Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, 2/e Review

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(More customer reviews)I wanted to give it a good star rating because the content is great, well organized and clear. I like the case studies, too. However, this is the first and last time I'll ever buy a textbook on the Kindle. The whole bookmarking/highlighting thing is time-consuming, and there's no way to correspond with my classmates when they open up to a page number. I have to go rifiling through my chapter bookmarks because there's no clickable index. I have a take-home exam in this class, and I'm dreading the prospect of searching for content via the Kindle. I plan to keep the book (not sell it used after the class ends) so I figured I'd be able to save some money by getting the e-version, however searching through it for content after reading it is so tough that I'm not sure how usable this version is in my career. Wish I'd bought the paper version.

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All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me start by saying that I'm very curious about the anonymous Bay Area reviews that say the book is wildly inaccurate. I'm writing a dissertation chapter on Napster (not the company, more the system), and although I didn't comparing every date and name, it seemed accurate. There are also two completely contradictory reviews by people who supposedly worked at Napster, but who knows if they did.
I feel this book is better than two other Napster books, "Sonic Boom" and "Irresistible Forces". Menn seems to have done a really good investigative job - he is a reporter after all - and includes people, perspectives, and histories that the other books don't mention at all. For instance, it turns out I've met someone who is mentioned in Menn's book but isn't in the other books. Menn interviews people who didn't invest in Napster, not just those who did. In other Napster stories, John Fanning is a father figure, and it ends there. Menn actually researches John Fanning's history, and it is ugly, complete with lawsuits and a police record. Other sources annoying tease us with hints of who Shawn Fanning's father is, and say he is a famous Boston-area musician. Menn tells us who he is - I'm from Boston, and I have never heard of the guy (Joe Rando).
Having read books, business press, law reviews, computer press, mainstream press, and other sources about Napster, I do think Menn does a very good job. Since I was not involved in Napster, I cannot say which versions, which stories, are true. Menn's work, however, gives a much richer picture of the company and the dealings within and around it than other sources I have read.

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Developing Library and Information Center Collections (Library and Information Science Text Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This volume by Evans and Sapanaro was a textbook in my collection development class. Given the very pragmatic approach of my instructor, I'm not surprised she selected this book.
First of all, collection development can be a very politically charged responsibility, especially in a public library. While this book may not give you all the nitty gritty details of how to deal with every situation that can threaten your library or your career, it can certainly provide helpful introduction on how to write a comprehensive and useful collection development policy that will guide the selection and deselection process, and insulate your library from a public relations fiasco.
In chapter 2, the authors provide a thorough but not overwhelming chapter on different approaches to assessing the information needs of your patrons, depending on the library you work (i.e. Public, academic, special library). Thankfully, they spare you from the fine grained details of research methods and statistical methods. In fact, they recommend hiring a consultant to help out with such procedures, since it might not always be practical to hire such a specialized staff member full time.
Chapter 4 provides a hefty and substantive overview of how to select materials for your library and how to evaluate these materials. Other chapters discuss the unique issues of evaluating and selectings serials and electronic resources.
While just about every chapter appeared to have very useful information, some noteworthy (personally speaking) chapters address legal issues, fiscal management, and deselection.
If you have been assigned this text consider yourself lucky. If not, it could be a good supplementary text. Professionals new to collection management will probably find this text to be a useful resource. Veterans of the field might not find much in this text, but it could serve as a good refresher to collection development practices.

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