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Date

22. 2.2008 14:21:53

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Abstract

Finally, Melvil Dewey fully revealed, in entertaining prose, built on rigorous and deep historical scholarship. This is the definitive biography we've missed for so long. It tells the story of an American archetype?a man imbued with the inventive curiosity, sexism, anti-Semitism, racism, type-A control-freakishness, and reform zeal so characteristic of the power brokers of his time and his nation. The result is a masterpiece of history. It appropriately bears the imprint of the library association he founded and nurtured and which was enlisted for years to coconspire to cover up the darker side of the old boy. Wiegand's (a Dewey historian) penetrating, provocative interpretations add to the readability and pleasure of this fine biography, even his highly arguable view that the persistence of Dewey's design for librarianship means it "will likely remain a marginal profession." To this member of the small club of holders of jobs Dewey once held, it is obvious that Wiegand's work can be used to make the opposite case as well: that it was Dewey who gave librarianship any hope at all of becoming central to modern American society. Either way, you should own and read this brilliant, comprehensive study of the biased crackpot genius to whom we librarians owe so much.?

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Abstract

According to Paul Levinson, it would be improper to portray information technology as the cause of change in our world. However, Levinson clarifies that its role in enabling change can hardly be overestimated. He also points out--through riveting examples--that inventions have unintended consequences and uses. Why is it, for example, that the move from polytheism to monotheism failed when attempted by the pharaoh Ikhnaton, yet took solid root among the Hebrews who were taken out of Egypt by Moses only about 150 years later? Levinson argues that communication technology played a key role: The awkward Egyptian hieroglyphics failed to carry the ideology as well as the Hebrew alphabetic system. From there, Levinson examines the early social changes that became possible because of what the author calls "the first digital medium"--the alphabet. He considers how the Reformation, economic and political movements, and the scientific revolution were largely enabled by the printing press. He then discusses the influence of photographic communications and electronic technology such as the telegraph, the telephone, and broadcasting. Levinson devotes the second half of the book to our present digital revolution, from word processing to the Internet and beyond. One of his key points is that new technology doesn't necessarily displace the old so much as it expands it. Therefore, he doesn't see any end to using paper anytime soon. However, he sees great need for changes in the way we view creative rights. He proposes what he calls an"electronic watermark" for intellectual property--a universal patent number that will be embedded in intellectual property and will notify users in any medium of the property's creators. Levinson puts forth his ideas in a manner that is both formal and engaging. He has a knack for making his reader feel intelligent and respected--and never more so than when he looks at issues of ethics and a speculative future.

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Abstract

"British Librarianship and Information Work 1986-1990" continues a series which has run for more than 60 years. It began, in 1928 as the annual "Year's Work in Librarianship", changed from 1951 to "Five Years' Work in Librarianship" and, with the volume for 1966-1970, took on its present title. The series has established itself as an important record of professional activity and thought, through its comprehensive reviews of most aspects of information and library work. It is valuable to those who wish to keep up to date professionally, noting current developments and trends. It will be equally useful for those researchers and students who in the future need to look back historically on the events and achivements of each quinquennium. This issue follows closely the contents and style of its immediate predecessor "British librarianship and information Work 1981-1985", being in two volumes, one covering general libraries and the library information profession, and the other being concerned with special libraries, materials and processes. All the topics in the previous volume are included, except for the chapter on Buildings and Equipment, the contents of which have been incorporated into other chapters. All the contributors were asked to describe the last five years' major events and publications in their fields, and, generally, to limit their contributions to about 7,500 words, with no restriction on the number of bibliographical references. All authors were requested to tackle their subjects thoroughly while conforming to their own personal and individual styles. No attempt has been made to impose an overall editorial style, or to avoid the duplication which results from writers covering specific, but inevitably overlapping, areas of interest. Cross references have not been inserted in the text from chapter to chapter, where duplication occurs, but a detailed subject index provides for readers wishing to approach the review with an interest in any specific area or topic. A separate list of acronyms and abbreviations appears in each volume, representing all such entries identified in both volumes.

