Consciousness of disinformation (a follow-up)

[Clifford Urr]

     Robert, you said:
     
>First, you both are approaching this issue without much consideration. 
>We're talking libraries, not bookstores; big difference.  One develops 
>collections and assembles informative materials, the latter tries to sell 
>you everything and anything, caring little or nothing at all for you.

Only partly true, and bookstores are becoming more "caring" (look at the
Amazon site on the web), and, let's face it, most libraries have lots of 
their share of crap and propaganda and significant omissions no matter how 
find-tuned their collection development policies are. This surely is due to 
the fact that library collection development policies and practice are not 
immune to the coopting and influence exerted by special interest groups and 
corporate info monopolies and "expert clubs" (e.g., MDs or lawyers), a fact 
Rageboy implies or alludes to. (I also think his main point is that 
disinformation can come from "official sources," not just unofficial ones, 
and that dammit, *good information CAN come from UNOFFICIAL sources* - a 
key point. From a librarian standpoint, we librarians have indeed been for 
the people as regards our users; we should also be "for the people" as 
regards our sources, and not just the official ones. The latter has been 
our historical tendency, and we have also not been skeptical enough of the 
latter ones.) 

Public libraries, for example, have to contend with board members from 
"official" groups. Also, I once worked in a university medical schoool 
library to which someone I knew wanted to donate - for free - a rare and 
valuable collection of homeopathic medicine texts, much of which would have 
cost big bucks on the rare books market. They weren't interested, a 
decision that came down not from library admin. but from the highest levels 
of the school's administration. Case studies on how this sort of baloney 
happens everyday to or in libraries would make a hell of a PHd dissertation 
or a series of articles in "Libary Journal." (Yo Mr. Berry, are you 
listening?)