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- 'The landscape of Libraryland
changed considerably during the eighties. Public sector librarians
did things they didn't do before, in ways they didn't think they
could. The profession has taken on board new skills (marketing/community
analysis), new approaches (contracting out), new partners (joint
venturing), new values (entrepreneurship), new roles (electronic
information switching), though sometimes not without a measure
of resistance.'
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- In this anthology by one of the most provocative of commentators
on contemporary library and information work, Blaise Cronin reviews
the major ideological, technological and financial pressures
that have combined to change the face of a much-loved institution,
and points to the manner in which it will have to respond during
the coming years. It is a book of remarkable range and yet offering
profound insights into the contexts within which libraries operate,
into the assets which they may command, the service philosophies
that librarians are driven by, the ways in which their professional
education may assist or positively hinder them, and the skills
demanded by new library environments. Cronin has a reputation
for jousting with prevailing orthodoxies - this book demonstrates
with style and force that the reputation is well-deserved.
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- ISBN 0 947568 46 8
- 1991
- £25.00/US$46.00
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- 'enjoyable and stimulating reading.... I am impressed
by the seriousness of commitment.... the good sense and practical
orientation of the underlying judgements, the clarity in defining
terms and developing arguments.... there is plenty here for ambitious
members of the profession to feed on.'
- Journal of Documentation
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- 'a thoroughly readable book, which provides a personal
yet informative overview.'
- Aslib Information
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- 'In recent years Blaise Cronin has challenged library
habits of mind and action that are dangerous to the institutions
health.... Cronin does not sit back and wring his hands as he
contemplates today's library and information world. He prods,
nags, and urges librarians to get off their collective entrenched
habits and enter the modern era. He then provides ideas and tools
to assist in the process. Practitioners, students, and others
interested in library purpose, library management, and library
futures would do well to read this well-written and provocative
collection of articles.'
- Library Quarterly
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- 'Professor Cronin is a prolific contributor to our professional
press. Probably the most prolific and most quoted. Such a position
is not easily earned.... we need professionals who can perform
the valuable task of crossing disciplinary boundaries and restructuring
with new ideas for our consideration. Cronin fills such roles
with panache.... '
- Education for Information
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