[WEB4LIB] Re: The "Commercialized" Library

[John Williams]

George Porter is exemplary in his explantion. Anybody who puts any faith in the
random reviews found on the various books/film, etc. sites is living very
dangeously

John Williams
Via Belmeloro 11, 40126 Bologna, Italy


George Porter wrote:
> 
> Gerry McKiernan wrote:
>    Why not both Amazon.com and/or banesandnoble.com AND Choice and/or
> Library Journal !
> 
> The reason why not link to book reviews at Amazon or Barnes & Noble is
> extraordinarily simple.  The vast majority of readers are not qualified as
> reviewers.  In the ultimate reductionist approach, 10 out of 10 people
> surveyed on the street in 1492 KNEW the earth was flat.  The vast majority
> of the infinite number of hours of local news is now fluffed out with
> interminable "person on the street" reactions/viewpoints, usually on matters
> where the layperson is uninformed or misinformed.  Jay Leno has gotten lots
> of mileage out of the totally clueless who walk the streets of Southern
> California.  If librarians are going to advocate linking catalog entries to
> reviews, let's at least ensure that the reviews are worthy of the name, not
> an unsorted mixture of semi-literate scribblings and expert opinion.
> 
> George S. Porter
> Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
> California Institute of Technology
> Mail Code 1-43, Pasadena, CA  91125
> Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681