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Abstract

That there is a "digital divide" - which falls between those who have and can afford the latest in technological tools and those who have neither in our society - is indisputable. "Virtual Inequality" redefines the issue as it explores the cascades of that divide, which involve access, skill, political participation, as well as the obvious economics. Computer and Internet access are insufficient without the skill to use the technology, and economic opportunity and political participation provide primary justification for realizing that this inequality is a public problem and not simply a matter of private misfortune. Defying those who say the divide is growing smaller, this volume, based on a national survey that includes data from over 1800 respondents in low-income communities, shows otherwise. In addition to demonstrating why disparities persist in such areas as technological abilities, the survey also shows that the digitally disadvantaged often share many of the same beliefs as their more privileged counterparts. African-Americans, for instance, are even more positive in their attitudes toward technology than whites are in many respects, contrary to conventional wisdom. The rigorous research on which the conclusions are based is presented accessibly and in an easy-to-follow manner. Not content with analysis alone, nor the untangling of the complexities of policymaking, "Virtual Inequality" views the digital divide compassionately in its human dimensions and recommends a set of practical and common-sense policy strategies. Inequality, even in a virtual form this book reminds us, is unacceptable and a situation that society is compelled to address.

Footnote

Rez. in: JASIST 55(2004) no.5, S.467-468 (W. Koehler): "Virtual Inequality is an important contribution to the digital divide debate. That debate takes two basic forms. One centers an the divide between the "information rich" developed countries and the "information poor" developing countries. The second is concerned with the rift between information "haves" and "have-nots" within countries. This book addresses the latter domain and is concerned with the digital divide in the United States. This book is the product of a cross-disciplinary collaboration. Mossberger and Tolbert are both members of the Kent State University political science department while Stansbury is an the Library and Information Science faculty. The book is extremely well documented. Perhaps the chapter an the democracy divide and e-government is the best done, reflecting the political science bent of two of the authors. E-government is very well covered. Unfortunately, e-commerce and e-education go virtually unmentioned. If e-government is important to defining the digital divide, then certainly e-commerce and e-education are as well. Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury argue that the digital divide should be described as four different divides: the access divide, the skills divide, the economic opportunity divide, and the democratic divide. Each of these divides is developed in its own chapter. Each chapter draws well an the existing literature. The book is valuable if for no other reason than that it provides an excellent critique of the current state of the understanding of the digital divide in the United States. It is particularly good in its contrast of the approaches taken by the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Perhaps this is a function of the multidisciplinary strength of the book's authorship, for indeed it shows here. The access divide is defined along "connectivity" lines: who has access to digital technologies. The authors tonfirm the conventional wisdom that age and education are important predictors of in-home access, but they also argue that rate and ethnicity are also factors (pp. 32-33): Asian Americans have greatest access followed by whites, Latinos, and African Americans in that order. Most access the Internet from home or work, followed by friends' computers, libraries, and other access points. The skills divide is defined as technical competence and information literacy (p. 38). Variation was found along technical competence for age, education, affluence, rate, and ethnicity, but not gender (p. 47). The authors conclude that for the most part the skills divide mirrors the access divide (p. 55). While they found no gender difference, they did find a gender preference for skills acquisition: males prefer a more impersonal delivery ("online help and tutorials") while females prefer more personal instruction (p. 56).
The economic opportunity divide is predicated an the hypothesis that there has, indeed, been a major shift in opportunities driven by changes in the information environment. The authors document this paradigm shift well with arguments from the political and economic right and left. This chapter might be described as an "attitudinal" chapter. The authors are concerned here with the perceptions of their respondents of their information skills and skill levels with their economic outlook and opportunities. Technological skills and economic opportunities are correlated, one finds, in the minds of all across all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and income levels. African Americans in particular are ". . attuned to the use of technology for economic opportunity" (p. 80). The fourth divide is the democratic divide. The Internet may increase political participation, the authors posit, but only among groups predisposed to participate and perhaps among those with the skills necessary to take advantage of the electronic environment (p. 86). Certainly the Web has played an important role in disseminating and distributing political messages and in some cases in political fund raising. But by the analysis here, we must conclude that the message does not reach everyone equally. Thus, the Internet may widen the political participation gap rather than narrow it. The book has one major, perhaps fatal, flaw: its methodology and statistical application. The book draws upon a survey performed for the authors in June and July 2001 by the Kent State University's Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) lab (pp. 7-9). CATI employed a survey protocol provided to the reader as Appendix 2. An examination of the questionnaire reveals that all questions yield either nominal or ordinal responses, including the income variable (pp. 9-10). Nevertheless, Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury performed a series of multiple regression analyses (reported in a series of tables in Appendix 1) utilizing these data. Regression analysis requires interval/ratio data in order to be valid although nominal and ordinal data can be incorporated by building dichotomous dummy variables. Perhaps Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury utilized dummy variables; but 1 do not find that discussed. Moreover, 1 would question a multiple regression made up completely of dichotomous dummy variables. I come away from Virtual Inequality with mixed feelings. It is useful to think of the digital divide as more than one phenomenon. The four divides that Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury offeraccess, skills, economic opportunity, and democratic-are useful as a point of departure and debate. No doubt, other divides will be identified and documented. This book will lead the way. Second, without question, Mossberger, Tolbert, and Stansbury provide us with an extremely well-documented, -written, and -argued work. Third, the authors are to be commended for the multidisciplinarity of their work. Would that we could see more like it. My reservations about their methodological approach, however, hang over this review like a shroud."

