Libraries In The Age Of Mediocrity

"I only wish I had your paper before me when I wrote Silicon Snake Oil"--Clifford Stoll. "Ultimately, " says Earl Lee, "libraries are involved in the quest for truth, but conceptualize it in a way very different from most. Library professionals pursue a philosophy of inclusion, trying to have as many versions of Truth as possible, in the hopes that somewhere in the mass of material, something meaningful may be found by some discerning reader. But in recent years the mass of data has grown to bury truth and defeat the discerning. Librarians have lost sight of what is important." The uncontrollable mass of data, the transformation of the library to an information center, the demise of the card catalog, the meretriciousness of publishers offerings, the dumbing down of textbooks, the decision by the Library of Congress to use the OCLC online system exclusively--these are all the subjects of thought-provoking and unsweetened opinions, welcome reminders of the rich tradition of intellectual freedom in the profession.

As founder of the Peace Corps, Head Start, the Special Olympics (with wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver), and other organizations, Sargent Shriver was a key social and political figure whose influence continues to the present day. This authorized biography, exhaustively researched and finely rendered by Scott Stossel (deputy editor of The Atlantic), reads like an epic novel, with “Sarge” marching through the historical events of the last century—the Great Depression, World War II, JFK’s assassination, the Cold War, and many more. Sarge gives us a complete account of Shriver’s life, as well as a thoughtful commentary on the Kennedy family, the Peace Corps, and United States and world history. It is a riveting and comprehensive reconstruction of a life that exemplifies what it means to be a true American.

"The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science provides an outstanding resource in 33 published volumes with 2 helpful indexes. This thorough reference set--written by 1300 eminent, international experts--offers librarians, information/computer scientists, bibliographers, documentalists, systems analysts, and students, convenient access to the techniques and tools of both library and information science. Impeccably researched, cross referenced, alphabetized by subject, and generously illustrated, the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science integrates the essential theoretical and practical information accumulating in this rapidly growing field."

Public Library Collection Development in the Information Age discusses the increasing amounts of information that are used in collection development. Case studies, interviews, and research are the basis for this book's suggestions to improve your collection methods without straining your library's budget. It will help you acquire the most useful materials while sharing information with collaborating libraries to offer patrons the latest and largest variety of resources. Discussing a topic that is scarcely addressed in collection literature, this book explores ways in which one informational medium—the Internet—impacts materials budgets, selection tools, and alternative sources of information during the selection process. Offering methods that apply to libraries of different sizes and financial capability, Public Library Collection Development in the Information Age provides you with ideas and suggestions for the improvement of collection development methods, including: examining how libraries use information to plan and budget for collection development developing a budget method that takes several factors into consideration, such as population impact, property tax revenues, circulation, reference needs, and client needs centralizing selections in order to allocate additional staff time and to choose resources patrons want without sacrificing the utility of local collections building public library collections with the assistance of vendors and the five levels of vendor participation using the conspectus method to assess and organize the collections of small libraries for easier access researching three public libraries in the United Kingdom to determine how varying levels of automation affect patron resources and services To help you integrate the appropriate electronic resources into collection development policies and procedures, Public Library Collection Development in the Information Age discusses which formats, access methods, pricing schemes, and differences in scope will best meet your selection needs. Containing proven strategies that will target your collection priorities and criteria to evaluate the use and effectiveness of electronic resources, this book will help revise your collection development methods to satisfy the informational needs of patrons.

There was no Reichstag fire. No storming of the Bastille. No mutiny on the Aurora. Instead, the mediocre have seized power without firing a single shot. They rose to power on the tide of an economy where workers produce assembly-line meals without knowing how to cook at home, give customers instructions over the phone that they themselves don’t understand, or sell books and newspapers that they never read. Canadian intellectual juggernaut Alain Deneault has taken on all kinds of evildoers: mining companies, tax-dodgers, and corporate criminals. Now he takes on the most menacing threat of all: the mediocre.