**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**
I'd like to clarify a couple of points:
JJW> The "Give the people what they want" is only valid to a certain
point.
JJW> If what people want (and many of them do) is a video game/chat
room, we
JJW> would have a hard time justifying our expenditure funds in
providing
JJW> them with it.
DLW>Why? There are certainly plenty of educational games out there,
DLW>including ones that one might not think of as "educational". And
chat
DLW>can also be educational. Many instructors use it as part of their
DWL>course communication.
Yes, both games and chat can be appropriate in certain contexts as cited
above. "Chat" as technology can be a great tool for reference. I think
that the Treasury Dept. has some good games to help you learn how to
count money (although it's hard to check this if you have a pop-up
blocker that blocks all games). I meant "chat" in the sense of
chatter. By analogy telephones can be used for reference or can be fun
for talking to your friends, but the latter is not typically (or IMHO
properly) a library service. I meant video games in the sense of
solitaire, etc.
JJW> There is a difference between gossip and news,
DLW>You don't get People Magazine? Or US Magazine? Or.....all sorts of
DLW>others?
I even read them sometimes, but they are, in my thinking, news, at least
to the extent that they will be sued for slander for knowingly
distributing libelous fabrications.
JJW> objective truth and hyped
JJW> up fiction, fuzzy as certain vested interests and media outlets
would
JJW> like to make it.
DLW>Ahhhh, yes....I'm sure that we're all so pure an unbiased that we
make
DLW>perfectly objective decisions on items to add to the collection,
DLW>without a single bit of our own beliefs or values entering in.
No we aren't perfectly pure (even me!) on the other hand we need to have
the knowledge and courage to make decisions and the integrity to make
our best effort at being unbiased.
DLW>I'm not sure what "hyped up fiction" means. The hits for that phrase
DLW>in google sure don't make it clear, though they do seem to indicate
DLW>that one person's hyped up fiction is another person's stone cold
DLW>truth.
As for "hyped up fiction", I was thinking of something like "A Million
Little Pieces". I realize we live in a world where the line between
Reality TV and reality are blurring, but I'm still willing to stand up
and say that there IS a distinction. We really shouldn't call "The Da
Vinci Code" history of the film of the same a documentary.
DLW>Of course all of us of the library persuasion took "collection
DLW>development" or some other such course (title depending on the era
we
DLW>went to library school....I'm from the "book selection" era). And
the
DLW>argument of give them quality vs. give them what they want is older
DLW>than any library school in the world.
Agreed. I think with each new technology we will need to rethink/debate
it anew in a new context!
JJ
**Views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent those of
the Queens Library.**
Jane Jacobs
Asst. Coord., Catalog Division
Queens Borough Public Library
89-11 Merrick Blvd.
Jamaica, NY 11432
tel.: (718) 990-0804
e-mail: Jane.W.Jacobs_at_queenslibrary.org
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Received on Thu Jun 29 2006 - 09:51:02 EDT