NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED471599
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 219
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: ISBN-0-313-32344-5
ISSN: ISSN-0084-9243
EISSN: N/A
Vandals in the Stacks? A Response to Nicholson Baker's Assault on Libraries.
Cox, Richard J.
The book "Double Fold" is an investigation into what its author Nicholas Baker, a novelist and essayist, terms as a deception of research libraries and their maintenance of books and newspapers, their paper collections. This book is a response to Baker's writings, based on the author's perspective as an archivist. The first chapter introduces Nicholas Baker and "Double Field" and the presumptions of its author. The second chapter is a characterization of how Baker views libraries and archives, arguing that he does not really understand these institutions or the nature of the work of the professionals who staff and run them. The next two chapters consider Baker's notion of saving everything, a perspective the author believes is fatal to the arguments the author presents. The two chapters that follow consider the idea that libraries and librarians are self-deceived in their own priorities. Chapter 7 puts Baker's arguments in a broader context, demonstrating that complaints such as made by Baker have been made before with shifts in library cataloging. Chapter 8 reviews Baker's notions of the convenience of technology. The final two chapters wrap up the author's arguments with Nicholas Baker. Includes an index. (AEF)
Greenwood Press, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881. ($64.95) Tel: 800-225-5800 (Toll Free); e-mail: bookinfo@greenwood.com; Web site: http://www.greenwood.com.
Publication Type: Books; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners; Administrators; Media Staff
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A