β Scribed by Joseph L. Marks
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
A fact book is in many ways the quintessential institutional research reporta work defining the essence of the profession, a work embodyng the core principles, values, and skills. The fundamental principle that underlies fact books is that documented knowledge of the college campus or multicampus system contributes to a better basis for decision making than personal memory, anecdote, and bias alone. Knowing the score is better than flymg by the seat of your pants. Having indicators, even imperfect ones, is preferable to proceeding based solely on the balance of competing opinions. Although any specific fact or indicator can be criticized, and some may be discarded as fatally flawed, that should not be a rationale for avoiding a data-based approach. Better data do indeed chase out worse data in a decision-making context thal is not hopelessly politicized. Using a data-based approach fundamentally changes the journey and, for colleges and universities, the journey counts. How colleges and universities conduct their business and make decisions is part of what they teach. In short, the politics of decision making is transformed and, in effect, civilized through an empirical approach to educational decision making.
There are two basic types of fact books: lacul and comparative. Local fact books describe current characteristics, trends, and, at best, internal comparisons for a specific institution or multicampus system. Some even deliberately avoid comparisons. Comparative fact books contain additional external or cross-unit comparisons of characteristics and trends.
Why do the two types of fact books exist? What different purposes do they serve? What different needs do they address? Fact books and planning go hand-inhand. To make the many mundane logistical and short-term decisions and the more
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
''Ruth Chew's classic books perfectly capture the joy of everyday magic.''--Mary Pope Osborne, bestselling author of the Magic Tree House series Ruth Chew's chapter books are full of simple, matter-of-fact magic that's sure to enchant budding fantasy readers. Nora Cooper and her brother Ta
''Ruth Chew's classic books perfectly capture the joy of everyday magic.''--Mary Pope Osborne, bestselling author of the Magic Tree House series Ruth Chew's chapter books are full of simple, matter-of-fact magic that's sure to enchant budding fantasy readers. When Katy and Louise find the
## Abstract This study examines the value of blogs as information dissemination tools. We based our finding on blogs created by libraries, librarians or information professionals. A relatively exhaustive list of blogs written in English was compiled from data obtained from several lists/directories