing work of scholastic excellence, especially in the area of library evaluation.

The editors explain that the strategies included in Library Evaluation grew out of the critically acclaimed S:OLE (Seminar: Ohio Library Evaluation) project conducted by Kent State University. Instead of offering an exhaustive overview of every evaluation method available, Library Evaluation helps readers become familiar with the common purposes for library evaluation, highlights especially helpful evaluation models, and provides real-life evaluations in the form of case studies that have been successfully applied.

Library Evaluation is organized into six sections and revolves around eleven case studies. Case studies are introduced by overviews on the broader concept and associated [End Page 531] theories. The book begins with an excellent summary chapter explaining the need for evaluation and the process required to make evaluation an important part of daily library management, administration, and operation. An equally important foundational chapter dealing with evaluation in the context of organization effectiveness and accountability follows this chapter.

Addressing the needs of library students, library science teaching faculty, and practicing library managers, this work combines some of the most critical concepts and methodologies of library evaluation with practical case experiences from those working in the field. A variety of approaches (e.g., focus groups, TQM) are thoroughly described, then illustrated with case studies. The cases are thoughtfully selected and serve as models to library managers and others responsible for evaluation. In summary, this book is highly recommended for all librarians and others interested...

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