What is Evaluand

As indicated by the wide range of topics addressed by this Encyclopedia, the fields of information science and technology have grown exponentially. Likewise, the field of evaluation has evolved and become increasingly integral to learning and improving upon principles and practices associated with all fields the Encyclopedia explores. The field of evaluation is the formal transdiscipline of gathering information about the performance or nature of objects of evaluation and comparing the objects’ performance to criteria to help participants make evaluative judgments (Scriven, 2004). Evaluation includes several elements: negotiation with multiple participants regarding their values and criteria, using many different kinds of processes to document and judge the performance of various objects of evaluation, formative and summative purposes, measurement and assessment techniques, and use of quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis processes. This chapter documents the development of evaluation as a field; presents a framework for thinking about evaluation that is theoretically sound and practical to use; and explores ways to apply the framework to facilitate learning, improvement, decision-making, and judgment in all sub-fields of information science and technology.