Two mathematical programming approaches are presented for the assembly of ability test from item pools calibrated under a multidimensional item response theory model. Item selection is based on Fisher's Information matrix. Several criteria can be used to optimize this matrix. In this paper, the A-criterion and the D-criterion are applied. In a mathematical programming approach, both criteria provide good results for the two dimensional case. Empirical examples for a two-dimensional mathematics item pool illustrate the methods. Recommendations are provided about when to apply either approach. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures, and 23 references.) (Author/SLD)