Briefly Noted

Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches, ed. Gloria J. Leckie and John E. Buschman. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2009. 297p. $50 (ISBN 978-1-59158-629-6)

The papers in this new collection reflect the critical social theory that grew out of the Frankfort School, which is oriented toward interrogating and possibly changing society as a whole. Most of the authors are faculty in library and information science in the United States and Canada, who challenge underlying structures and assumptions of the technological revolution in areas such as education, employment, social interaction, and privacy. Although the authors seem at times to be straining for radical approaches that are relevant to librarianship, they provide refreshingly astringent critiques of the technological utopianism that pervades the library profession. (J. A.)

Library Rx: Measuring and Treating Library Anxiety, Martina Malvasi, Catherine Rudowsky, and Jesus M. Valencia. Chicago: ACRL, 2009. 103p. $35 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8499-4)

This report from the front lines of undergraduate library instruction is a quick read on an important topic: the fear of libraries and research that handicaps many students, especially in their first year of college. In order to discover the most effective treatment for library anxiety among the millennium generation, three librarians at Slippery Rock University compared the effects of classroom instruction, one-on-one instruction with a librarian, online tutorials, and no instruction at all. Although their findings are somewhat inconclusive, they indicate that online tutorials can be effective in reducing certain kinds of anxiety among some students and that one-on-one instruction is the least effective intervention. (J. A.)

Online Social Networking on Campus: Understanding What Matters in Student Culture, Ana M. Martínez Alemán and Katherine Lynk Wartman. New York: Routledge, 2009. 168p. $44.95 (ISBN 978-0-415-99020-2)

Although this research study is directed more broadly at university faculty and administrators, it should also be of interest to librarians and library administrators who are trying to identify efficient ways to insert the library into online student environments. The core of the book is chapter 3, Students Speak: Campus Culture, Identity, and Facebook, which is an ethnographic portrait of four college students with regard to their use of Facebook. Ana M. Martínez Alemán and Katherine Lynk chose to highlight these four, among the many they interviewed, because they are representative of the sociology of social networking among young, collegiate adults. (p. 43) Of particular interest are the descriptions of the ways students manage their identities online and how their use of Facebook changes as they advance through college. Chapters on the evolution of online social networking and the implications of online social networking for the practice of student affairs are also included. Readers of Online Social Networking on Campus are sure to come away with a greater appreciation of this important form of campus communication. (F. R.)

Practical Research Methods for Librarians and Information Professionals, Susan E. Beck and Kate Manuel. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008. 306p. $65 (ISBN 978-1-55570-591-6)

Susan E. Beck and Kate Manuel have written a detailed work on practical research methods that should appeal to librarians and information professionals who struggle to fit serious research into their busy professional duties. They provide complete chapters on nine different approaches to research—including content analysis, interviews and focus groups, observation, bibliometrics, and action research. Each of the chapters provides a comprehensive guide to initiating and completing a research...