Briefly Noted
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Briefly Noted
Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators, ed. Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic and Robert J. Lackie. New York: Neal Schuman Publishers, 2009. 368p. $85 (ISBN 978-1-55570-667-8)
Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic and Robert J. Lackie provide a comprehensive anthology in Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators. Generation M is defined as the generation born between the early 1980s and the mid- to late 1990s. Teaching Generation M proceeds logically from Defining Generation M (Part I), to World of Generation M: A Culture of Technology (Part II), to Pedagogy—Current and Imagined (Part III). Part I defines Generation M by looking at myths and realities, demographics, media literacy, and the search process. Part II provides insights into this generation’s attitude toward and relationship to online tools like Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Wikipedia, and the emerging genres of gaming and online comics. Finally, Part III offers guidance on appropriate forms of pedagogy and outreach for Generation M. Not meant to be read cover to cover, Teaching Generation M is best used selectively by chapter, depending on the need at hand. (FR)
Copyright Criminals, DVD, directed by Benjamin Franzen. New York: Indiepix Films, 2010. $24.95
Copyright Criminals is a fascinating documentary film on musical sampling—the mixing of many different pieces of music to create new sounds and songs, a practice that became widespread in the 1980s. From the gritty streets of New York and other large metropolitan areas, sampling grew from a backstreet phenomenon to a multibillion-dollar industry. Following in close parallel to the rise of rap and hip-hop, the legal and creative issues surrounding musical sampling foreshadow many of those that faculty, librarians, and university administrators encounter with regard to copying, altering, and recombining text, graphics, sound, and video from the Internet. Copyright Criminals encourages the viewer to reflect on important questions like the nature of art and [End Page 587] the creative effects of our current copyright regime. With lots of music and engaging interviews, Copyright Criminals should find a welcome audience among librarians, administrators, and educators. (FR)
Critical Theory for Library and Information Science: Exploring the Social from Across the Disciplines, ed. Gloria J. Leckie, Lisa M. Given, and John E. Buschman. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. 326p. $55 (ISBN 978-1-5915-8938-9)
The editors of this anthology freely admit that most librarians are ignorant of and uninterested in social theory. When they occur at all, references to famous modern thinkers such as Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, or Herbert Marcuse in the library literature tend to be superficial. Yet, there exists a small but determined band of quixotic LIS educators and practitioners who continue to champion critical theory. They are responsible for this useful collection, which provides summaries of key ideas in the work of a wide range of social theorists from Freud and Lacan to Chantal Mouffe, Bruno Latour, and Dorothy Smith. Each chapter also discusses the application of a particular theoretical perspective to library and information science. (JA)
The Academic Library Building in the Digital Age: A Study of Construction, Planning, and Design of New Library Space, Christopher Stewart. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2010. 109p. $44 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8552-6)
As an extension of earlier surveys conducted in the 1990s and early 2000s, this study of new academic library buildings from 2003 through 2009 offers an important clue to trends regarding the library as place. Fewer new libraries were built, and they tended to reflect the library’s new role in the social and cultural life of the institution by incorporating not only cafes but exhibit space, formal reading rooms, meeting rooms, computer labs, and educational services such as writing and tutoring centers. User spaces were designed to facilitate undergraduate student learning, including information literacy classrooms, group study rooms, information commons, and quiet study areas. Space was also found for moderate growth of print collections. Academic librarians will want to consult this book, whether they are lucky enough to be building a new library or merely repurposing existing space. (JA) [End Page 588]
