Book Review: The Internet Con

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian.)

Cory Doctorow, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation. London, UK: Verso Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781804292143.  (link to publisher)

Genre: technology, Internet

Subgenre: social media, corporations, essay

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

In this small book, the author explains how major Internet companies became the monopolistic behemoths they are now. He also explains how these large companies manage to hold us hostage, making us stay with them even as we hate them and perhaps hate ourselves for staying. 

One thing I've learned in my years online, especially with social media, is that you have to be willing and ready to move on when a site goes to hell. By now, if I have to leave some people behind, so be it, but as much as possible I am ready to pack and go elsewhere when things get bad. In the book, the author reminds us we have the option to move, and he offers some tools to help make the move less painful. 

The book is organized in two major parts: 

• Part I: Seize the Means of Computation. Here the author explains how the companies get big and how for the most part they stay big due to influence, corruption, and legalized extortion. Add to this governments that are either lazy, clueless, and/or in league with said companies, and it does not leave room for hope. However, where there is a will there is a way, and the author provides some possible solutions. 
• Part II: What About. Here the author addresses possible objections including some corporate excuses not to do the right thing. 

The main concept to understand from the book is that of interoperability. It's the ability of different services to connect with each other and users in different places to interact on common ground. What the book explains: 

• "What interoperability is
• How interoperability works
• How we can get interoperability
• How we can mitigate interoperability's problems" (3). 

Mastodon and the Fediverse embody this pretty well. In simpler terms, this is what allows your GMail to communicate with someone else's Yahoo! email and both to communicate with Outlook Email.  For the most part, services like Facebook are walled prisons keeping users hostage. Once you understand interoperability, it makes sense. The author takes time to explain it, shows why it is important, and worth fighting for. 

The book for the most part is accessible, though there are some passages that may get too technical for some readers. The first part also has some repetitive passages, and it is a bit slow reading at times. The second part is an easy read in contrast to the first part. 

The author strives to give solutions, and points out some positive bits of legislation, but in these Hard Times it is difficult to be optimistic our governments would do anything right that would benefit regular people, less so if those things would displease those big tech companies that often keep those politicians in their pockets through political donations as well as dark money. So in the end, this all sounds great, but I would not hold my breath. What I will keep doing is using and learning more about Mastodon and the Fediverse and other open access options. They may be small and not glamorous, but they are not beholden to Big Tech. 

In the end, this is a good read even if it is not an easy read. It's not easy in the sense many folks may not want to hear the truth. Staying in Big Tech's prisons is easier for many folks than making a liberatory effort. 

Overall, I recommend the book for public and academic libraries. For me, as I am starting some research to craft a social media policy for our library, the book gives me plenty of food for thought. Maybe it will give more folks out there something to think about as well. 

4 out of 5 stars.

 

Additional reading notes: 

Why we need to fix tech: 

"Fixing tech isn't more important than fixing everything else, but unless we fix tech, we can forget about winning any of those other fights" (18). 

 

What is reverse engineering: 

"'Reverse engineering' is a time-honored and important guerrilla tactic in all technological struggles. Its meaning is well captured by its name: reverse engineering takes place when a technologist deeply probes a finished product or service to determine how it works, and also how to change or replicate the way it works" (84).  

 

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: 

 

 

Book Review: Literacy in America

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian) 

Lawrence R. Samuel, Literacy in America: a cultural history of the past century. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2024.  ISBN: 9781538189542.

Genre: literacy, reading

Subgenre: history, education

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

This book presents a history of literacy in the United States over the last century. Literacy here refers to learning how to read and the ability to read. This is not a book about what Americans may or not have been reading.

The book makes some good points, but it is a seriously slow read, and it is pretty much a dry textbook. Sure, it considers how literacy is a contested ground for race, gender, and class, and those are important topics. However, the important ideas get buried in the constant citing of scholarly articles, trade publications, and other academic sources. To be honest, the book reads like a student research paper where the student, instead of being selective in what sources to cite to support their claims, just cited everything they found to fill up the page quota. Whatever voice the author has gets lots in citation after citation of this scholar in a journal article or that teacher in an education magazine.  

This is what the author intended with the book: 

"Supported by hundreds of research studies conducted throughout the years as reported in scholarly journals and popular magazines, the book intends to make a contribution to the histories of education, language, and literature, sociology, and the United States as a whole" (vii). 

Oh, he lays those research studies and periodical articles pretty thick. As for the contribution statement, that is an ambitious declaration.

I was honestly hoping this would be more interesting, but it was not. One detail I will mention is that history often repeats itself. Some of the concerns today on whether kids can read or not are pretty much the same as concerns back in the day. Every time a new technology comes along, be it radio, television, or the internet educators freak out about kids abandoning reading. For the most part, the kids are still reading, even if it is not the "classics," but that is another conversation. 

For example, back in the 1920s aand 1930s, pearls were clutched because kids were not reading classics or wholesome books: 

"Students tendency to choose less than hearty literary fare was just one problem associated with literacy in the 1920s and 1930s" (1). 

Gee, the generation coming out of the Great War (World War I) and its horrors wants to read light, fluffy, escapist fare. The humanity! I would say not unlike today with readers seeking light, fluffy, escapist fare to forget the Hard Times for a while. 

Overall I would say this book was just OK. For libraries, this is highly optional. If I had been able to read a review copy beforehand, I would not have ordered it for our library. This may be one for larger academic libraries with comprehensive collections in education and maybe some large library school libraries. Small academic libraries can pretty much skip this. 

2 out of 5 stars. 

Book Review: Information Literacy and Social Media

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian)

 

Michele Santamaria and A. Nicole Pfannenstiel,  Information literacy and soci@l medi@ : empowered student engagement with the ACRL framework. Chicago, IL: ACRL, 2024.  ISBN: 9798892555456.

Genre: library science

Subgenre: Information literacy, social media, higher education

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

I ordered this book for our library with high hopes, but in the end I was not really impressed. In addition, I do not think the $50.00 price was worth it for this very slim volume. 

As many of these LIS books, and articles as well, often do, this one starts with the common alarmist tone that most librarians are barely competent, mostly technology illiterate, and are clueless about the tech young ones today use. That could not be further from the truth, but I've read enough LIS books and articles to keep seeing that trope. Naturally, the authors are cool, hip, and knowledgeable and bring you their knowledge. The book shows a bit of the messianic tone some parts of librarianship embrace. 

Once you get past the opening we get a lot of LIS theory, reminders, and connections to the ACRL Framework, and arguments for bringing it and information literacy to social media. Some of the authors' points are valid, and others feel a little forced. In the end, the second chapter is a heavy literature review that is a bit of a slog to read. 

The one useful element of Chapter 2 are the reflection questions for teachers and/or library instructors. Taking the time to answer the questions, do some writing and journaling, can be a good preparation for teachers. It can also just be a good reflection exercise. I probably should take some time and do some of the writing. I have done some writing on my social media experiences, but I can always explore and reflect some more. 

