Wendy's Blog

Comments on Revolting Librarians Redux
Wendy McCliment
May 11, 2007

Those considering a career in librarianship would do well to read Revolting Librarians Redux, edited by Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West, for a preview of the culture and working environments of libraries. This compilation of essays, cartoons and poetries reveals the historically liberal changes occurring for librarians as well as the general public during the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s. This work covers the views of librarians that still beat the drum, calling for radical social change concerning libraries functions and the right of libraries to provide the public with access to information and knowledge. There is strong sentiment expressed that librarians have to be the defenders of citizen privacy and advocates of public government disclosure. As well as political persuasions and needed library structural changes Revolting Librarians Redux gives librarians’ and library workers’ opinions about the value of the Masters of Library Science degrees, the restrictive attitudes of the American Library Association and the inability of library schools to adequately teach these professionals what to expect upon entering the workforce.

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Posted by Wendy McCliment at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Commentary on:
Essential McLuhan
Wendy McCliment
4/25/2007

Defining Marshal McLuhan’s work in Essential McLuhan, Editors Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingrone say that McLuhan’s work focused on the “studies of the effects of mass media on thought and social behavior.” This compilation of Marshall McLuhan’s writings and comments engages readers on many levels raising interest in the development of the phonetic alphabet and its fundamental role in the conversion of primitive societies into civilized ones. References to many other author’s works support his theories and lay logical foundations to understanding how now, civilized, literate societies or Western cultures, are in his estimation in a process of re-tribalization through effects that electronic medium has on societies. McLuhan says that the “message is the medium” discussing that the way in which people interpret the content of information is in-extractible from the medium or form in which the information is delivered or received. McLuhan’s work creates analytical questions about the developments forward or backward in societies, questions that hedge around theories of technological determinism and bring awareness to the variability in human understanding.

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Posted by Wendy McCliment at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Commentary on:
Sacred Stacks by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell
Wendy McCliment
4/22/2007

Much is written and discussed today about religions of the world. The American constitution has always provided citizens with religious freedom to choose and practice one’s faith in a free country. Americans are Protestant Christians of numerous denominations, Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics, Americans practice four different forms of Judaism and the Muslim faith continues to grow. On smaller scales there are also communities of Hindus and Buddhists. All of these religious affiliations support people who are searching their faiths for spiritual sustenance. These are traditional faiths, ancient and relatively modern adaptations. But in America, the freedom to choose for many means the freedom to pick and choose a unique spiritual path. Nancy Kalikow Maxwell in her book Sacred Stacks notes that spirituality platforms are often pieced together with ideas that “resonate personally” for particular individuals. Consequently traditional church membership may decline while at the same time those who are seeking spiritual nourishment from other sources may be increasing.

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Posted by Wendy McCliment at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Librarian
Wendy McCliment
4/6/2007

Politics and espionage are the major themes of Larry Beinharts’s The Librarian. Beinhart begins weaving an interesting tale of conspiracy to force the re-election of the standing president. The Secretary of State in cooperation with other rich and powerful sources employ a motley crew who use illegal and immoral means to affect this outcome all while flashing their Homeland Security badges for clearance. The main character of this story, David Goldberg, is a librarian and Head of Library Services at the University Library. David is temporarily employed in a private library by one of the conspirators who has information that his cohorts want suppressed. To that end they decide that the librarian must die, although there is no evidence to substantiate such a drastic measure. This shallow and minimally defined plot is carried along by incorporating violent and sexual interludes to maintain interest. Despite these efforts eventually the reader must realize this book is an exaggerated satire on the current political administration’s politics told by the stereotyped social/political groups of conservatives, liberals and librarians.

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Posted by Wendy McCliment at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)