996 Book Reviews Joan Giesecke, Jon Cawthorne, and Deb Pearson. Navigating the Future with Scenario Planning: A Guidebook for Librarians. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015. 118p. Paper, $36.00 (ISBN 978-083898751-3). This book is an update of the lead author’s Scenario Planning for Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1998) and comes at a time when scenario planning within the profession is gaining more traction. Much of this interest stems from ARL’s 2030 Scenarios exercise from 2010 (see www.arl.org/focus-areas/planning- visioning/scenario-planning#.Vdt8oJfETzM). Scenario planning (very different from strategic planning, as the authors explain) uses a paradigm that involves adaptability, anticipation of constant challenges both near- and far-term, uncertainty, and volatility. By imagining possible futures and moving the organization forward based on those futures, rather than constructing a road map that is based on a paradigm of stable- ness, slow change, and incremental objectives, library leaders can develop multiple visions or futures that are more closely aligned and adaptable to how the twenty-first century world operates. In the Introduction, the authors discuss the six domains or building blocks of scenario planning, as well as a short history of the topic. The book is divided into two parts: part I (chapters 1–4) provides guidance on how to do a scenario-planning process, including various approaches and details, tips on writing the scenario stories to engage decision makers, and how to develop strategies from scenarios. Part II (chapters 5–9) is composed of a series of essays by library leaders on their experiences with scenario planning. Tyler Walters describes how scenarios can be incorporated with other planning and research techniques such as the Delphi method, the semistructured interview method, the case study method, the semistructured interview method in case study construc- tion, and stratified and purposive sampling. In addition, Walters provides information on scenarios for higher education, from international to North American to university library–related studies. Jon Cawthorne explores how scenario planning assists leaders to think creatively about change, through defining culture and the development of groups. Cawthorne also has a chapter on scenario planning for working with human resource directors and provides four case studies and reactions by real-life human resource directors as to how these scenarios might play out. Chapter 9 details how the lead author used scenario planning to implement a student technology fee at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which was described in the original 1998 volume and has been updated on how Information Technology Services at UNL has modified the use of this fee to address unanticipated changes in technology. Revisiting the scenario after fifteen years provides new lessons learned and an example of how adaptable and powerful scenario planning can be in the library environment. I found this update to the original book very enlightening and engaging. Part I is a thorough presentation of the most well-known scenario planning models: Peter Schwartz, Paul Schoemaker, Bill Ralston and Ian Wilson, Mats Lindgren and Hans Bandhold, Woody Wade, David Mercer, and Thomas Chermack are all mentioned. An example of scenario development by Tyler Walters is provided in chapter 2, along with scenario axes and a listing of major forces that impact research programs. Chapter 3 includes explanations of a variety of scenario writing styles, including scenario-as- history, scenario-as-story, and scenario-as-recollection. Plot lines are also described, such as winners and losers, challenge and response, evolution, revolution, cycles, doi:10.5860/crl.76.7.996 Book Reviews 997 infinite possibilities, and lone ranger. Chapter 4 then summarizes and illustrates how scenario planning can be used both internally and externally to assist an organization to develop various strategies identified as threats, opportunities, uncertainties, and new directions. Part II then supplements the theory and practice of scenario planning with actual case studies and examples by various library leaders and directors. As someone who has extensive experience engaging librarians and library staff in strategic planning at three different institutions of various sizes and missions, I have always found scenario planning a very challenging exercise. The library profession has difficulty spending time with scenario planning: it seems beyond the scope of the current environment, where time constraints and people resources are already maxed out and at a premium and where developing multiple future strategies and approaches seems pointless when current budgets and resources don’t reflect cur- rent mandated initiatives. I have found that strategic planning, if done properly and in a culture where upper university administration does it iteratively and where it can be incorporated into the library organization without significant intrusion on the daily workflow and operations, can be an effective strategy. But for those library leaders and managers who wish to “shake things up,” so to speak, with something new in regard to visioning and futures thinking, and they have a library culture that is willing to take the time to do so, scenario planning, if done correctly, can certainly add a new perspective and thought process into the mix of organizational directions and discussions, and this book is an excellent roadmap for doing so. —Bradford Lee Eden, Valparaiso University Joseph R. Matthews. Library Assessment in Higher Education. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited, 2014. 226p. Paper, $55.00 (ISBN 13: 978-1-61069-817-7). Joseph Matthews, a library consultant, an extensively published author, and past in- structor at the San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science, has returned to write a second edition of his book Library Assessment in Higher Education. The first edition came out in 2007 and was significantly shorter at 146 pages. Since the first edition, several key and directly related reports have been released that make revisiting the new edition important. There was Megan Oakleaf’s Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report (2010) and ACRL’s Standards for Academic Libraries in Higher Education (2011). As one would expect, both of these items are referenced in the new edition. Additionally, there have been several recent library assessment conferences that Matthews points out as providing important input and relevant conversations toward the new edition. There are many books that deal with assessment in higher education. And, like Matthews’ book, only select ones target specific areas for more in-depth and appli- cable analysis. Throughout the book, broader institutionwide issues are addressed in different chapters, each of which is followed by a more library-specific chapter that links aspects of library assessment to the institution-level issues. It should be noted here that the book is less about methodology and more about a broad discussion of the application of assessment infused with numerous library research studies and identification of best practices. The first chapter is a broad commentary on library assessment activities and cul- ture. Matthews also lays out the structure of the book. This short chapter is followed by another short chapter that explores both institution- and library-level mission statements. Mission statements represent what is important; thus, assessment should reflect the success in achieving these goals. The growing importance of outcomes is also examined. Both of these chapters foreshadow how Matthews will approach the remaining chapters. doi:10.5860/crl.76.7.997