I have a number of books to hand which might be of interest to would-be
reviewers. I would welcome expressions of interest from members of this
list. The summary below gives the bare details. A longer description of
each book appears below my signature*.
If you are interested in reviewing one of these items for Ariadne,
< http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/ > , would you kindly contact me on
[log in to unmask]
giving your name and contact (inc. postal) details, your
area of work/interest and organisation/ position where relevant.
The anticipated submission date for reviews will be
22 April 2009.
Please contact me if you have any queries.
Summary of titles:
A]
Making Digital Cultures: Access, Interactivity, and Authenticity
Martin Hand, Queen's University, Canada
Ashgate, August 2008, 198 pages, Hardback, ISBN: 978-0-7546-4840-6,
Price : £55.00
[A longer description of each book appears below my signature.]
B]
The Public Library
David McMenemy
Facet Publishing
December 2008; 240pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-616-9; £39.95
[A longer description of each book appears below my signature.]
C]
M-libraries: libraries on the move to provide virtual access
Gill Needham and Mohamed Ally, editors
Facet Publishing; September 2008; 352pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-648-0; £44.95
[A longer description of each book appears below my signature.]
D]
Digital Consumers: reshaping the information professions
David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands, editors
Facet Publishing; August 2008; 240pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-651-0; £39.95
[A longer description of each book appears below my signature.]
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
--
Richard Waller
Editor Ariadne
UKOLN
The Library
University of Bath
Bath BA2 7AY
UK
tel +44 (0) 1225 383570
fax +44 (0) 1225 386838
email [log in to unmask]
web http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
web http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/
Information from Publishers
A]
Making Digital Cultures: Access, Interactivity, and Authenticity
Martin Hand, Queen's University, Canada
Ashgate, August 2008, 198 pages, Hardback, ISBN: 978-0-7546-4840-6,
Price : £55.00
Many people in the West or global North now live in a culture of 24/7
instant messaging, iPods and MP3s, streamed content, blogs, ubiquitous
digital images and Facebook. But they are also surrounded by even more
paper, books, telephone calls and material objects of one kind or
another. The juxtaposition and proliferation of older and newer
technologies is striking.
Making Digital Cultures brings together recent theorizing of the
'digital age' with empirical studies of how institutions embrace these
technologies in relation to older established technological objects,
processes and practices. It asks how relations between 'analogue' and
'digital' are conceptualized and configured both in theory and inside
the public library, the business organization and the archive.
With its direct engagement with new media theory, science and technology
studies, and cultural sociology, this volume will be of interest to
scholars and students in the areas of media and communication and
science and technology studies.
Contents: Making digital cultures: an introduction; Hardware to
everywhere; narratives of promise and threat; On the materials of
digital culture; A people's network: access and the indefiniteness of
learning; Becoming direct: interactivity and the digital product; Lost
in translation: authenticity and the ontology of the archive Conclusion:
loss and recovery in the digital era; Bibliography; Index.
About the Author: Martin Hand is an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Sociology at Queen's University, Canada. He is the
co-author of The Design of Everyday Life (2007; Oxford: Berg). He is
currently writing about photography and memory practices in everyday life.
B]
The Public Library
David McMenemy
Facet Publishing
December 2008; 240pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-616-9; £39.95
Public libraries have changed beyond anyone’s predictions in the past
ten years and are at a vital stage in their historical development. This
timely book is the first standalone text to examine the role and
services of the UK public library in the 21st century context.
The book discusses the nature and functions of the modern public library
service, from its beginnings as the street-corner university, through
its delivery of state-of-the-art services and beyond. At the heart of
the book is a passionate argument for the professional and public
significance of the public library service.
C]
M-libraries: libraries on the move to provide virtual access
Gill Needham and Mohamed Ally, editors
Facet Publishing; September 2008; 352pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-648-0; £44.95
Mobile phone ownership is considerably more ubiquitous than internet
access via personal computers. As technology moves on apace, more and
more people around the world are carrying, effectively, a tiny mobile
device in their pocket or handbag. At the same time, the environment in
which people find and use information is changing – we are busier, we
are constantly on the move and whether we are shopping, booking a
holiday or looking for train times we expect instant results. What does
all this mean for libraries?
