{"id":595,"date":"2018-04-02T07:59:53","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T11:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/assessment\/?p=595"},"modified":"2018-04-02T08:07:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T12:07:38","slug":"an-agile-approach-to-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/assessment\/2018\/04\/02\/an-agile-approach-to-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"An Agile Approach to Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Epitome of Agile. Photo by Philippe Rouzet<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Emily Toner, <\/span>our <\/span>Technology Projects Librarian<\/span>, <\/span>about how she works with developers in Library Technology Development to conduct ongoing assessment of their work on the Blacklight project. (Blacklight is the software that will be used for the upcoming enhanced version of the Library Search<\/a> tool, due for general release in June 2018.) \u00a0In her role as project manager, Emily coordinates between what the developers are working on and what users (librarians, patrons) need and expect in a discovery tool. <\/span><\/p>\n

The programmers\/developers work in an \u201cagile\u201d framework – an approach that incorporates the principles of iterative, flexible development and continuous improvement. The project work is divided into short \u201csprints\u201d – concentrated effort on a specific feature or collaboration opportunity. The team\u2019s typical sprint lasts 2 weeks. When the sprint is wrapped up, \u00a0Emily facilitates a \u201cretrospective\u201d session with the team – they reflect together on what is working and what isn\u2019t working so well. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the world of agile development, there\u2019s a whole tool box of techniques for doing retrospectives. One of the group\u2019s favorites is the \u201cFour L\u2019s\u201d. The exercise was developed by<\/span> Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener<\/span><\/a> and works like this: The group asks together of the sprint:<\/span><\/p>\n