May 2002

Perpetuating the Myth of the Information Explosion

Victor Lieberman originally posted this on LIBREF and has allowed me to post it here as well.

\”I just read a book review in the Winter 2002 issue of Daedalus, and
became disgusted. In what is otherwise a very thoughtful review by Neil
J. Smelser on the _New International Encyclopedia of the Social and
Behavioral Sciences_, the author commits a huge and careless error. He
writes on page 152 col. 2: \”There has been an explosion in the number
of encyclopedias. Amazon.com lists six thousands of them for sale, and
Barnesand noble.com nine thousand.\”



Nine thousand encyclopedias? Watch out, World Book.



Anyone who has helped students research in online catalogs probably
knows where this rant is heading. I IMMEDIATELY went to
Barnesandnoble.com to witness for myself this heretofore undocumented
explosion of reference publishing…

Victor Lieberman originally posted this on LIBREF and has allowed me to post it here as well.

\”I just read a book review in the Winter 2002 issue of Daedalus, and
became disgusted. In what is otherwise a very thoughtful review by Neil
J. Smelser on the _New International Encyclopedia of the Social and
Behavioral Sciences_, the author commits a huge and careless error. He
writes on page 152 col. 2: \”There has been an explosion in the number
of encyclopedias. Amazon.com lists six thousands of them for sale, and
Barnesand noble.com nine thousand.\”



Nine thousand encyclopedias? Watch out, World Book.



Anyone who has helped students research in online catalogs probably
knows where this rant is heading. I IMMEDIATELY went to
Barnesandnoble.com to witness for myself this heretofore undocumented
explosion of reference publishing…



It turns out, when you examine the category \”encyclopedias\” in the
website book browsing subject menu, you encounter 352 encyclopedias
offered for sale by Barnesandnoble.com. A large number, certainly, but
a bit shy of 9000. Really, why not just do a Yahoo or Google search and
add the number of zeros of your choice!



So, basically, I wonder how many of the reviewer\’s \”encyclopedias\” were,
maybe, things like \”Encyclopedia Brown,\” for example, in gazillions of
paperback, hardcover, &etc. editions? And although a rather distinctive
word, I could imagine titles featuring \”encyclopedia\” that might not
have actually *been* encyclopedias. The truth is, I suspect, that the
author didn\’t check, and just wanted some justification for his
hyperbole.



Amazon.com was somewhat harder to check. Their browse category for
encyclopedias is not listed out numerically as is B&N\’s. And when I
went into their \”general\” link, they had 900+ listings, which was way
more than I would guessed.



However …



Do I necessarily consider _Asimov\’s Chronology of the Word_ or
_Journalism Ethics: A Reference Handbook_ an \”encyclopedia\”? Some
might. The list looked like it was more of a \”general reference\” list
than one composed strictly of encyclopedias in any careful
interpretation of the term.



I use to use an example in a BI class we use to teach at my university.

A writer in the magazine, _Scientific American_, came out with a
statement something like \”in the last 10 years, no less that 5000 (or a
million, or whatever huge number) of articles have been written on
crises in education, based on listings in a national article index.\” I
knew that the only index the writer could have been referring to was
ERIC or maybe the Wilson Education Index. In any event, the neat class
demonstration was that we could determine whether or not this statement
was true with the resources and skills we were learning about in our
library research class. And, of course, the same thing was true. A
keyword search on \”crisis\” or \”crises\” in ERIC certainly does retrieve a
pile of listings (it\’s true, educators do have more than their fair
share it seems). But how many of these articles were indexed under the
descriptor \”crisis,\” or alternate terms that might get at this concept?

Well, … far fewer than the author cited, anyway.



So, …



I\’m kind of wound down, now, but it still gets me peeved (for no really
good reason, but if you\’re a librarian, I suppose you have to get
exercised about something, and this is one of those things for me). 400
bazillion web pages does not constitute an information explosion. It
constitutes 400 bazillion web pages. Even a cursory examination of
these will demonstrate that 395 bazillion of them are 404 errors, and
another 3 bazillion are redirects. This leaves us with only a much more
manageable 2 bazillion web pages, with approximately 500 containing
actual text content, and the remainder cut & pastes or links to the
same.



