Net effects : how librarians can manage the unintended consequenees of the Internet (2003)
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- Footnote
- Unlike muck of the professional library literature, Net Effects is not an open-aimed embrace of technology. Block even suggests that it is helpful to have a Luddite or two an each library staff to identify the setbacks associated with technological advances in the library. Each of the book's 10 chapters deals with one Internet-related problem, such as "Chapter 4-The Shifted Librarian: Adapting to the Changing Expectations of Our Wired (and Wireless) Users," or "Chapter 8-Up to Our Ears in Lawyers: Legal Issues Posed by the Net." For each of these 10 problems, multiple solutions are offered. For example, for "Chapter 9-Disappearing Data," four solutions are offered. These include "Link-checking," "Have a technological disaster plan," "Advise legislators an the impact proposed laws will have," and "Standards for preservation of digital information." One article is given to explicate each of these four solutions. A short bibliography of recommended further reading is also included for each chapter. Block provides a short introduction to each chapter, and she comments an many of the entries. Some of these comments seem to be intended to provide a research basis for the proposed solutions, but they tend to be vague generalizations without citations, such as, "We know from research that students would rather ask each other for help than go to adults. We can use that (p. 91 )." The original publication dates of the entries range from 1997 to 2002, with the bulk falling into the 2000-2002 range. At up to 6 years old, some of the articles seem outdated, such as a 2000 news brief announcing the creation of the first "customizable" public library Web site (www.brarydog.net). These critiques are not intended to dismiss the volume entirely. Some of the entries are likely to find receptive audiences, such as a nuts-and-bolts instructive article for making Web sites accessible to people with disabilities. "Providing Equitable Access," by Cheryl H. Kirkpatrick and Catherine Buck Morgan, offers very specific instructions, such as how to renovate OPAL workstations to suit users with "a wide range of functional impairments." It also includes a useful list of 15 things to do to make a Web site readable to most people with disabilities, such as, "You can use empty (alt) tags (alt="') for images that serve a purely decorative function. Screen readers will skip empty (alt) tags" (p. 157). Information at this level of specificity can be helpful to those who are faced with creating a technological solution for which they lack sufficient technical knowledge or training.