The strength of the book is in Chapter 3 where you get the lesson plans and exercises. The plans are cross-disciplinary. The plans are detailed and well-structure. Activities are interactive and encourage students and their instructors to reflect on their experiences of social media and information literacy. Whether we like it or not, and there is a lot to dislike about social media, it is a big part of our students' lives and we should do better in educating them on how to navigate, use it, and evaluate better. This is where the lessons help. 

Every chapter includes a list of notes, and there is also a bibliography at end of the book for further reading or just to check the references. 

Overall, the good part is in the lesson plans. The rest of the theory could have been summarized better and/or kept brief. I do not think the contents justify the book's high cost. I'd say if you must read it to borrow it, scan the lesson plans, skip the rest. Still, I may try to implement a plan or two from the book down the road. Our students spend some time on social media, though from what I see it's not too connected to news and information. It is more for interpersonal connections, but that could be a topic to investigate down further. 

Overall, I liked the idea of the book. I did not like some of the tone of the book, its execution, nor the pricing. Still, it could've been worse. In the end as a whole it was just OK .

2 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes: 

 

Students may push back on social media in the classroom: 

"Students bring with them the idea that social media should be reserved for non-academic purposes, an idea reinforced through schooling, teachers, and responsible use policies" (11).  

I somewhat agree with the students. Heck, I remember the days of early social media where librarians were given all kinds of warnings about not mixing work and personal online and where the wrong social media post could get you fired. Librarians on social media now are mostly normalized, but it is still wise at least to keep the professional and personal  somewhat separated. I say that based on experience, but I do admit it is easier said than done to keep the two aspects separate online. Note that while the authors acknowledge the negatives and dangers of social media, they downplay them somewhat to make their argument. I am not saying to completely disengage from social media, though complete disengagement should be an option if desired, especially in the current Hard Times. 

The list of reflection questions for teachers and librarians, starting in page 17 of the book: 

• What social media platforms do I currently use? What do I use them for?
• What do I believe to be true about the social media platforms I am familiar with (such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, X, and Pinterest?).
• What negative ideas about these spaces do I need to question and complicate/unravel so I can support learner engagement? 
• What positive ideas about these spaces do I need to question and complicate/unravel so I can support learner engagement? 
• What more would I like to know about these spaces to use them more effectively?

 

The list of classroom space reflection questions, to consider as you use the lesson plans here or for other social media activities, from page 48 of the book: 

• How collaborative is the instructional relationship? 
• How many sessions do you anticipate working on this threshold concept?
• Will the librarian be embedded in the course?
• Will the librarian provide ongoing social media and/or learning management system support to students?
• Does the library have library-specific content available within social media sites that can model social media use in support of learning?
• Does the library have social media accounts used to foster interaction between students and librarians?
• What will librarian instructor presence be like, on and offline?

 

Being a librarian who reads books helps me help students better

As I am preparing for a research consultation, I had a random thought that it pays off as a librarian to be a reader as well. Especially so if you read books from your own library on various topics. I can then recall book options for students that may come in for a consultation. 

For example, for the student writing on George Orwell, fascism, and the United States, Antifa (link to my review) comes to mind right away. 

For the student writing on Black history and suppression of Black history in schools, Our history has always been contraband comes to mind (link to review). 

I went to the library stacks, found them, and added them to the materials I would offer those students when they came in to meet with me. 

By the way, this can also include articles I may have seen and read on a student topic that I can then share with a student. At times, I have sent a student a link to an article on their topic after a research consult in the hopes they will find it helpful. 

I will note further that I have met librarians who, for whatever reason, declare that they do not read, or read as minimally as possible. For me, reading broadly helps me in my work. Even if it is just being aware and reading reviews as part of collection development can be helpful in helping students. But when I can put a book in their hands I have read and tell them that I have read it I think it has a bit more power. Now whether the student reads it or not, or at least skims it, is their choice. I am under no delusions they will read a whole book for a research assignment. All I can do is offer. Up to them to then use the resource or not. 

As I am typing this, I am thinking of making the occasional list of books I have read from our library that I can recommend for certain topics. It could be an occasional blog post here in part for my own reference. 

 

 

Book Review: Verified

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian)

Mike Caulfield and Samuel S. Wineburg, Verified: How to think straight, get duped less, and make better decisions about what to believe online. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780226822068.

Genre: reference

Subgenre: information literacy, internet, research

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

This book is an essential guide everyone using the internet needs to have handy. This book teaches how to be skeptical of what you see online and how to evaluate it. In these Hard Times where the internet and social media are full of scams, click bait, rage bait, and all sorts of assorted bullshit, this book gives you the tools to separate the crap from the few good things that remain. This guide can help you navigate the enshittified internet. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction.
• Chapter 1: Get quick context.
• Chapter 2: Cheap signals. 
• Chapter 3: Google.
• Chapter 4: Lateral reading. 
• Chapter 5: Reading the room.
• Chapter 6: Show me the evidence. 
• Chapter 7: Wikipedia.
• Chapter 8: Video games. No, it is not about games. This is more about how videos are used to deceive. 
• Chapter 9: Stealth advertising. 
• Chapter 10: Once more with feeling. 
• Chapter 11: Conclusion. 
• Postscript, which briefly covers large language models, so-called AI, and verification.
• Notes and bibliography. 

Caulfield, one of the two coauthors, created the SIFT method (Stop, Investigate, Find other coverage, Trace the claim). Along with Wineburg, they basically give you a full course on how to evaluate what you see online so you can be empowered and act accordingly. The authors take you through the process step by step. These are skill you can learn with relative ease, and you develop the critical habits taught in the book you'll be able to better navigate the internet. A strength of their lessons is that often they do not take a lot of time. That is because you learn to assess quickly. If you decide to pursue a topic further, the authors show you how to do so. If you assess and decide something is not valid, relevant, or just not worth your energy, you can swiftly move on. Being efficient is a key element here. 

The book is relatively easy to read. Each chapter gives you practical examples and then they explain how to best handle each situation. You then learn the overall lesson so you can apply it when you go online. Chapters also include various tips and pieces of advice. Every chapter ends with a list of takeaways summarizing what you are learning. 

By now I am sure many academic librarians apply the lessons from the book in library instruction. We've done some some of it, but we will be working on adding more formal elements from the book in our instruction sessions. However, you do not have to be in an academic setting. This accessible book works for anyone wanting to learn how to find reliable information, evaluate it, and avoid the rest of the crap out there. In a time when Google largely has gone to shit, this book gives you steps and advice for making some good from Google. You learn how to do lateral reading like fact checkers do, and Wikipedia can be your ally, contrary to what some old time educators may claim. Learn that and more reading this book, then keep it handy for when you need a reminder now and again. 