And not 9000 encyclopedias.



Information maybe growing exponentially. Actually knowledge is perhaps
on a different scale. It\’s like counting every copy of every book and
magazine issue ever published as a new piece of \”information.\” With
apologies to the McKerrows and Bowers out there, I disagree.



Rant over.



Victor Lieberman

University of North Dakota

Philadelphia School Librarians Fall Victim to Budget

steven bell writes \”Today\’s Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the deficit-ridden city school system will achieve savings by cutting librarian postitions at fourteen city schools, a continuation of a long-term demise of the profession librarian in the Philadelphia School District. Most of the schools will keep the library open with minimal or no staffing. Read the Story
Also take a look at a worthwhile view of the situation by Lucia Herndon, an Inquirer columnist:

Right Here \”

Canada’s School libraries in a miserable state

Bob Cox sent along This Globe & Mail Story that quotes national librarian Roch Carrier as saying \”I was flabbergasted by the miserable state of our school libraries,\” after touring the country\’s book repositories large and small.

\”I saw beautiful ones, but I saw school libraries closed 50 per cent of the time, I saw school libraries that served 10,000 students, I saw libraries with no new books in the last 10 years. … In Canada, it\’s happening. It doesn\’t make sense.\”

Berman says the truth – LC also dumbing-down

Steve Fesenmaier writes \”DATE: May 24, 2002

TO: Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, Local/Library Press

FROM: Sanford Berman, Former Head Cataloger, Hennepin County Library




SUBJECT: WHY DESTROY THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY CATALOG AND AUTHORITY FILE?



The Demolition Derby now underway at HCL has little to do with me. It also has little to do with the declared intention to \”expand our users\” access to the full range of HCL\’s rich resources and the ever-increasing range of global information resources.

Steve Fesenmaier writes \”DATE: May 24, 2002

TO: Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, Local/Library Press

FROM: Sanford Berman, Former Head Cataloger, Hennepin County Library




SUBJECT: WHY DESTROY THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY CATALOG AND AUTHORITY FILE?



The Demolition Derby now underway at HCL has little to do with me. It also has little to do with the declared intention to \”expand our users\” access to the full range of HCL\’s rich resources and the ever-increasing range of global information resources.
Replacing user-friendly, staff-developed cataloging practices and tools with standardized,? frequently irrelevant and dysfunctional forms and protocols will only diminish access and compromise both the clarity and utility of HCL\’s bibliographic products. Put candidly, it will be (and in some regards already is) harder to identify and reach HCL\’s rich resources.? And it will be tougher for ordinary users to make sense of HCL catalog records.



HCL\’s previously critical and innovative approach to cataloging would IMPROVE, rather than REDUCE, the identification and retrieval of web resources and other new formats. (Government documents have been selectively and effectively cataloged at HCL for many years.) The given reasons for the rush to ?standardization? and ?compatibility? are deceptive. What drives this cataclysmic change is not sincere concern for expanding or enhancing service to library users, but rather a purely managerial fixation on cutting staff costs, linked with a mistaken belief that electronic manipulation of data somehow compensates for the absence or inaccuracy or unhelpfulness of the data itself. The unmistakable purpose of the switch is to measurably lessen, if not totally eliminate, human (that is, professional cataloger) intervention or mediation, thus allowing bibliographic records supplied by such vendors as OCL and MARCIVE to be simply dumped into the HCL database without much, if any, serious scrutiny, editing, or enhancement. It coincides with the ?dumbing down? already evident in HCL collection development, which will produce a shallow, superficial array of ?resources? more like that of a fast-turnover superstore than a diverse, in-depth library.



