Libraries, Community, and Technology
Andy Barnett
ISBN: 0-7864-1379-4
168pp. bibliography, index $35 softcover (7 x 10) 2002
Available at Amazon.com
Booklist / March 1, 2003 p. 1244
Libraries, Community, and Technology. By Andy Barnett. 2003. 160p. index.
McFarland, paper, $35 (0-7864-1379-4). 027. This book, a collection of 15 essays
about public libraries and topics related to them, opens with essays devoted to
three main forces that wield considerable influence over libraries: their historical
social mission, professional values, and "killer
applications"-services or application programs that libraries provide,
such as reference services, children's services, reader's advisory, word
processing, and Internet access. Other topics discussed in subsequent essays
include the reasons the author became a librarian, technology, digitization, the
Internet, e-books, cataloging, competencies for library trustees, and weeding.
The work concludes with a brief, annotated recommended reading list and index.
Overall, the text is highly readable and accessible. Some readers make take
issue with some of the content, but the ideas themselves are consistently
thought-provoking and compelling and are likely to leave few readers
indifferent. A valuable resource for all public libraries and large academic
libraries. -Sean Kinder
From Library Journal, Feb. 2003,
Vol. 128 Issue 2, p125.
In these 15 essays, Barnett (assistant director, McMillan Memorial Lib.,
Wisconsin Rapids) takes a provocative look at the relationships among libraries,
their communities, and the technology that has become so prevalent today. Among
the ideas he discusses are how business management principles can work well in a
not-for-profit setting; "give them (patrons) want they want" is a
primary responsibility of a public library; and technology is in and of itself
an end rather than a means. Arguing that while many changes have occurred and
will continue to occur in public libraries, the institution's fundamental role
remains the same--to help shape a community's cultural life by serving as an
educational resource--Barnett asserts it is that commitment that those who
choose this form of public service need to reaffirm. "There is no other
career that so combines and supports core American values such as
self-improvement, equality of opportunity, rugged individualism, the building of
community, and the importance of an educated citizenry.... Librarianship is not
a job or a career path, but a vocation, a road to be followed for the good of
others." For your own well-being and that of your library, read this book!
From the Cover:
A number of people, including politicians, techies, and even librarians
themselves, are convinced that if libraries are not obsolete now, it is only a
matter of time until they are, thanks to the Internet. Many, though, are
optimistic about the future of libraries and their continuing role in shaping a
community’s cultural life. Libraries have changed, but the important things
about them have not.
This book is a collection of 15 essays written by the author. All of the essays
consider the relationships between libraries, the communities they serve, and
the technology that has become such a significant part of them. Among the topics
explored are the social mission of the public library, librarians'
core values, the concept of the killer application as it pertains to
librarianship, balancing competing claims on resources, why anyone becomes a
librarian, why libraries should not be re-engineered, how technology is being used to help libraries stay local, digitizing
on a budget for public libraries, why the Internet will not replace public
libraries, e-books, the end of cataloging, how library technology strikes back,
new competencies for library trustees, and how librarians weed books, deciding
which ones should be kept and which are just taking up space.
Andy Barnett is the assistant director of McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Three Views of the Public Library 5
What Is a Public Library and Does It Still Have a Social Mission?
7
Librarians and Their Core Values 15
The Library Considered as a Helix of Killer Applications
24
Conflict and Resolution? 31
Why I Am a Librarian 38
Why the Library Should Not Be Re-engineered, Re-imagined or Otherwise Messed
With 47
Using Technology to Stay Local 53
Digitizing on a Budget for Public Libraries 61
Why the Internet Is Not a Replacement for the Public Library
75
E-Books Considered 98
The Death of Cataloging 103
How Library Technology Bites Back 117
New Competencies for Library Trustees 135
Weeding: A Core Skill 148
Recommended Reading 153
Works Cited 155
About the Author 157
Index 159