Collaborative Information Literacy Assessments: Strategies for Evaluating Teaching and Learning

Citation

McNicol, S. (2011), "Collaborative Information Literacy Assessments: Strategies for Evaluating Teaching and Learning", New Library World, Vol. 112 No. 11/12, pp. 574-574. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801111190455

It is generally acknowledged that for an information literacy programme to be successful, library staff and teachers or academics need to collaborate. This book offers case studies of successful collaborations from the USA, the UK and New Zealand. The way in which partnerships developed would be valuable in its own right, but this book is particularly interesting as it focuses on the assessment of information literacy skills. This is something which is all too often overlooked, or only included at a superficial level in course evaluations.

All the chapters are co‐authored by library and academic staff and cover Business Studies, Social Science and Education and Humanities. The lack of any examples from pure or applied sciences, however, is a notable omission which may limit the appeal of this book slightly. A range of assessment methods and models are described in detail, with copies of assessment instruments being included in most cases. The interventions described in each chapter are well supported by supporting background information and literature, but descriptions of the impact evaluation and assessment activities have had on academic practices were lacking in some cases. While each chapter is valuable in its own right, I felt the editors could have done more to synthesise, summarise and reflect upon the themes which emerge across institutions, disciplines and continents.

Overall, Collaborative Information Literacy Assessments would be extremely valuable for library staff or lecturers attempting to establish robust working partnerships and ensure they assess information skills effectively. The case studies are well written and extremely detailed and should offer ideas to inspire anyone struggling with this complex task.