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Footnote

Rez. in: Mitt. VOEB 61(2008) H.2, S.70-72 (M. Katzmayr): "Beate Guba beschäftigt sich im vorliegenden Buch mit Webportalen, wobei insbesondere Universitätsportale behandelt werden. Tatsächlich kann sich das Informationsmanagement an Hochschulen über einen Mangel an Herausforderungen nicht beklagen: wie die Autorin einleitend darstellt, haben diese nämlich sowohl administrative als auch wissenschaftliche Informationen in sehr großer Menge zu verwalten. Dabei sind die für spezifische Informationen benötigten Datenquellen sowohl im administrativen als auch wissenschaftlichen Bereich oft voneinander isoliert und befinden sich in heterogenen Systemen - unerwünschte Redundanzen und Inkonsistenzen sind die Folge. Verbunden mit der verstärkten Nachfrage nach elektronisch vorliegenden Fachinformationen im Wissenschaftsbetrieb ist ein planmäßiges, strukturiertes und effizientes Umgehen mit Informationen notwendig. Ein Portal kann hier wertvolle Dienste leisten - doch was ist darunter eigentlich genau zu verstehen? Nach einer Auseinandersetzung mit der einschlägigen Literatur gelangt Guba zu folgender Arbeitsdefinition: "Ein Portal ist [...] ein virtueller Ort für die Bereitstellung und Distribution von (über verschiedene Anwendungen verteilte) Daten und Informationen und ermöglicht eine durchgängig IT-gestützte Prozessteuerung übertechnische Systemgrenzen hinweg [...] Ein universitäres Informations- und Kommunikationsportal hat also die Funktion, auf der einen Seite den Universitätsbetrieb und auf der anderen Seite die grundlegenden Bestandteile des Wissenschaftsprozesses, nämlich die Gewinnung, Speicherung, Publikation und Vermittlung von Informationen bzw. Wissen sowie die wissenschaftliche Kommunikation, zu unterstützen". Als weiteres wesentliches Merkmal von Portalen kommt noch die Möglichkeit der Personalisierung der Funktionen hinzu.

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Footnote

Weitere Rez. in: New Library World 108(2007) nos.3/4, S.190-191 (K.V. Trickey): "Vanda has provided a very useful work that will enable any reader who is prepared to follow her instruction to produce a thesaurus that will be a quality language-based subject access tool that will make the task of information retrieval easier and more effective. Once again I express my gratitude to Vanda for producing another excellent book." - Electronic Library 24(2006) no.6, S.866-867 (A.G. Smith): "Essential thesaurus construction is an ideal instructional text, with clear bullet point summaries at the ends of sections, and relevant and up to date references, putting thesauri in context with the general theory of information retrieval. But it will also be a valuable reference for any information professional developing or using a controlled vocabulary." - KO 33(2006) no.4, S.215-216 (M.P. Satija)