The Author: Valerie J. Janesick is Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa. She received her Ph.D. in curriculum inquiry from Michigan State University. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters on qualitative research methods and evaluation, her books on these topics incorporate the arts as a metaphor for improving educational practice. Her text, Stretching Exercises for Qualitative Researchers (2nd ed., 2004) is widely used by researchers and teachers in training. She is currently writing a book on oral history methods.