What not to expect in the LLE

Filipino Librarian Von gave some tips in preparing for the forthcoming Librarian's Licensure Exams. And here's a tip on what not to expect from the exam itself. I had a long chat over coffee with Ms. Perla Garcia, a member of the Board for Librarians, a year ago and part of our discussion was on how the BFL prepare the tests.

I'm pretty sure most of you who are about to take the LLE enrolled in review classes and had mock exams. But please do not expect that any one of the questions in the mock exams will be in the actual test nor those discussed during the reviews. Here's why.

Ms. Garcia explained to me how the BFL prepares for the annual LLE. Each year they prepare 300 questions per subject divided among themselves and these questions are added to the questions database used in the previous exams. I'm clueless as to when the exams became automated because I was part of the first batch of examinees back in 1992, which had all types of tests imaginable. Granting the automated testing has been around for the past 8 to 9 years, you can just imagine the number of questions in the database and if these were updated annually with 300 questions, the database would contain between 24,000 to 27,000 questions.

Once the database has been updated, the system then randomly selects from the database 100 questions that will comprise the test questions for the LLE. This is done the night before the exams until the wee hours of the morning under the presence of a member of the BFL and a staff from the PRC. Once the test questions are printed, these are sealed and sent to the testing centers under tight watch to prevent any leakage, while the BFL answers the questions for the answer key.

So do not be surprised not to find questions on the latest trends in libraries and librarianship.

To those who will be taking the exams, good luck!

Category: The Profession at Large