White it may be difficult for non-librarians and even some colleagues to accept, cataloging as performed by the Library of Congress ? strictly adhering to the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and employing its own subject heading thesaurus ? often doesn?t ?work.? To assume that it does is plainly to engage in magical thinking. (Indeed, professional staff at LC itself lately testified before Congress that ?While cataloging was once one of the Library?s crown jewels, a world-renowned operation, now we can no longer afford to perform quality cataloging because of insufficient professional staff.? They added: ?Acquisitions of materials continue to surge, while staff to catalog those acquisitions has plummeted. Just since the end of fiscal 1997 there has been a 16 % drop in professional book cataloger staffing levels. Faced with these?circumstances, Library management has implemented various schemes to catalog more with less, all resulting in a deleterious effect on the quality of our cataloging product and our once pristine data base. This is a grave error because good cataloging is the foundation of good librarianship. Acquisitions and reference staff cannot adequately perform their duties when they cannot rely on the accuracy of our cataloging records. Moreover, this lack of quality has an obvious adverse impact on our patrons??) The content of most catalog records supplied by vendors or networks to public libraries derives from the Library of Congress.



Yes, apparent saving may accrue from slashing cataloging staff and dumbing-down bib-records, but they are only ?apparent,? not real. In fact, poor, inadequate cataloging costs more by alienating users and severely limiting access to and exploitation of valuable resources, in effect undermining and nullifying the considerable expense involved in selecting and processing library materials.



For further details:



*Berman, S. ?Good Luck, Folks! Finding Material on ?Those People? (And Their Concerns) In Library Catalogs,?Multicultural Review, v.9, no.2 (June 2000)
? Berman, S. :Jackdaws Strut In Peacock?s Feathers: the Sham of ?Standard? Cataloging,? Librarians At Liberty, v.5, no. 2/v.6, nos.1-2 (June 1998), p.1, 4-21; reprinted in Alternative Library Literature, 1998-1999 (McFarland,2000), p.317-35


? Berman. S. ??Tips on Cataloging and Classification For Library User?s: a Generic Handout,? Public Image, v.3, no. 1 (October 1990),p.1-3
? Berman, S.? Why Catalog?,? Unabashed Librarian, no. 116 (2000), p.11-12


? Moore, Maureen. ?Library of Congress Service Erosion,? LG Communicator, v.34, no.5 (September/October 2000), p.16-18; reprinted in Alternative Library Literature, 2000-2001 (McFarland, 2002),, p.159-61


? Statement of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910, Before the Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, May 1, 2002.


(4400 Morningside Road, Edina, MN 55416; 952-925-5738)
\”

MD libraries switching to online staff training

From Federal Computer Week:

About 100 librarians across Maryland\’s public library systems are using interactive online management training tools, which proponents say save time and are less expensive than traditional classroom training.

Started as an experiment three years ago . . . the project spread to 16 of the state\’s 27 public library systems last fall with the help of the Maryland Library Partnership, a nonprofit cooperative of the library systems.

Developed by San Francisco-based Ninth House Inc., the courses — which aren\’t library specific — include such topics as situational leadership, high-impact hiring, handling interpersonal situations and change management . . .

Full article.

NY patrons take to the street over library cuts

From the New York Daily News:

Outside the Flushing Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library, a dozen folks carried \”save the library\” signs as they walked back and forth, hoping Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum would get their message . . .

\”My kids come to the library every day to use the computer, do research, read books. It gives me peace of mind knowing they are there and not out on the street,\” said Theresa Christian of Flushing. \”If they cut back, where are they going to go now?\”

Christian was among dozens of people who gathered at the library Friday afternoon to share their concerns with Gotbaum about the proposed budget cuts, which would translate into no more Sunday service, $1 million less spent on books and materials and a 25% cutback in programs . . .

Full article.

First-Ever Survey of Technology Use by Library and Museum Professionals

Gary Price writes \”Institute of Museum and Library Services
Survey Results Released: The Status of Technology and Digitization in the
Nation\’s Museums and Libraries
From the news release, \”A federal report quantifies, for the first time,
how computers, software, and information sharing technologies are changing
the work of museums and libraries. The federal Institute of Museum and
Library Services surveyed more than 700 professionals in libraries and
museums of all types and sizes about their technology use and digitization
activities.\” Announcement/Summary of Key Findings available Here or Here [PDF].
\”