308 College & Research Libraries May 2012

challenges of preserving digital objects, 
metadata about these objects, user experi-
ences with these digital objects, and infor-
mation about the dynamic relationship 
between these technologies and culture, 
will find this book useful.—Anders Selhorst, 
Guilford Technical Community College.

Lesley S. J. Farmer. Instructional Design 
for Librarians and Information Profes-
sionals. New York: Neal-Schuman, 
2011. 229p. alk. paper, $80.00 (ISBN 
9781555707361). LC 2011-31233.

Intended as a handbook for working 
librarians as well as a textbook for library 
and information science courses, this 
book aims to improve librarians’ instruc-
tion by making the planning process 
more systematic. Farmer follows Robert 
A. Reiser’s and John V. Dempsey’s 2007 
definition of instructional design as an 
iterative process that moves reflectively 
through the stages of analysis, design, 
development, implementation, and evalu-
ation. Early in the book, Farmer observes 
that the instructional design process has 
several characteristics that makes it well 
suited for the kinds of instruction engaged 
in by librarians. Instructional design is 
learner centered (for individual learners 
as well as groups); goal oriented (both 
learners and instructors know the goals); 
performance focused (learners are asked 
to demonstrate their new knowledge or 

skills); data driven (data is generated by 
both teachers and learners, throughout the 
process); and self-correcting (the instruc-
tor analyzes the data collected and makes 
adjustments to each step in the process). 

Farmer has strong credentials in in-
struction. Her PhD is in adult education, 
she has worked as a K–12 library media 
specialist and currently teaches in and 
coordinates the librarianship program at 
California State University, Long Beach. 
Her publications include more than 
twenty books and numerous articles. 
She received ALA’s Beta Phi Mu Award 
in 2011 for distinguished contributions to 
education in librarianship.

In each of the book’s nine chapters, 
Farmer’s exposition takes a broad view 
of instructional design, while her varied 
examples link the material to libraries. 
Chapter Two, “Instructional Design Over-
view,” illustrates this approach. Farmer 
introduces several instructional design 
models; each either is broad enough to 
apply to libraries or fits particular needs 
that libraries have. Within this survey of 
models, she provides a succinct, highly 
useful case study that illustrates the AD-
DIE (Analysis, Design, Development, 
Implementation, and Evaluation) model’s 
application to a school library setting. The 
case study’s steps are easily transferable to 
other types of libraries. She also introduces 
BLAAM (Blended Librarians Adapted AD-
DIE Model), which better fits the smaller 
scale of most instruction in academic 
libraries. Rapid Prototyping (discussed 
further in the chapter on design content 
decisions) is a technology design process 
that academic librarians might find use-
ful for designing online tutorials. Farmer 
suggests that, for efficiency, libraries adopt 
one model for all their instructional design.

Subsequent chapters (learners in in-
structional design; preplanning; design 
content decisions; instructional delivery; 
technology; instructional systems; and 
management issues) follow a common 
format. Farmer first identifies core fea-
tures and issues that must be considered 
for a given stage or aspect of instruction 

Index to advertisers
AIAA 212
Annual Reviews 211
Bowker/RCL 312
CHOICE Reviews Online 278
Digital Libr. Sys. Grp. cvr 4, 259,261
EBSCO 206
ISTE cover 2
Modern Language Assoc. cover 3
Peter Lang Publishing 232
Peterson Institute 205
Philosophy Documentation Ctr. 216
Society for Industrial &  

Applied Mathematics 208-209
Society for American Archivists 302



Book Reviews 309

design. Then she takes up more specific 
topics and processes, providing (often 
in list format) actionable information to 
guide readers in their own instructional 
design work. The chapter text is followed 
by a sample lesson or instructional design 
that illustrates the material presented. 
These end-of-chapter samples represent a 
mix of educational settings, from kinder-
garten/first grade through eighth grade, 
high school, undergraduates, and even 
a videoconference for school librarians. 
References conclude each chapter. 

Farmer presents complex material 
effectively. She uses metadiscourse well 
to signal a new direction, link what a 
source says to her own thoughts on the 
topic, or move from content to examples. 
The section headings within each chap-
ter are carefully chosen to orient the 
reader to new topics in the text. Farmer 
is also skilled at supporting her presenta-
tion with an extensive, diverse array of 
sources, some as recent as the year this 
book was published. For example, in 
chapter 4, “Preplanning,” her discussion 
of the process of determining assessment 
of instruction incorporates, in summary 
form, the American Association of Higher 
Education’s nine principles for assessment 
of learning. Readers can work with the 
summary, because enough detail is given 
to allow this; or they can follow the cita-
tion if they need further elaboration. These 
useful summaries appear throughout the 
book, and Farmer often adapts them to 
libraries by adding italicized examples to 
each point or list item. A particularly effec-
tive instance of adaptation is the list, also 
in chapter 4, of ten educational settings in 
which instructional design can be used. 
Beyond “teacher-directed group instruc-
tion,” librarians can also use instructional 
design in one-on-one tutorial teaching 
(reference interviews and thesis con-
sultations); learning groups (when they 
include a librarian); committee-guided 
group learning (professional develop-
ment offerings, such as library confer-
ences and workshops); and collaborative 
institutional planning (where two or more 

institutions, or units within the same orga-
nization, offer services together).

