front cover of Fundamentals of Planning and Assessment for Libraries
Fundamentals of Planning and Assessment for Libraries
Rachel A. Fleming-May and Regina Mays
American Library Association, 2021

The concepts of planning and assessment are intrinsically linked—and understanding them is essential for raising the library’s profile and strengthening its position among stakeholders and the community. Even if you're an LIS student or are new to the profession, or if planning or assessment are not your primary areas of responsibility, you still have a role to play in the success of organizational efforts. Fleming-May has more than a decade of experience in planning and assessment initiatives and instruction, and Mays was her institution’s first assessment librarian; their primer draws from theory, research, and their first-hand observations to illuminate such topics as

  • characteristics of bad planning strategy that can help to illustrate a better approach;
  • reasons why using economic models, like ROI, fall short;
  • how to mix the three types of planning;
  • guidelines to ensure that assessment is meaningful and actionable;
  • tips for creating effective surveys;
  • emphasizing users’ needs with a critical assessment framework;
  • data analysis for surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observation;
  • four questions to ask about audience level before you develop a report;
  • a sample 3-year assessment plan that can be customized; and
  • seven steps for developing a culture of ongoing assessment.
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front cover of Terror in the Countryside
Terror in the Countryside
Campesino Responses to Political Violence in Guatemala, 1954–1985
Rachel A. May
Ohio University Press, 2001

The key to democratization lies within the experience of the popular movements. Those who engaged in the popular struggle in Guatemala have a deep understanding of substantive democratic behavior, and the experience of Guatemala’s civil society should be the cornerstone for building a meaningful formal democracy.

In Terror in the Countryside Rachel May offers an in-depth examination of the relationship between political violence and civil society. Focusing on Guatemala, Professor May develops a theoretical scheme that calls into question the more conventional understandings of both violence and civil society.

By elaborating a cyclical model of violence, and suggesting a typology of rural (campesino) popular organizations, Terror in the Countryside provides both a history and an analysis of late-twentieth-century violence and of the role of campesino organizations during the worst years of conflict in Guatemala.

This history details the way ideologies, organizational structures, and mobilization strategies evolved in response to the climate of terror, emphasizing the courage and sacrifice of those who worked for justice and human rights.

This book argues that the peace accords can be considered only as a first step to eliminate a violence that has become deeply rooted in the political life of the country.

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