Community College Librarian

One of my favorite technology blogs, Make Use Of, shocked me this morning with a post about book review websites. I had to read the introductory paragraph twice to make sure that this post wasn’t a joke of some kind. The author claims that the reading of books is dying and cajoles us into making books a “part of our daily routine” and offers us a few sites to make choosing our books easier.
The author, Stefan Neagu, writes:

Books, once considered the the pinnacle of human civilization, have slowly gone into retreat. Whether it’s technology, modern society or time, the reason behind the demise is widely debated, but what we know for sure is that books today, are still a great way to experience adventure thrills, learn about faraway places and contemplate the future

These are the sort of unsubstantiated statements that drive a good librarian crazy. (Those who love comma splices will adore this post, by the way.) When I did a brief search for publishing stats I found that The Association of American Publishers reported we bought 24 billion dollars worth of books last year. Mr. Neagu is correct, that dollar amount is less than what was earned in 2007 but 24 billion is still a lot of money. As far as the “widely debated” reasons for this decline…can anyone say recession? I’m thinking that people are reading the books they bought last year when they were flush and didn’t have the time to read. And they are using their public libraries more. And I’m sure they are reading on the internet more but I will bet you my untouched first edition hardcover copy of Infinite Jest that they are not reading novels on the computer.

I also have to take issue with the sites that Make Use Of chose to review and the criteria used to evaluate them. The post is entitled “The 8 Best Book Review Sites” but only gives us four. (The other four are newspapers with book sections.) And they are clearly not the “best” because the evaluative comments include “nothing remarkable but worth a read,” “slightly better organized than the others,” and this train wreck of a paragraph describing AllReaders.com:

AllReaders.com, with a design stuck in 1999, the apogee of humanity according to the Matrix. Their library is comprehensive and the search engine highly customizable, but the reviews are generally short and superficial. “Gordon invites readers, authors and publishers to enter books and reviews in a process that takes about 10 minutes,” and that’s exactly the problem with the site. Instead of knowledgeable readers and writers, you will sometimes risk finding a common illiterate species: the internet troll. The advantage of reading through many viewpoints is undeniable so go on and visit it here.

Apogee of what according to whom?

Geez, I thought this post was supposed to review the eight BEST sites not the NY Times and three mediocre ones found in the first results page in a google search for book reviews. I’m sorry to be so critical of a single blog post out of so many good ones from Make Use Of but I have come to expect better. I won’t comment on the writing. I just won’t.

I rely on Publisher’s Weekly, New York Times, The New York Review of Books and Amazon to get recommendations on what I should read next.

Make Use Of, you make, me crabby.

you can kiss it. The Distant Librarian said it all so well here (without the cursing that I would use).

All IT staff who work with student systems need to take classes in how write directions. They simply bury the information the student needs in dense, dull text. So, the student is frustrated because they can’t use the system they need to use for class, then they have to literally wade through IT’s self-absorbed ass protecting text. Just put the information right out there so they can grab it and go do what they need to do! I don’t know why people who use systems every day of their lives can’t create help pages that they themselves would want to use. They should know better than anyone how Help utilities are used, right? Right??

Scenario: I am a student and I need to log in to my school email for the first time. I am given a login box. I type in my credentials, nothing happens. There’s no link that says something to the effect of “login help.” The help link is called “need more info.” um…ok. Remember that I am a first time user. Here’s what the “need more info” link gives me: [and what the student is thinking when and if they actually read this carefully]

What is my Log In ID?
Your Log In ID and initial e-mail password were sent to you in a letter when the account was created. [what letter?]
If you are not sure of your MyCOD student portal Log In ID, you can find that information in MyAccess (https://myaccess.cod.edu). [I thought I was in the student portal already. What's the student portal then? Isn't that where my email is? Shouldn't both usernames and passwords be the same?] After signing into MyAccess you will find your email address listed by first selecting “MyAccess for Students” on the Main Menu and then by clicking on “My Profile” in the “Academic Profile” section of the “MyAccess for Students Menu” page. [What? Where is this?] The part before the @dupage.edu in your email address is your Log In ID for the MyCOD student portal. Do not include @dupage.edu as part of the Log In ID. [Oh, so this is a different thing...I wonder what my login information is for that.]
What is my initial password? [for the email or for the other thing?]
The initial password, for a new account, is shown on the letter you received from registration. [letter? which of the five letters I got in the mail might have this information?]
If you were enrolled in classes between Fall 2005 and Spring 2009, your default password is the first two letters of the city you live in, plus your PIN. For example, if a student lived in West Chicago, and had a PIN of 1070 then their initial password would be: we1070. If you were not enrolled in classes at COD between Fall 2005 and Spring 2009 then your default password takes the form mmddyy where mm is the month of your birth, dd is the day of your birth, and yy is the last two digits of the year of your birth. For example, if your date of birth was January 4, 1984, your default password would be 010484.
[oh, ok...what? Why can't all new user passwords be the same format?]
What if I changed my password but cannot remember it? [changed it from what again?]
First, try following the “What is my password?” link above. You will be prompted with your password hint. [why don't you give me this link in the first place?] If you are unable to recover your password using the password hint, you’ll need to call the Student Support Helpdesk at 630-942-2999. [I called the student helpdesk. Instead of telling me what to do, they took my SS number and reset my password...and now I can't access my account until 6:00 am tomorrow. I give up.]

How long after registering for my first class at COD should I expect my account to be created?
As of May 1, 2009 all accounts are created the night that you register and should be ready for your use the next day. An informational letter will be sent to your house after your account is created. [oh, THAT letter...]

The Centered Librarian told me to tell you about this incredible A capella performance of Toto’s Africa. The thunderstorm in the beginning is awesomeness.