This book is essential for all libraries. Librarians who have not ready it need to read it and then promote it to their patrons. The book can be beneficial for students in composition classes that require research. It may also be of interest to journalism students, journalists, and other writers who do or should be doing research. I recommend it fully, and I would buy a copy for my personal shelf. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

What this book can help you with: 

"Instead of being driven by emotion and outrage, you'll come to see your gut reactions as precious gifts that signal you to pause, take a breath, and ask a basic question: Is what I am looking at even what I think it is?" (3) 

 

Google is a search engine, not a truth engine:

"Google is not a dispassionate partner in information seeking who diligently corrects you when you've taken a wrong turn. Google is out to please, trying to determine what you want-- even if doing so means giving you a dubious answer but one you want to hear" (78). 

 And with its high commercialization, predominant advertising model, and now integrating LLM and AI features, it's gotten worse in terms of finding what you actually need. 

Need to beware expertise cynicism: 

"In authoritarian regimes, creating a broad cynicism about all sources of expertise-- the press, academics, professionals-- serves to make sure political power, not truth-seeking, is the ultimate arbiter of what is true" (109). 

This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenges: 

Book Review: The College Student's Research Companion

(Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian)

Arlene Rodda Quaratiello, The College Student's Research Companion: Finding, Evaluating, and Citing the Resources You Need to Succeed. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2024. ISBN: 9780838938386.

Genre: academic writing and research

Subgenre: reference, guides

Format: paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

This is basically a research guide to academic research for undergraduate students. In the preface, the author argues what many of us librarians argue: "to write better research papers, you must go beyond the basics of googling your topic and learn how to use the wealth of other resources available to you" (ix). That argument sounds great in theory, but in my many years as a librarian and teacher, I am concerned many students still do the superficial path of googling and hoping to find something just good enough. They also hope they can get it past their professors. The issue of students finding materials just "good enough" to pass and the faculty who may let them pass is a question I ponder here or there, but it is not something to consider now. I will just say I am not too optimistic. 

The book takes students through the research process from selecting a topic, finding and evaluating resources, and then how to use the sources ethically. Each chapter includes review questions to reinforce learning. The book also includes appendices with extra information like classification lists and citation style. 

The book is relatively an easy read, and the author keeps a light humor at times to keep things accessible. Comparisons and analogies to illustrate ideas are plentiful. Explanations are clear and straightforward. This can be a good resource for undergraduates to learn about research. It is not a substitute for library instruction, but it can supplement it. I can see some undergraduate writing class adding this to their textbook list. It's a pretty good guide with some good advice. 

However, the book suffers the issue of so many LIS texts: it falls out of currency as it is published. This edition has a 2024 publishing date, but the material was likely  written in 2023, maybe 2022. That is just the academic publishing cycle. The point here is the book has no mention of AI (artificial intelligence) and/or LLMs (Language Learning Models) that are becoming the latest issue in information literacy and academia at the time I am writing this. I have a 7th edition is already in the works. Still, the book covers the basics well, but you may want to consider whether to get this edition and add supplementary material as needed or wait for a later edition. At this moment I am good with this edition. 

This book is a good option for academic libraries to have a copy on hand, maybe on their ready reference shelf (if they still have a ready reference shelf). We bought a copy at my library, and it is a circulating copy. We'll see over time if it circulates or not. I'll make a small promotional post on the library blog later on. For now, I like this book overall. It has a good presentation of academic research skills for undergraduates. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Book Review: Revenge of the Librarians

(Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian)

Tom Gauld, Revenge of the Librarians. Montreal, Quebec: Drawn and Quarterly, 2022. ISBN: 9781770466166.

Genre: comics and graphic novels

Subgenre: literary, humor, comic strips

Format: small hardcover

Source: Eastside Branch, Lexington (KY) Public Library 

This is the latest, as of this post, collection of literary humor comics by Tom Gauld. If you've seen his comics, you can easily recognize his art style featuring simple figures, a style that works very well. Gauld has a good imagination and often he comes up with literary situations that many readers and writers can find relatable. This particular collection was published in 2022, and it contains many comics with pandemic humor. It is a nice way to make light of the lockdowns and the pandemic at least for a while. 

Some highlights include: 

• The revenge of the librarians (opening strip).
• The bookshop cat and the pandemic.
• The library of terror.
• A conversation with the author.
• Village murder mysteries. I've been watching Midsomer Murders, and this reminded me of the series right away.

The humor is nice, but it is not laugh out loud humor. Most cartoons may cause a chuckle, maybe make you smile. There are some comics that are nice but fall a bit flat. I like the book, but it is not terribly memorable. Fans will likely enjoy it, so will folks who like literary humor. It is a nice book book to pick up, read and smile a bit, then move on. It is more a book to borrow. I'd recommend it for libraries with large graphic novel collections. For a small library like ours, I'd consider this optional. 

3 out of 5 stars.  

 

 

Book Review: Reading Novels During the Covid 19 Pandemic

(Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian.)

Ben Davies, Christina Lupton, and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt, Reading Novels During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780192857682.

Genre: literary studies, literacy, academic treatise, reading

Subgenre: COVID-19, pandemics 

Format: hardcover

Source: Interlibrary Loan (ILL) via Hutchins Library. It came from Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas.

 

Now that most people think the COVID-19 pandemic is over we're seeing all sorts of books and retrospectives of the pandemic time. This book would fall in that category, though the study it discusses was done during the pandemic. The book aims to provide a look at reading habits of folks during the pandemic, specifically reading fiction. Bottom line, for me at least, is this is a book by academics written for other academics. This is not exactly a book for light or pleasure reading. I picked it up to see what insights it might have offered to librarians and to see another side of the pandemic. 

The book is arranged into an introduction and nine chapters. The introduction describes the parameters of the study. The chapters look at different types of books people chose to read and reasons to do so. Among the selections were books about plagues, old books, and romances. The book includes a bibliography, which is extensive but it also features a lot of popular magazine articles. The book also features an appendix with the survey instrument. 

Note that the study sample readers in two countries: Denmark and the United States. Once we get past the introduction, the chapters look at different kinds of reading. Bring a typical academic book, the authors fill a lot of pages with literary and critical theory to support their findings. Between all the theory  you get selected quotes from the readers they interviewed. The reader quotes may be the most interesting part, but they get drowned by all the theory.

To be honest, if you strip out a lot of the theory, you end with what feels like material for popular magazine articles. The book's findings often read like headlines for a popular magazine article. Some examples of findings: 

• How people perceived time/made time to read during lockdown.
• Why Camus's book The Plague makes for popular pandemic reading.
• Unable to buy books, more people read what is already on their shelves. 
• You said you'd read that big, long, thick book some day. Well, the day is here, so start reading War and Peace. 

That is pretty much what the authors' research confirms, things that we sort of knew. I am sure plenty of librarians observed some of the reading patterns presented in the book. I will also notes the book looks at people who were mostly locked down at home and stuck there. I was deemed essential, so I worked at the library, albeit virtually with my office door closed. So my lockdown experience was very different. 

Overall, this is a dense academic book looking at a limited sample of readers. The themes do not seem to be particularly breaking news, and much of it seems like material for articles rather than a cohesive book. Research libraries interested in literacy and literary studies may want to acquire it. It may also be of interest to large LIS program libraries. I would consider it highly optional, and I would not acquire it for our library. 

