Steven Bell

Call it a 3.5. There's a lot to recommend in Bell and Shank's work. Tackling the concerns about academic libraries loosing their important place by engaging in instructional design thinking strikes me as a great solution. There are strong overviews of how design thinking works, how to create library resources like a designer, how to get faculty buy-in. All good stuff. Still, there are some problems with the book. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the examples are now out-of-date. But even though many of them have been successfully implemented it's questionable how much design thinking was implemented with them and worries about the relevancy of academic librarianship continues. Further, in such a short work having what is essentially a filler chapter on their online community for blended librarians is a waste. Still, it is worth a read and can be a great starting point for learning about librarianship and design thinking.… (mere)

(My review also available in the 11/15/07 Library Journal: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6497769.html)

This guide by Bell (associate university librarian, research and instructional services, Temple Univ.) and Shank (instructional design librarian and director, Center for Learning Technologies, Penn State Univ.'s Berk Coll.) encourage academic librarians to become "blended librarians" who combine the skills of librarianship, information technology, and instructional design. Advocating the conscious design of services to avoid duplication of effort, enhance integration of the library throughout the academic setting, and connect with learners in new and varied ways, the authors present BLAAM (Blended Librarians' Adapted ADDIE Model)—adopted from the instructional systems design ADDIE—as a philosophy that librarians can use to guide development of instructional products and library services. Rich with case studies and direction to additional resources, their book addresses the design process, collaboration with faculty, integration of the library into the course management system, and low-threshold applications to urge faculty to use library technologies. This volume reconnects academic librarianship with teaching, learning, and improved planning at the practitioner's level. Highly recommended for academic librarians and any librarian interested in better decision-making and implementation processes for educational programming.

- Colleen Harris… (mere)