The Librarian’s Internet Survival Guide: Strategies of the High‐tech Reference Desk

Citation

Cleyle, S.E. (2003), "The Librarian’s Internet Survival Guide: Strategies of the High‐tech Reference Desk", The Electronic Library, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 268-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470310480533

Foraging through the jungle called the Internet requires a large survival skill set. Many of us know the basics but are you really equipped to survive for any length of time – say the length of a shift on a reference desk in a busy public library? If your answer is no, then this book is for you! The Librarian’s Internet Survival Guide is a compilation of essays that the author has written in the journal Searcher. It is well written, informative and entertaining.

The 15 chapters are divided into two parts: “Ready Reference on the Web: Resources for Patrons” and “The Librarian as Information Technician: Working with the Medium and the Machines”. The author suggests that the book be used as a reference tool although I found the book followed a logical progression from start to finish and made for a useful read. Some chapters worth noting include: Chapter 1: Searching and Meta‐Searching the Internet; Chapter 3: News on the Net; Chapter 7: Health and Medical Information Online; Chapter 10: Managing Web‐Based E‐Mail; Chapter 11: Tips for Teaching the Internet and Chapter 14: Computer Troubleshooting for Librarians. The book also includes a helpful and comprehensive index.

The author is very pragmatic in her approach to the Web. In addition to providing a large number of useful Web sites for each of the areas covered, she also provides some thought‐provoking editorials about librarianship and the Web. For example, in a discussion about the Web, Ms McDermott compared some avid users of the Net to addictive personalities. “Prying fixated patrons off the Internet after only one hour is like cutting off alcoholics after a couple of drinks … Much as we hate it, it seems to be true: Librarians have become the bartenders of the World Wide Web” (p. 2). In her final words of the book, the author puts the Web into perspective for librarians: “With the advent of the Web, any semblance of quiescence and constancy vanished from the reference desk … . The Internet is no uptopia. But it is still a great place to shop – for bargain reference resources!” (p. 245).

This book is of value. In its 267 pages, the author has compiled a valuable reference resource for reference librarians. Although it is slanted more towards the public librarian with chapters dedicated to the Internet and children, cyber‐shopping and handling your money on the Web, there are excellent resources for all types of librarians in this resource. This book is a fun read and full of great Web sites. All reference librarians should keep this book next to their computers.