[WEB4LIB] Re: The "Commercialized" Library

[George Porter]

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