For more book suggestions, check out LibraryHQ's New Titles in Library Technology: 2001, and InfoToday's Publications Catalog. These should keep you busy for a while!
Here are three titles that I'm particularly looking forward to getting my hands on. In all cases, the authors were kind enough to tell me briefly about their books.
The Quintessential Searcher: The Wit and Wisdom of Barbara Quint. Edited by Marylaine Block. 1-57387-114-1. August 2001
For those who aren't familiar with her, Barbara Quint is the editor of Searcher magazine, writer of the Quint's Online column in Information Today, former librarian with the Rand Corporation, developer of SCOUG, and frequent writer, speaker, and presenter in the world of libraries and the information industry. Check out Marylaine's Guru interview with Barbara for more.
Editor Marylaine Block tells me that this book contains a nice selection of Barbara's funniest, pithiest, most insightful, and most prescient statements about librarians, searching, clueless database publishers, the Internet, etc: "There's a lot of important philosophy there, but on the other hand, it's often laugh out loud funny, and a book you could read in the bathroom".
From the Information Today site: "Searcher magazine editor Barbara Quint (bq) is not only one of the world's most famous online searchers, but the most creative and controversial writer, editor, and speaker to emerge from the information industry in the last two decades. bq is a guru of librarians and database professionals the world over, and, as her readers, publishers, and "quarry" know, when it comes to barbed wit she is in a class by herself. Whether she's chastising database providers about unacceptable fees, interfaces and updates, recounting the ills visited on the world by computer makers, or inspiring her readers to achieve greatness, her voice is consistently original and compelling".
Those who will enjoy the book most are probably those already familiar with bq, but all librarians, searchers, and database vendors will surely find it both educational and entertaining. The book is due out at the end of July, or early August. For purchase information, visit Information Today.
The Invisible Web By Chris Sherman and Gary Price. 0-910965-51-X. July 2001
This book is undoubtedly one of the most-anticipated titles of the summer among information professionals.
