Home > Bookshelf > Searching

Title:

The Library and Information Professional's Internet Companion

Review:

This is a very wide-ranging book which touches on virtually every aspect of the Internet, from email to web page design, search engines to the Semantic Web. Given this range, and the book's relative shortness, in-depth discussion is not a strength. Rather, the subjects covered are treated in a series of concise introductions. These are supported with plentiful Web and bibliographic references.

The structure of the book does not always seem logical. For example, connecting to the Internet is not discussed until Chapter 8. However, I would suggest that, although it can work as a cover-to-cover read, this book is better treated as a resource to dip into. The authors have clearly striven to cover both the well-established aspects of the Internet as well as to anticipate some technologies (such as Instant Messaging) that seem likely to have an increasing impact on library and information work. So you are very likely to find, at least, some mention of any significant Internet-related technology, besides pointers to further information.

In a way, the book thus seems oddly contradictory, treating email and basic searching strategies alongside very contemporary subjects like blogs, wikis and RSS (Rich Site Summary - it's good for explaining many mysterious abbreviations). Surely the former are things we've been working with for years or, in the case of younger professionals, have grown up with so as to take them for granted? However, I would argue that the inclusion of such topics confirms the book's comprehensiveness, as well as providing some valuable reminders of first principles.

I was pleased that there are at least hints at the Internet's limitations, and the continuing relevance of books and libraries in which to house them. Nonetheless, the overriding impression is of the assumed superiority of electronic information sources and means of delivery. Given the book's intended audience, I would have liked to see more discussion of the pros and cons of print and online. Working in a public library, it is perhaps more striking than in other environments how so many people make that assumption, and thus the authority of what a website (merely because it is a website) puts before them. Unfortunately, unlike the academic libraries from which the authors draw many of their examples, it is not often possible to engage in education in information literacy, which might promote a more balanced attitude and more successful quests for reliable information.

But what this book chiefly aims to do is at least acquaint information professionals with the possibilities of the Internet rather than to debate it, and in this it is certainly successful.

FreePint Reviewer:

Adrian Janes began his career in academic libraries. Since 1997 he has been a reference/information librarian with the London Borough of Havering library service. Among his influences are Gary Price, Samuel Beckett and Iggy and the Stooges.

Related Free Pint Links:

• Related Internet Searching book reviews on the Free Pint Bookshelf