1 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Temples of Books

 (Crossposted from The Itinerant Librarian.)

Marianne Julia Strauss, et.al., Temples of Books: Magnificent Libraries Around the World. Berlin, Germany: Gestalten Verlag, 2022.  ISBN: 9783967040241.

Genre: libraries

Subgenre: photography, travel

Format: oversize, coffee table book

Source: Interlibrary Loan (ILL) at Hutchins Library. The book came from Lutnick Library, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

 

This is an oversize book highlighting libraries from around the world. It includes 54 libraries, large and small, and it includes at least one virtual library. On reading it, I felt the book was very Western and Eurocentric, so I went back and did the locations breakdown: 

• United States: 10.
• Europe: 25.
• Asia: 6.
• Africa: 6.
• Latin America: 3.
• Australia: 1.
• Canada: 1.
• Oceania: 1.
• Online: 1.

I think the numbers speak for themselves. I honestly wonder if the editors really could not find more great libraries outside of Europe and the United States.  For example, I am sure Latin America has more than three libraries that could qualify as a "magnificent library." 

In addition to the library entries, the book includes an introduction by author and volume co-editor Marianne Julia Strauss. She opens the introduction and book referring back to the ever popular Borges quote about imagining paradise as a library. She describes then what the book covers, such as: 

"Temples of Books explores the history, mission, architecture, and changing role of selected libraries around the world. The following pages reveal extraordinary public and private collections, national and monastery libraries, repurposed engine sheds, and UNESCO-protected mud buildings from Mexico to Vietnam to Mauritania" (4).

So while there is not much geographic diversity, the editors do provide a good sampling of different types of libraries. Each library entry includes: 

• Library name.
• Design/designer name/style.
• When/date built.
• Location.
• Descriptive text and narrative about the library.
• A selection of photos of the library.

The entries vary in length from a couple of pages to five pages give or take. The text is interesting and informative, though some of the short entries do seem short leaving the reader to ask if there was not more that could be written. Text can include a history of the library, who it serves, and other highlights. 

The strength of the book is in the photography. The photos vary in size, but they are beautiful, and it is a pleasure to view them. The photos are in full color. Do note more prominent libraries get more photos. 

This is a great book to casually browse. You can read it cover to cover, or you can just browse for what catches your eye. 

I recommend the book for armchair travelers who enjoy large travel photography books. Fans of libraries will likely enjoy it as well. I'd also recommend it for public and academic libraries. Libraries with LIS programs will want to add this one. Overall, despite some issues, I really liked it. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

Jay Walker's advice on creating your own private library: 

"Collect to learn! Books that can teach you what you never thought you were interested in or can inspire you in ways that stretch your imagination-- no matter the resale value-- are worth their weight in gold" (113). 

Malala Yousafzai's quote on the power of books: 

"Let us not forget that even one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world" (qtd. in 297). 

Reading ALA's "State of America's Libraries" 2023

I do not always read this report (link to ALA page, where you can get a summary and download the full PDF report, which I did save and read), but given the situation in the last few years, I took a look. After reading it, I see a lot of the usual feel good rhetoric about the nobility of our libraries, about their bravery in these Hard Times, and how they do more with less. Those are not necessarily new things, but they have been aggravated by current threats to our collections as well as to librarians. 

I am just going to quickly note a couple of things that caught my eye or made me react. You can click on the link above and read the full report or as much of it as you wish. The most useful part of the report are probably the various infographics and charts with information on book challenges, lists, and other issues. You can use some of those graphics to help promote the report as well as raising awareness overall. 

Some highlights then with a comment or two from me: 

From the executive director message: 

Librarians "found themselves contending with reduced funding and staffing, threats to personal safety in the form of bomb scares and to professional livelihoods from firings and job losses, and bills threatening to criminally charge librarians or defund libraries altogether for making certain materials available on their shelves or findable through reference services" (2). 

What often is happening is that some angry "Karen" from some terrorist astroturf group like "Moms for Liberty" throws a hissy fit, and then the administrators to keep the peace just fold. As P.Z. Myers writes, "That’s all it takes, one prude from the fascist group “Moms for Liberty” complains, and administrators instantly surrender." Not exactly the bravest of actions. The result is that these well organized Party of Stupid conservative Christofascists get emboldened when they see they can get away with some small challenge, try for a bigger one, and before you know it they get legislators to defund libraries. They were not challenged back early when they were small, and thus a lot of the mess we have now. 

From the 2022-2023 ALA President: 

"As trusted institutions, libraries are the last bastion of democracy that is truly inclusive and free" (3). 

Unless you happen to be in one of those communities who are happy to let their elected officials defund their libraries and threaten the safety of their librarians. But other than that, sure. Heck, even here in Kentucky the book challenges are on the rise. 

From the director of ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom: 

The rising numbers of challenges and book bans "are evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement whose goals include removing books addressing race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America's public libraries and school libraries that do not meet their approval" (4). 

That is a polite way of saying a well-organized right wing Part of Stupid Christofascist bunch of bigots who more often than not have not even read the books they are challenging. Also ignores the fact that in many libraries the administrators flat out ignore their own book challenge procedures to appease them. So allowing them to escalate has led to the following: 

"Both school and public librarians are increasingly in the crosshairs of conservative groups during book challenges and subject to defamatory name calling, online harassment, social media attacks, and doxxing, as well as direct threats to their safety, their employment, and their very liberty" (4). 

This is the America we live in now. These are Hard Times to be a librarian and/or an educator for that matter.  

To be honest, the best part of the report that is really worth reading is the "Forward Momentum" article edited by Phil Morehart. It highlights some interesting and innovative things that some libraries are doing including a cellphone lending program, enhanced library cards for ID use, and lending utility wagons. 

The report is 18 pages long in PDF form. It is an ALA report, which means it focuses mainly on public libraries. For academic libraries, there is the ACRL Library Trends and Statistics Survey (latest out now is the 2021 edition, which I will look at later).

Short book review: A Library Miscellany

Claire Cock-Starkey, A Library Miscellany. Oxford, UK: Bodleian Library, 2018. ISBN: 9781851244720.

Genre: nonfiction

Subgenre: trivia, libraries

Format: small hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

This is a small book of library histories, lists, and trivia. The book also looks at library collections, individuals, and facts. Many of the lists and material has an anglophile focus; the book is published by the Bodleian library. 

Some of the topics included in the book are: 

• The ten largest libraries in the world. 
• Some fictional libraries of note. 
• Charles Darwin's library aboard the Beagle. 
• Some famous librarians of note.
• Library treasures: the Gough Map.

