Library Assessment in Higher Education

Abstract

Matthews, Joseph R. Library Assessment in Higher Education. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007. 146 pp. 45.00 USD. ISBN-10: 1-59158-531-7. ISBN- 13: 978-1-59158-531-2. ∞ This book is a strong plea to move away from the traditional reliance on inwardlooking forms of assessment (facts that describe collection size, collection use, library space, different forms of library use) to output measures that focus on the outcomes or impacts of an academic library on students, faculty and the larger organizational context (p. 5). The eight chapters of this book deal with the importance of properly formulated institutional and library mission statements, instruments that measure or assess student learning outcomes, methods that have been used to measure the library's contribution to the educational process, methods that have been used to measure faculty research output and the library's contribution to this output, and the methods that should be used to develop a truly effective, meaningful library assessment plan. There are numerous bibliographic notes at the end of each chapter and numerous charts and diagrams that help illustrate the arguments that Matthews advances. While one would applaud the move away from the collecting of facts and statistics to a focus on the student learning process or the faculty research process, Matthews frequently makes bold statements for which no proof or documentation is provided and not infrequently, he appears to contradict his own arguments. On p. 27 one reads that Every aspect of the student's development-cognitive and affective, psychological and behavioral-is affected by the peer group. On p. 28 he states, A student's academic achievements are not influenced by the intellectual level of his or her peers On the same page one reads that Attending a college with a heavy research orientation-in which the faculty is rewarded for scholarship, not teaching prowess-increases student dissatisfaction and has a negative impact on measures of cognitive and affective development but no proof or documentation is provided for this statement. Similarly, one reads that Two key predictors of academic success are the duration and quality of student-faculty interactions and the quality of the students' interpersonal life on campus, (p. 85). Again, no proof for this statement is provided. One reads that very little support was found between usage of libraries and academic performance, but a link between extensive use of library catalogs and high academic performance was found, (p. …

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