Slashdot Mirror
Internet Revives Public Libraries
securitas writes "The New York Times' Steve Lohr reports on the effects of the Internet on public libraries, namely that the installation of Internet-connected computers have been largely responsible for a rebirth in public libraries and increasing attendance, particularly by 'teenagers, people age 50 and older and members of ethnic minorities' as well as low-income patrons without computers at home. According to a University of Washington study, 'A year after computers are put in libraries that do not have them, visits rise 30 percent on the average and attendance typically remains higher'. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - which funds PC-based Internet library projects - features prominently in the article, including the criticism that it is 'a Microsoft marketing exercise masquerading as philanthropy.'"
Agreed. It has been over 6 years since I last went into a public library in the UK: the books they had on the subjects I was interested in were so far out of date it was painful (books on electronics from the 70s for example!) After waiting for months for them to get a book I wanted I just gave up on them completely and had to resort to the far more expensive but infinitely faster option of buying the reference books I needed.
:/
Since then everything I know about them has been second-hand, but that alone is bad enough. How are people who aren't lucky enough to be able to buy books (especially the ludicrously expensive technical ones) supposed to learn this stuff? It's depressing.
Even the library at the university I work at is behind and has very restricted numbers on some of the most complex tomes
Librarian here, reading slashdot.
/all/ be followed, but the input is valuable anyway.
In fact, I take ideas for collection development* from Slashdot (among other sources) and use the book reviews here as purchasing aids just as I do the NY Times book review and Library Journal.
However, libraries are ALWAYS looking for suggestions on what to buy in specific areas. My specialty is physics (I'm not a career librarian), so I've taken over collection development* in the sciences and maths, plus computer science and technology.
My suggestion: Go to your local library, look at the computer books available (they're right in the beginning of the Dewey numbers for Non-fiction, around 005-006). Look for the "holes" in the collection, and ancient materials. Then go to Amazon.com or your bookstore of choice, pick out some additions and replacement, write down the TITLE and ISBN and (if replacing) WHAT BOOK it replaces in the library.
Now, make a list of the severely out-of-date titles in the collection that should be removed and discarded. Remember that the library still needs to serve the patrons who are still running Win95 with Works 3.0. We, for instance, got rid of six of our eight copies of "Windows 95 For Dummies", but kept those two copies just in case someone needs them. The cutoff point right now was Win95, so anything Win3.11 or earlier was removed.
Now, take your list to the library. Don't just hand it to someone at the desk--ask to speak to the person who is in charge of purchasing non-fiction books in the 005-006 range. Give that person the list, and explain to them what you've done (reviewed the collection, made suggestions) and why it is important to buy those books.
If you do this, and do this in any area of your legitimate expertise (gardening, sci-fi, etc.) you will be a tremendous friend to your librarian. Sure, they'll eventually discard the old, and buy new titles when they see them reviewed--but you can make the process MUCH more efficient. Your suggestions might not
Jim
*collection development: deciding which books to throw away, which books to keep, and what books to buy.