Overall, this is a nice small interesting book. Librarians and library fans will likely appreciate it. Readers who enjoy trivia books will probably enjoy this one. The book is nothing spectacular, but it is an easy and quick read where you learn a few things about libraries. I liked it, and I would suggest it for trivia readers and library fans. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

Article Note: Looking at the Immersive Media and Books 2020 Report

This article looks at and summarizes findings from the Immersive Media and Books 2020 report done by Panorama Project. You can find the full report here. At the link you can download the full report to read, and they also offer a webinar on it you can watch. The big takeaway from the report is that books are not in a vacuum; they exist within a connected media ecosystem that can include television, the Internet, games, etc. The report looks at consumer behavior related to books and that media ecosystem before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (the pandemic that as of this writing is still ongoing). I am writing down some of the key ideas from the article and adding a bit of my commentary here or there. 

• Definition of book engagement: "...buying, borrowing, subscribing to, reading or gifting a printed book, an ebook, or audiobook in part or in whole" (228). In the survey, participants were then asked how many books they engaged with rather than how many books they read (which is what other surveys such as Pew Research does). This can account for more than just people who read books or buy books. This can account for people who do things like check books out of the library that they may or not read. I am sure some readers out there who use libraries have done that, check out a book they returned unread. No shame in that. It also accounts for other behaviors such as buying books as gifts. 
• Survey sample size was 4,314. Data was collected from September to November 2020.
• Word of mouth discovery is a highlight of the report. This includes learning about books via family, friends, and social media. Not one form of discovery predominates; they are widely distributed. 
• Report found people may not be very aware of the role of algorithms in book discovery, for example in social media spaces (based on how people curate their social media) and in places like Amazon where the algorithm is used to target ads and sale suggestions (and this is something people cannot opt out). For me, a lot of my social media is curated in terms of books and reading, especially Twitter and my RSS reader where I follow authors, book publishers, and other reader's advisory resources.
  
• Author brand plays a role in book discovery and purchasing. People cite favorite authors and author events as ways of discovering new books. I'll say that may not be as much for me. While I have some favorite authors, I do not always try to read everything a favorite author puts out. I tend to like a bit more variety, so I wander around in seeking out new books to read. Personally, I don't really fit this because I mostly discover new things to read via social media, as I noted above. I also discover new books to read via tools and sites like NetGalley and Edelweiss Plus, plus I am a strong library user, both my local public library and the academic library I work at. Being a professional librarian means I also have access to things like publisher catalogs. So I am very aware that I am a bit different than the average survey participants. 
• Definition of avid book engagers from the report: "...respondents who 'engaged' with 4 or more books per month (in any format: ebook, audiobook, or print book)" (231).
• Why diversity matters and publishers need to pay more attention: "Young ethnically diverse respondents (especially Black and LatinX millennials) are avidly buying, borrowing, and subscribing to books. The book industry has long underestimated Black, LatinX and millennial book engagers as desirable target audiences. These are consumers to watch going forward" (232-233). I'd say the publishing industry still underestimates them. 
• Yes, libraries DO drive book sales (no matter what grouchy and greedy book publishers would have you believe): "35.9% of respondents bough a book online that they found in a library. 31.1% of respondents bought a book in a bookstore that they first found in a library" (234). 
• The concept of cross-media discovery: "Cross-media discovery (discovering books through video games or TV/movies and vice versa) is high amongst survey respondents, suggesting that audiences are already accustomed to traversing media to pursue stories and worlds they enjoy; there is likely more opportunity for cross-media collaboration" (235). I would say I do not discover much to read via video games, since I play so little video games if ever. I may discover something to read from television or movies, but that is pretty rare too. One way I discover books to read from television is via documentaries and similar programs. If the program on a topic I am interested in features an expert, and that expert has written a book, I am likely to search out the book and decide if I want to read it down the road or not. 
• Piracy may be a problem, but it is also a matter for publishers to demonstrate value of buying their products. "Musicians have adapted to the reality of piracy by putting more of a premium on things that are harder to pirate, such as fan merchandise and live concerts. The public's demand for printed books suggests that authors won't have to shift their revenue streams as extremely as did musicians. But publishers will have to make sure the value proposition of buying a printed book more evident to young people habituated to leasing access to entertainment" (236). 
• However, for all the griping certain segments make about online pirates, the issue is not black and white as those certain segments would have you believe: "book pirates are not only thieves but also customers, library patrons, fanfiction readers/writers, and more. Compared to the general survey population, a higher percentage of book pirates during COVID are buying more books (38.7%), audiobooks (27.1%) and print books (33.7%). . ." (236). 
• "The data show that book pirates are avid readers who will buy books when the value proposition is clear to them; for example, pirates are much more likely than the general survey population to buy books in multiple formats (41.5%)" (236). 
• "This disrupts the usual absolute perspective-- pirate or not pirate-- with a more nuanced understanding and spectrum of piracy behavior" (236). This is a bit of why I am not too critical of pirates as some other folks out there are. Also if you make things harder in terms of ability to purchase a book (or another item), from what I have seen, the more likely said items will be pirated. 
• Key finding about libraries: "The most important finding is that library borrowing encourages book sales. Immersive Media & Books 2020 finds that libraries, bookstores, and online channels mutually reinforce each other, leading to engagement and sales in other channels" (237, emphasis in original). We need to say this louder for the greedy asshat publisher moguls in the back who keep making things difficult for libraries to acquire books, especially ebooks, for their communities. 
• Furthermore, "the report found that library borrowing does not preclude or discourage respondents from buying books; on the contrary, a greater percentage of library card holders said they were buying more books during COVID than the general survey population, in every format" (237). 

 

Citation for the article: 

Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens, "Immersive Media and Books 2020: New Insights About Book Pirates, Libraries and Discovery, Millennials, and Cross-Media Engagement: Before and During COVID." Publishing Research Quarterly 37 (2021): 227-240.  

Book Review: Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know

Serhy Yekelchyk, Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780197532119.

 

Genre: nonfiction, reference

Subgenre: Ukraine, history, politics

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

This book is part of Oxford's series "What Everyone Needs To Know" (by the way, they do have the trademark on that phrase). Our library recently bought this title for our collection, in part given the timely topic at this moment. I decided to go ahead and read it to learn more as well as to write this brief review. This is a second edition of the book. The author is a professor of History and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria and writes on modern Ukraine and Russian-Ukraine relations. 

The book follows the typical format of the "What Everyone Needs to Know" series, which is a question and answer format. The book is arranged into seven chapters: 

• Why Ukraine?
• The Land and the People.
• The Making of Modern Ukraine.
• Ukraine After Communism.
• The Orange Revolution and the EuroMaidan.
• Russia's Annexation of the Crimea and the War in the Donbas.
• The War in Ukraine as an International Issue. 

Each chapter then has a series of basic questions with answers. Some sample questions the book answers are: 

• Why did Ukraine become a key reference point of American political struggles?
• Was Ukraine always part of Russia?
• When and why did Ukraine give up its nuclear arsenal? 
• What assistance has the United States provided Ukraine since 2014?

