ACRL announces the publication of Reviewing the Academic Library: A Guide to Self-Study and External Review, edited by Eleanor Mitchell and Peggy Seiden.
Whether the library assessment is driven by external pressure or by an organizationally inspired desire to improve, library managers are expected to be able to plan and implement both comprehensive and targeted evaluations of their impact, services, resources, programs, virtual and physical spaces, and partnerships. Many librarians have been invited to serve on review teams for other academic libraries, either as part of a reaccreditation process or as part of a general cyclical program review process. At their own institutions, librarians have initiated reviews of their libraries or been asked to do so by a senior administrator. There are no blueprints for conducting external reviews and self-studies.
In a series of sixteen chapters, Mitchell and Seiden present essays by key thinkers and leaders in the field that address the major aspects of the formal assessment and review of academic libraries. Reviewing the Academic Library offers practical and applicable information, contextualized through current theory and approaches.
Reviewing the Academic Library: A Guide to Self-Study and External Review is available for purchase in print, as an e-book, and as a print/ e-book bundle through the ALA Online Store; in print and for Kindle through Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the U.S. or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.