Libraries in the Information Age: An Introduction and Career Exploration » (1st Edition)

DENISE K. FOURIE is Reference Librarian and Instructor of Library and Information Technology at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California. She has written several highly acclaimed books and essays in the field of library science.

DAVID R. DOWELL is Director of Learning Resources at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California. He previously served as library director of Pasadena City College and is the author of several critically acclaimed books. He has received a number of honors and awards, including the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Special Award.

Introduces LIS students to the ever-changing world of modern libraries and information centers by providing an important overview of libraries in the era of electronic information.

Library Journal

Intended for those entering a library/media technician course of study or for those pursuing a graduate library/information degree, this textbook is designed as a follow-up to, if not replacement for, Barbara Chernik's Introduction to Library Services (Libraries Unlimited, 1992), which was itself an expansion of her 1982 Introduction to Library Services for Library Technicians. Ten chapters, which each include listings of web sites, notes, resources, and study questions, are followed by four appendixes and two indexes. In trying to present a broad overview of the roles libraries play in this information age, Fourie (reference librarian, Cuesta Coll., San Luis Obispo, CA) and Dowell (director of learning resources, Cuesta Coll.) fail to discuss adequately librarianship as a career, including why one would choose it, or librarianship as a profession, why it exists at all. There is no one thread or focal point in the text on which a student might exclaim, "Aha! That's what a library is about!"-let alone consider working there as a career option. Rarely are the attitudes and attributes that prospective students need to have in looking at librarianship as a career given, and, except for Chapter 7: Reference Service, rarer still are specific skills for successful library work listed. That such an introduction and career exploration is needed is obvious; that this work is not the answer is obvious as well.-B. Susan Brown, Pamunkey Regional Lib., Hanover, VA