In addition, the book also includes a chronology, a map, a set of notes documenting facts, and a list for further reading. The book covers the country from its early days up until the first year or so of Zelensky's presidency.  As the author writes, he focuses mainly on "Ukraine's complex national and civic identity" (xv). He does address that and a bit more as he also looks at Ukraine's relations with Russia as well as Ukraine's interactions with the United States and the international community. 

The book is more an academic textbook, in other words I would not label it for pleasure reading (unless you are a policy wonk, history buff, or similar reader), but it should be of interest to general readers who want to learn more about the topic. While the text can be a bit dry at times, the book is still very accessible. The question and answer format is good to allow readers to read a bit at a time here or there. Some readers may want to read the book cover to cover. Other readers may want to just find topics of interest and focus on those. If you need a basic book that covers the topic well, this book will do the job. 

For academic libraries, this can be a good book to introduce the topic to students. For students who may be writing research papers on Ukraine and the war with Russia, this can be a good text to get them started. It can provide an overview of the issues, and the references from the notes and further reading can give students additional sources to read and explore. I would also say this can be a good selection for public libraries seeking to add a book on what is a topic right out of the news at this time. If a public library does not have much on Ukraine, this book can be a good start. 

Overall, at a little under 200 pages, not including notes and reading list, this is a book anyone can read and get a basic understanding of the country and the relevant issues. I really like it, and it would be one I would hand to students and other patrons wanting to learn more about the topic. Bottom line is this is a pretty good primer on the topic. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Stalin's Library

 

Geoffrey Roberts, Stalin's Library: a Dictator and His Books. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022.  ISBN:  9780300179040.

 

Genre: libraries, biography, politics

Subgenre: history, Russian, Soviet Union

Format: hardcover

Source: Via Interlibrary Loan through Hutchins Library, Berea College. The book came from Alcuin Library, St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.  

 

If memory serves me right, I saw this book mentioned somewhere on social media. I like reading about books and libraries, so this book seemed to fit the bill. The book has an introduction, seven chapters, a conclusion, notes, and a further reading list. 

To be honest, this book is really a political biography of Stalin with a bit of a literacy narrative. We learn that Stalin was an avid and attentive reader. He read extensively, and he read books within his ideologies as well as books by his rivals and enemies. Stalin also read some works from other countries in Russian translation. 

We know a lot about Stalin as a reader from the remnants of his personal library. I say remnants because Stalin's personal library was dispersed after his death. Stalin was an active reader, and he made a lot of notes in his books as he read. This marginalia gives us insight into Stalin's thoughts on various topics and issues. In addition, Stalin was an active editor of documents, his and other people's documents, and scholars have studied these documents too. 

The most interesting part of the book is the look at Stalin's library, the kinds of books he collected and read. The part about how Stalin arranged his books, or rather had a librarian do it for him, is also interesting. 

The rest of the book is mostly a political biography, and it is not always interesting. At times, this biography goes a bit much into minutiae. This can make the text a bit dense to read at times. Some readers may choose to skim through some of this material. 

I would say that much of this book feels more like an academic article or two on Stalin as a reader. At some point, someone decided to pitch a book, and the additional biographical material, which often is not connected to Stalin as a reader, feels like filler at times. The result is that the interesting topic of Stalin as a reader and his books gets lost in the rest of the text. 

For public libraries, this may be a book to skip. For academic libraries, large academic libraries with strong collections on the Soviet Union, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Asia might find this to be an optional selection. It may also be an optional selection for LIS/library school libraries. 

In the end, this was just OK. This is not really a book that can be read for pleasure.

2 out of 5 stars. 

* * * * * 

 

Additional reading notes: 

 

 What the book aims to do: 

"This book explores the intellectual life and biography of one of history's bloodiest dictators: Joseph Stalin. Uniquely, it does so through the prism of his personal library. A dedicated reader and self-improver, Stalin's accumulation of books was a lifelong passion" (1).

Part of me thinks that the line we often hear about how reading makes people better is not really true, at least not in all cases. In this case, just look at Stalin. 

 

How the book views Stalin, according to the author: 

"This book views Stalin through a different lens-- as a dedicated idealist and as an activist intellectual who valued ideas as much as power, who was ceaseless in his own efforts at self-education, a restless mind, reading for the revolution to the very end of his life" (6). 

Books are the best way to know Stalin's inner life: 

"Apart from private photographs and some hastily written and perfunctory letters to family members, Stalin's library books are among the best means we have of accessing the dictator's inner life" (15). 

Stalin seeing himself as an intellectual: 

"Stalin saw himself as neither a worker nor a peasant, but as, in effect, an intellectual whose task it was to spread enlightenment and socialist consciousness. It was this fundamental choice of an intellectual identity that motivated his fanatical, life-long commitment to reading and self-improvement" (48). 

Yet in a way Stalin read like many of us read: 

"Stalin read books in diverse ways-- selectively or comprehensively, cursorily or with avid attention. Some he read cover to cover, others he merely skimmed. Sometimes he would begin reading a book, lose interest after a few pages and jump from the introduction to the conclusion. Some books he read in a single sitting, others he dipped in and out of" (97). 

What Stalin's library reveals: 

"In truth, no smoking guns are to be found anywhere in the remnants of Stalin's library. His pometki reveal preoccupations not secrets, and the way he engaged with ideas, arguments, and facts" (101). 

A reason Stalin read a lot: 

"Admittedly, complexity, depth, and subtlety were not strengths of Stalin's nor was he an original thinker. His lifelong practice was to utilise other people's ideas, formulations and information-- that was why he read such a lot. His intellectual hallmark was that of a brilliant simplifier, clarifier, and populariser" (153). 

Additional Notes from US Book Show 2022: Session on "Tik Tok and Books"

Another session I listened to after the conference. This is my last set of notes for the conference this year.

 

This panel featured a BookTok influencer (just one by the way) and rest were book publisher marketing representatives. Part of the reason I listened to this panel was curiosity. A couple of people have suggested to me that I should give Tik Tok a try. I remain skeptical. I recently launched a YouTube channel, bare bones as it is, and to add another bit of work filming content, even if it is very short, sounds like more of a work burden and perhaps too high a price for whatever little additional exposure I may get as reviewer, writer, and cartomancer. But, in part to be aware, I listened to what they had to say.

