[WEB4LIB] Re: The "Commercialized" Library

[Gerry Mckiernan]

Hello George/

>>> George Porter <george at library.caltech.edu> 08/07/00 03:20PM >>>
<GMcK>
Gerry McKiernan wrote:
   Why not both Amazon.com and/or banesandnoble.com AND Choice and/or
Library Journal ! 
</GMcK>

<GeorgePorter>
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.
</GeorgePorter>


      Beliefs and cultural literacy should not be confused with an individual's
judgment as the usefulness or uselessness [?] of a book.  In selecting books 
in Computer Science I always consider the user comments.  I find these of great value in evaluating titles of unknown value to ouir community.
[User feeback is *one* source of information in my decision]

/Gerry McKiernan
Science and Technology  Librarian and Bibliographer for Computer Science
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu 

    "The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Ask Someone's Opinion"
                                                   With Apologies to Alan Kay

c: Web4Lib