What follows are three instances of 
Farmer’s broad approach to instructional 
design that took me beyond my habitual 
view of my instructional role. First, Farm-
er reminds us that standardized textbooks 
don’t usually contain much in the way of 
contextual material. Therefore, “providing 
resources in support of curriculum is the 
most basic function done by librarians.” 
This is a common component of instruc-
tion for school librarians. For academic li-
brarians, however, this comment reminds 
us that we can also use our instructional 
design skills to suggest, adapt, or cocreate 
curricular materials focused on library re-
sources. Second, Farmer asserts the advan-
tages of learner-generated instructional 
resources. Because information technol-
ogy tools (especially Web 2.0) can be easy 
to use, they enable learners to focus more 
of their attention on course content. Thus, 
learners can readily demonstrate their 
understanding of both course content and 
information literacy by creating a Web 
page, video, class blog, or mixed media 
album. Librarians can collaborate with 
course instructors on the design, informa-
tion literacy instruction, and evaluation of 
these kinds of assignments. Farmer notes 
that such assignments align with the edu-
cational philosophies of constructivism 
and student-centered curriculum. Third, 
Farmer’s discussion of steps in the process 
of structuring instructional strategies—
how we plan to help learners engage with 
and process our curriculum—contains 
an important takeaway message for aca-
demic librarians. In our instructional role 
as change agents, we should strive to have 
an influence on all the steps in structur-
ing instructional strategies—even those 
that we haven’t traditionally thought of 
as within our purview. Where can we do 
more to strengthen learning of our curric-
ulum? Farmer’s discussion suggests that 
librarians can help learners manipulate 
curricular information by demonstrat-
ing ways to locate key information, and 
take notes on it, from a difficult-to-read 



310 College & Research Libraries May 2012

scholarly book or journal article. We can 
look for ways to help learners make the 
curriculum personally meaningful so 
that they will accept the new information 
and be more likely to incorporate it into 
long-term memory. We can ensure that 
the curriculum includes a robust way for 
learners to act on the new information.

Instructional Design for Librarians and 
Information Professionals provides an infor-
mative and thought-provoking addition 
to the book-length offerings on instruc-
tional design that have direct applicability 
for academic librarians. Other relevant 
titles include Laurie Richlin’s Blueprint for 
Learning (Stylus, 2006); Steven J. Bell and 
John D. Shank’s Academic Librarianship by 
Design: A Blended Librarian’s Guide to Tools 
and Techniques (American Library Asso-
ciation, 2007); and Valeda Frances Dent’s 
Keeping the User in Mind (Chandos, 2009).

In sum, there is much to appreciate 
in Farmer’s book, and little to criticize. I 
noticed several small editing errors, and 
the sample instructional design in chapter 
3 needs clarification of the librarian’s role 
in the design and the lesson. But these are 
very minor blemishes in a strong and use-
ful work. For me, the book’s greatest value 
resides in the opportunities it opens up 
for reexamining my options as a teacher 
through multiple lenses. Rather than 
limiting my concerns to the typical ones 
(selecting content; deciding how students 
will practice the skills I’m teaching; timing 
my classroom sessions; and assessment), 
Farmer invites me to consider much more. 
As I thought about topics such as the range 
of considerations in the preplanning stage 
of instructional design, how I might use 
the “Learning Activity Collaborative Plan-
ning Checklist” to work more effectively 
with course instructors, and how I might 
employ agile design, I realized that Farm-
er’s book has expanded my perspectives as 
a teacher and as a librarian.—Glenn Ellen 
Starr Stilling, Appalachian State University.

Getting Started with Cloud Computing: 
A LITA Guide. Eds. Edward M. Cor-
rado and Heather Lea Moulaison. 

New York: Neal-Schuman Publisher, 
Inc., 2011. 214p. alk. paper, $65 (ISBN 
9781555707491). LC 2011-017261.

A model volume appropriate for all types 
of libraries, Getting Started with Cloud 
Computing: A LITA Guide introduces and 
grounds readers to the changes, chal-
lenges, and innovations promised by 
cloud computing. Roy Tennant’s foreword 
succinctly sums up the book as “chapter 
and verse” on how to effectively deploy 
them in your library. Within its opening 
chapter, “Perspectives on Cloud Com-
puting in Libraries,” coeditors Heather 
Lea Moulaison and Edward M. Corrado 
provide a starting point for librarians with 
little knowledge of cloud computing and 
explain both its promises and realities. As 
experts in library technology topics, Mou-
laison and Corrado vetted and edited each 
contribution to this guide, which covers 
librarians’ special concerns about data 
and issues of privacy, security, and own-
ership that, perhaps, other organizations 
looking to cloud computing services may 
not concern themselves with. And they 
discuss the pluses of cloud computing: 
that it theoretically offers quick mobili-
zation of services without an increase in 
personnel or infrastructure costs. 

Each subsequent chapter in part one 
primes librarians for comprehending 
all aspects of cloud computing. Rosalyn 
Metz’s “Understanding the Cloud: An 
Introduction to the Cloud” defines the 
cloud, lists five characteristics, three ser-
vice models, and four deployment models, 
all of which provide context for readers to 
relate their working knowledge of services 
to concepts. H. Frank Cervone’s “Cloud 
Computing: Pros and Cons” persuades li-
brarians to introduce cloud-based services 
one at a time so that they may be agile in 
responding to changes, but also so that 
they are not locked into long-term stifling 
relationships with one vendor. “What 
Cloud Computing Means for Libraries” 
discusses the opportunities that cloud 
computing brings for information technol-
ogy organizations to reallocate resources 
and reconfigure personnel. Carl Grant of-