• As of 2022, Tik Tok has experienced large growth and has become the 3rd most popular social media platform with 1 billion active users as of this year. They are 3rd behind Facebook and Twitter. (Publishers are basically tripping themselves with interest in TikTok, or BookTok, as the niche community of book talkers and reviewers is known, due to the platform's very high engagement numbers. Not too shabby for a channel that features videos of 1 to 3 minutes in length.)
• The short form video is appealing to TikTok users. They also mention that finding content on TikTok is easier versus finding content on YouTube. Overall, this is still about the algorithms both platforms use. 
• They cite the "authenticity" in TikTok, that videos there are less staged than in other platforms. (Given some TikTok videos I have seen, they can be just as staged as any other platform.) In theory at least, there is less need to edit, and users say that is appealing. 
• Diversity of voices is cited as a good element in TikTok (so far in the panel, everyone is just gushing about the service like it's the 2nd Coming). 
• The main demographic is 18-34 years old, and it is mainly women (women predominance is consistent in social media overall). Males may or not exist in BookTok it seems, or if they are there, it is in very niche communities, so not as visible. 
• Common BookTok genres that "work well" include romance, romantic comedy, and fantasy. Also some literary fiction. 
• (In a way, the publishers here sound a lot like many librarians back in the Library 2.0 days, as in wanting to be in spaces where they may or not be wanted.) 
• The panel's lone BookToker argues there are niche areas for some genres, depending on interests. The platform has progressed a bit according to them. 
• They may find new books to read from follower suggestions. Finding other BookTokers they like and trust. 
• Sponsored content does not do well on TikTok. Like other reviewers, publishers and authors, especially indie authors, need to tailor their communications to potential reviewers on BookTok. Mass e-mails get mostly ignored (and as a reviewer, I can agree with that. Mass e-mails asking for a random review are e-mails I delete). It is better for authors and publishers to do their own research, find fans of whatever genre they write in or market, and go from there. 
• On publishers reaching into TikTok. (And by the way, let me say again they needed more than one BookTok influencer on this panel.)
• Pay attention to what people are interested in. Making contacts and networking are important. Keep in mind a BookToker may not be interested in your specific book, but they are likely to know someone who does, and if you have a good relationship with the influencer they may be willing to pass the book suggestion on down their network. 
• Overall, BookTok cannot be forced. It needs to be organic. 
• A question I wish they had answered but left "for a later panel" was how to find time for TikTok. (I would have liked the answer now. Managing social media for me to share my blogging and writing takes a chunk of time as it is.) 
• Is TikTok a flash in the pan? The influencer thinks it will stay. (Personally, I am skeptical.) 
• Currently, TikTok is growing, especially BookTok. BookTok is a reviewers' platform mostly. Not all book authors need to be on TikTok, or if they are, they need to do authentic things other than peddling their books; authors already have made that mistake on other platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and they need to learn from that mistake. An author "messing up" is basically a "death sentence" on BookTok (i.e. being racist, homophobic, etc.) as BookTokers will just ignore and block them. Also, an author bitching about a bad review is a big mistake, again, one that will earn an author getting ignored and blocked. 
• Transparency for everyone is essential on BookTok. 

 

 

A couple of books I got from US Book Show 2022

As I mentioned in my short video about this, here are two books I received from the US Book Show event courtesy of Beacon Press. 

Book link information from publisher.

• Kavita Das, Craft and Conscience: How to Write about Social Issues. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2022. I requested this in part for curiosity and my personal use. I am hoping to learn some new things about writing, especially about social issues so I can apply it to my blogging and personal writing. I also requested it to see if we should acquire it for our library. This copy is an advanced reader's copy (ARC). 
• Catherine Ceniza Choy, Asian American Histories of the United States. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2022. Requested it mainly for possible library acquisition consideration, but I also intend to read and review it on my blog. This is a finished book copy. 

 Thanks to Beacon Press for the opportunity to read and review these.

 

Book Review: The Library: a Fragile History

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, The Library: a Fragile History. New York: Basic Books, 2021. ISBN: 9781541600775.

 

Genre: libraries

Subgenre: history, world history

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College  

 

On reading this book, I was reminded that while Americans today have very romantic views of libraries, in reality much of their "support" for them is barely words. As others have said, public libraries would not likely be created today given Americans' complete disregard for the idea of a common good. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's look at the book. 

This book aims to be a history of libraries from antiquity to the modern era. It is not just about libraries. It is also about books, collectors, book sellers, a lot of wealthy people, and folks who had the title of librarian, whether they deserved it or not. The book is also about defining what a library is, the idea and concept of a library. In this history, the authors strive to show and document how libraries were conceived and how they evolved over time. 

The book is arranged in six major parts, and it has three chapters per part. We also get a prologue, a postscript, notes, and a bibliography. 

This is a very ambitious book. The history takes us from ancient times through today. Along the way we learn about Roman libraries, which were mainly vanity projects for some wealthy folks. We go through the Middle Ages, monasticism, the Renaissance, the invention of printing, and a lot more. Though the book is very much Western centered, we do get nods and acknowledgement of libraries and book collections in other parts of the world. 

The book's most interesting parts are the older history. The authors pay a lot of attention to details, and you do get a good amount of depth. The story is interesting, more so if you are a bibliophile. However, the text at times can be a bit dense. This is not a book to rush through. 

A big takeaway from the book is that libraries have not really been "communal" spaces or assets. More often than not they are very dependent on the largesse of the rich, and even  then most libraries were not open to the general public. The idea of public libraries as we know them today took a very long time to evolve and mature. Even today where the idea is in place, public libraries as we known them are still in danger. The dependence on certain interests also means that libraries and librarians have not always been virtuous, to put it mildly. Librarians have often been heroes as well as villains in this history. 

Overall, this is an interesting but also dense book. Some chapters can be a bit slow. It is an ambitious work that strives to cover a lot of ground, and it does so in a relatively coherent way. This is a very good selection for academic libraries, and it is a must have for LIS academic programs. It may be a good selection for public libraries for their history readers, especially if they enjoy Western and world history overviews. In the end, I really liked this one. 

4 out of 5 stars

* * * * * 

Additional reading notes: 

 

The uncomfortable truth of libraries over the ages: 

 

"What Naudé did not discuss in his writings was the uncomfortable truth of libraries throughout the ages: no society has ever been satisfied with the collections inherited from previous generations. What we will frequently see in this book is not so much the apparently wanton destruction of beautiful artifacts so lamented by previous studies of library history but neglect and redundancy, as books and collections that represented the values and interests of one generation fail to speak to the one that follows. The fate of many collections was to degrade in abandoned attics and ruined buildings, even if only as prelude to renewal and rebirth in the most unexpected places" (2). 

 

For all the bitching and moaning certain people, usually the clueless, do, there are solid reasons why libraries need to be properly weeded on a regular basis. 

 

Some important principles about libraries, still of value today, from monastic medieval libraries: 

 

". . .the library as a sanctuary and storehouse of culture; the fixity of stock; the role of the Christian Church in the recovery of the antique; the library as a place of work and silent contemplation. All this was distinctly uncongenial to the Young Turks of the early Renaissance, impatient and urbane, looking for personal advancement in the glittering new courts of the Italian city-states and the emerging monarchies" (50-51). 

 

Interesting how things never change as we have Young Turks in librarianship today, often impatient and urbane, looking for advancement by denigrating libraries in favor of things like flashy, but not always long term reliable, technology, community centers without books, and iSchools. 

 

Again, on libraries from one generation to the next: 

 

"One man's passion project would be nothing but a burden to those to whom the responsibility was passed on" (100). 