The development of networked technologies opened up huge opportunities
for libraries that were able to make their catalogues and digital
collections accessible to their users regardless of distance. The
opportunity to deliver services and resources to users via their mobile
phones, PDAs and other handheld devices will be as significant a
challenge. Indeed, if libraries choose to ignore this challenge, they
are in danger of being left behind in an increasingly competitive world
of information provision and services.
This authoritative collection of contributions from experts in the
field, based on the First International M-Libraries Conference held in
2007, explores the technological and sociological context for
m-libraries, describes a range of global initiatives with lessons
learned, and discusses the potential for future development. Key areas
covered include:
* Libraries and net generation learners
* Use of mobile technology for off-campus learning
* Enhancing access to library resources through mobile communications
* Building an effective mobile-friendly digital library
* Designing and developing e-learning content for mobile platforms
* Architectures and metadata for m-learning and m-teaching
* Mobile use and e-learning in developing countries
* From shelf to PDA: transforming mobile devices into LIS tools.
This timely book will be of considerable interest to the growing
international mobile learning community across all sectors, not least in
developing countries where internet access via computers is poor but
many people have mobile phones and other devices. It should be read not
only by information professionals but by mobile, software and library
systems suppliers, e-journal suppliers and aggregators, publishers,
international development agencies, and policy makers in education and
e-government.
Contributors
Dr Anne Adams, Dr Mohamed Ally, Geoff Butters, Lynne Callaghan, Yang
Cao, Àngels Carles, Ana Castellano, Ruth Charlton, Billy Cheung, Robert
Davies, Susan Eales, Colin Elliott, Cain Evans, William Foster, Dr Ivan
Ganchev, Peter Godwin, Fernando Guerrero, Jom Hahn, Anne Hewling,
Maureen Hutchison, Dr Adesina Iluyemi, Dr Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Susan J.
Lea, Joan K. Lippincott, Jane Lunsford, Margaret Markland, Dr Buhle
Mbambo-Thata, Rory McGreal, Damien Meere, Keren Mills, John Naughton,
Gill Needham, Dr Máirtín O’Droma, Dr Mícheál Ó hAodha, Jo Parker,
Mariano Rico, Non Scantlebury, Steve Schafer, Dr Wathmanel Seneviratne,
Hassan Sheikh, Dr Stanimir Stojanov, Rhodri Thomas, Tony Tin, John M.
Traxler, Emma Whittlesea, Freda Wolfenden
D]
Digital Consumers: reshaping the information professions
David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands, editors
Facet Publishing; August 2008; 240pp; hardback; 978-1-85604-651-0; £39.95
The information professions - librarianship, archives, publishing and,
to some extent, journalism - have been rocked by the digital transition
that has led to disintermediation, easy access and massive information
choice. Professional skills are increasingly being performed without the
necessary context, rationale and understanding. Information now forms a
consumer commodity with many diverse information producers engaged in
the market. It is generally the lack of recognition of this fact amongst
the information professions that explains the difficulties they find
themselves in.
There is a need for a new belief system that will help information
professionals survive and engage in a ubiquitous information
environment, where they are no longer the dominant players, nor, indeed,
the suppliers of first choice. The purpose of this thought-provoking
book is to provide that overarching vision, built on hard evidence
rather than PowerPoint ‘puff’.
The authors of the acclaimed CIBER Google Generation study, and an
international, cross-sectoral team of contributors has assembled
together for this purpose. Key strategic areas covered include:
* the digital consumer: an introduction and philosophy
* the digital information marketplace and its economics: the end of
exclusivity
* the e-shopper: the growth of the informed purchaser
* the library in the digital age
* the psychology of the digital information consumer
* the information-seeking behaviour of the digital consumer: case
study – the virtual scholar
* the Google generation: myths and realities about young people’s
digital information behaviour
* trends in digital information consumption and the future
* where do we go from here?
No information professional or student can afford not to read this
far-reaching and important book.
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