BOOK REVIEW / CRITIQUE DE LIVRE

**Creating the one-shot library workshop: a step-by-step guide.** By Jerilyn Veldof. Chicago: American Library Association, 2006. 170 pages (soft cover). ISBN-13 978-0838909133. CAN$48.95.

Faced with the task of designing and delivering several new instructional workshops, I eagerly responded to the JCHLA editor's e-mail to review this book. Suppressing my initial panic on receiving the book since the deal is that you're supposed to review the book within one month of receiving it, and knowing that I had workshops to design before then, I took the book to lunch. It was then I realized that the book was not only the best lunch partner I'd had for months, but that Jerilyn Veldof has written a practical, informative guide that would help me design and deliver my new workshops.

As the publisher's blurb on the back cover reminds us, when we only have “one-shot” at providing instruction to our library users, designing workshops can be a daunting task. We would like to impart all our librarian wisdom, including the practical aspects of navigating multiple interfaces for accessing resources, to the more esoteric aspects of information searching. But as Veldof points out, without an understanding of the principles of learning and the process of designing instruction, our best efforts could well be wasted.

Jerilyn Veldof intends to provide us “with a deliberate process of instructional design and the essential background information to help ensure the resounding success of your library workshops”. She does so by presenting essential principles of instructional design and the learning process and by drawing upon her considerable experience as User Education Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Since leading several instructional design teams at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Veldof has offered all-day workshops to various library groups around the country and has held a number of different positions in academic libraries in the past 12 years. She is currently the Director of System-Wide Services at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Based on the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation) model of instructional design, the book covers the design process from assessing needs to revising your workshop in 20 steps — one step per chapter.

Each chapter provides only essential information needed to complete the step, in a concise easy-to-follow format. At the beginning of most chapters, Veldof convinces us briefly why the step is important for the process. Important learning theory concepts and theories, for example, the process of moving information into long-term memory, are explained clearly and succinctly. I learned many interesting and useful facts, particularly that “most of the class content is learned during the application portion of the workshop — and not when the instructor is lecturing or demonstrating”.

Veldof must be a compulsive list maker because each chapter contains helpful checklists. A few of the lists I found useful were (i) a list of presentation methods, (ii) a list of methods for learner analysis, and (iii) a list of ideas to stimulate brainstorming. Case studies applying the concepts and ideas in the chapter are provided for each step in the process. For example, in the chapter on task analysis a case study on distinguishing whether a source is scholarly or popular is provided. Sample worksheets and forms provided are also potentially useful.

At the end of each chapter is both a summary of the chapter, and a handy “Are you all set” checklist, which itemizes critical tasks for each step. Tips (usually quotes or references to further reading or Web sites) are supplied liberally in boxes throughout the book. An appendix to the book provides a step-by-step checklist of each step in the design process and a link to Veldof’s Web site which contains even more checklists!

My copy of the book (the deal is that you also get to keep the book when you agree to review it) is now well worn and stained with lunch salad oil and cookie crumbs, and decorated with multicoloured Post-it® notes. The book has proved to be easy-to-use; each step can be digested on a lunch or coffee break, and the concepts are easily applied in the real-world of designing and delivering workshops.

**Laurie Blanchard**

J.W. Crane Memorial Library
University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries
2109 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3J 0L3, Canada
E-mail: *laurie.blanchard@umanitoba.ca*