 

An essential problem of book collecting from Alexandria to today. This can also be applicable to other collector hobbies: 

 

". . .no one cares about a library collection as much as the person who has assembled it. Only the library's creator records the place of a fortuitous purchase, the identity of kind donors, or remembers how a particular text changed their lives or opinions. Only they experienced the joy of tracking down a long-desired edition and the network of friends that helped in the quest" (140). 

 

Notice the above assumes that the books, some at least, may have some monetary value. We need to be honest here, so I am going to break it to you: most books people "collect" have no monetary value other than what the collector paid, and that is likely to decrease to zero value over time. This is yet another reason libraries do NOT want your old encyclopedias, National Geographics, etc. Your "donation" is nothing more than junk, junk that libraries will end up turning around and tossing in the dumpster. An actual antiquarian book collector more likely has a plan in place for their collection in the future. As for the rest of you, here is the reality:

 

"Collectors always find it difficult to conceive that what they have created, at great expense and effort, may hold little value to others" (191). 

 

Libraries weaponized, as agents of conflict: 

 

"At the same time, both within Europe and throughout its new acquired colonies, books and libraries have frequently been the advanced guard in campaigns to impose on a population a new kind of society, promote a new religion, or win back territory lost to a rival ideology. These libraries were ideological weapons with a specific mission: boldly planted in hostile or (from the view of colonisers)  uncharted territory, libraries became intellectual castles and fortresses, and an encapsulation of the values of the settlers who had crossed the seas to seize and subdue" (161).

 

ALA's less than lackluster record on important issues: 

 

"The issue of segregation in the American South posed the greatest challenge to the American Library Association, and one it conspicuously failed to meet" (387).

 

Some titles from the bibliography I may want to read (in no particular order). Book links to WorldCat record unless noted otherwise: 

 

• Gabriel Naudé, Instructions concerning erecting a library (link to free copy via Internet Archive. IA has some other more recent translations, but you need to register to borrow them).  
• Mark P. McDonald, Ferdinand Columbus: Renaissance Collector.
  
• Wilson-Lee, Edward, The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books: Young Columbus and the Quest for a Universal Library.
• Mark Purcell, The Country House Library. 
• Anders Rydell, The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance. 
• Charlie English, The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu.

Book Review: The Oxford Guide to Library Research, 4th edition

Thomas Mann, The Oxford Guide to Library Research, Fourth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-19-993106-4.

 

Genre: nonfiction, guides

Subgenre: academic research, LIS

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

Our library recently acquired this for the reference collection as an update to the third edition that we had. I did notice this edition's publishing date is 2015, so it already may be falling behind in some details. When I investigated, I did not see a fifth edition forthcoming. Still this is a pretty good book overall.  

This book is a guide to help readers do research online and offline with an overview of various online and offline sources. Though it goes over online and offline sources, there is some bias or preference expressed in the book for print sources found in libraries, especially large research libraries. Naturally it also favors subscription based online resources, again found in libraries, especially large research libraries. The publisher describes this book as "the gold standard in the field," but it is so as long as you are using and accessing large research libraries. There is not much here about smaller academic libraries, like ours, and even less about public libraries. Though the strategies presented can apply for any researcher, the book is mainly for academic researchers at large research universities and institutions, for example, the Library of Congress, which is by the way where the author works. 

 

The book is arranged into 15 chapters. Some of the chapter topics include: specialized encyclopedias, use of subject headings in library catalogs and databases, citation searches, people sources, and hidden treasures (other not so visible at times sources like microforms and government documents). The book definitely strives to be as inclusive of various resources as possible. 

This is a guide mainly for academic researchers. The book is also commonly used as a textbook in library school programs (or "i-Schools" as they often call themselves now), and a lot of the material in the book is written more for librarians in training than actual non-librarian researchers. At times, some topics, such as cataloging and subject headings, may into more depth than most researchers may need, but that depth is necessary for librarians to understand how the systems work in order to better help their patrons. For other readers, some of the material may be way more technical than they want or need to know. 

For librarians in the field, like me, parts of this book may serve as a skills refresher. I did read it all to write this review, but for my brethren in the field I recommend you read what you need when you need. 

The book may not be too accessible for undergraduates. It does offer good research tips, but undergrads may need to dig through the more dense material first to find the good tips they can use. The book may be more geared to graduate students, research faculty, and especially librarians in training. Thus I would recommend the book for academic libraries, especially R-1 and similar institutions. For small academic libraries, I'd say this is optional. I am good with having it in our small collection, but having read it I can see it can be optional for us. 

In the end, I liked some parts better than others, and I think many academic readers can find some use in it. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

*****

Additional reading notes: 

The book is designed to answer three questions: 

 

"First, what is the extent of the significant research resources you will miss if you confine your research entirely, or even primarily, to sources available on the open Internet? Second, if you are trying to get a reasonably good overview of the literature on a particular topic, rather than just 'something quickly' on it, what are the methods of subject heading that are usually much more efficient for the purpose rather than typing keywords into a blank search box? And third-- a concern related to the first two-- how do you find the best search terms to use in the first place?" (xv).

A challenge is convincing researchers, especially students on tight schedules and deadlines who DO want it quickly and just good enough to do the assignment. Then again, a lot of what those students do is not "real" research. It's rather synthesis and compiling of sources on a decided topic, but that is a whole other conversation. 

This is a good point that many folks often miss or conveniently refuse to understand: 

"In the overall universe of information records, three considerations are inextricably tied together: (1) copyright protection; (2) free 'fair use' of the records by everyone; and (3) access limitations of what, who, and where. 

It is not possible to combine (1) and (2) without restricting at least one element of (3)" (xvii). 

Now things like copyright and access to research are debatable, but at the moment the above is the reality, unless you do as some faculty, researchers, and increasingly students do and find your sources in some shady parts of the Internet (and no further comment from me on that). 

A bad habit many librarians, especially the cool and hip ones like the "doers and stirrers," tend to have, which irks me a bit to be honest: 

"(The library field, unfortunately, has a habit of simply following Google rather than focusing on alternatives to it that work much better in the niche areas libraries must fill)" (115). 

That is also why so many libraries go to big default search boxes on their websites to "search everything" or do one "big search" without regard to trade offs of such decision in terms of focus, relevance, and useful results. It's a jump on the Google bandwagon of big search box and hoping the algorithm is on your side, except the algorithm is usually not on your side. Librarians jump on this for convenience, to make it "easier" for themselves and for impatient patrons instead of putting in the work and teaching students and/or patrons properly. Again, this can be a whole other conversation for another time. 

A growing problem in open Internet searching. I often mention this in library instruction, but few students seem to really appreciate it. Less savvy faculty often gloss over it: 

"(The growing proliferation of echo chambers and filter bubbles-- i.e. producing search results weighted and skewed by individuals' own idiosyncratic past search histories-- further diminishes the Web's capacity to provide inclusive overview perspectives)" (133). 

The author gives a nod to Reader's Advisory: 

"Bibliographies are also frequently more useful than databases when questions of 'reader's advisory' nature arise-- that is, when people just want recommendations of good books to read, in any subject area" (184).