BKCVCSPC.RVW   990416

"Civic Space/Cyberspace", Redmond Kathleen Molz/Phyllis Dain, 1999,
0-262-13346-6, U$30.00
%A   Redmond Kathleen Molz
%A   Phyllis Dain
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1999
%G   0-262-13346-6
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$30.00 800-356-0343 fax: 617-625-6660 www-mitpress.mit.edu
%P   259 p.
%T   "Civic Space/Cyberspace"

The title, the preface, and even the subtitle ("The American Public
Library in the Information Age") all promise something to do with the
new, and particularly networked, technology.  While the book is
readable, well-researched, and interesting as far as libraries go, in
terms of information technology it singularly fails to deliver.

Chapter one is a historical overview of American publicly funded
libraries over approximately the last century and a half.  The text
traces changing time and society, but concentrates on a fairly
constant debate about the library's role, particularly in the choice
of materials: should the library pander to public taste and fashion,
or seek to censor and uplift?  The market, management, and money for
libraries is examined in chapter two.  The role of the US federal
government is reviewed in chapter three, but this content does not
appear to lead anywhere, is, in broad terms, something of a repeat of
chapter two, and is, of course, of interest only to those in the
States.  Chapter three really only seems to be a lead in to chapter
four, which looks at US action in relation to the much discussed
National Information infrastructure.  Apart from a disproportionate
emphasis on pornography and censorship, the material lists bills,
budgets, and organizations, with remarkably little practical
application.

Chapter five starts out by quoting a speech to the effect that it is
time to stop being awed by the technology, and to get on with figuring
out how to use and integrate it in society.  The text goes on to say
that libraries are in the forefront of this integration.  The chapter,
however, does not back up that assertion.  While there is discussion
of building new libraries, wiring libraries, and putting terminals in
libraries, there is very little talk of actual use.  In fact, the
material on libraries and the material on networks even within this
chapter seems to be segregated by paragraph.  Certainly, I have
lambasted any number of books for simply including "Gosh, look at what
_______ Public Library is doing!" type lists, but even that seems to
be missing in this one.  How does the Web search engine relate to the
reference division?  Does it make sense to integrate links to FAQ
mailbots in the catalogue?  Can you download .WAVs to take home with
your CDs?  These questions may be minutiae, but they have more to do
with integration than whether someone else pays for part of your ISDN
line.

Stripped of its claim to cyberspace, what is this book?  It is a lucid
account of the place of, and regard for, libraries in current American
society.  It is a reasonable compilation of US federal legislation
that may affect libraries.  It has very little to say about how
libraries may need to change with respect to technology.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKCVCSPC.RVW   990416