Libraries in the Age of Mediocrity

by Earl Lee

"I only wish I had your paper before me when I wrote Silicon Snake Oil "-Clifford Stoll. "Ultimately," says Earl Lee, "libraries are involved in the quest for truth, but conceptualize it in a way very different from most. Library professionals pursue a philosophy of inclusion, trying to have as many versions of Truth as possible, in the hopes that somewhere in the mass of material, something meaningful may be found by some discerning reader. But in recent years the mass of data has grown to bury truth and defeat the discerning. Librarians have lost sight of what is important." The uncontrollable mass of data, the transformation of the library to an information center, the demise of the card catalog, the meretriciousness of publishers' offerings, the dumbing down of textbooks, the decision by the Library of Congress to use the OCLC online system exclusively-these are all the subjects of thought-provoking and unsweetened opinions, welcome reminders of the rich tradition of intellectual freedom in the profession.

151 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Earl Lee was born in Illinois (near Chicago) in 1955 and is currently a librarian at Pittsburg State University. He was recently promoted to the honorary rank of University Professor.

Earl Lee was an editor on the SciFi novel: The Hour of Lead.

He wrote the foreword to The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition (See Sharp Press).

He has also written several popular parodies, including "The Screwletter Tapes", and the novel Raptured: The Final Daze of the Late, Great Planet Earth (a parody of Tim LaHaye's evangelical End-of-the-World novel, Left Behind). His work includes fiction, drama and poetry. Samples can be found at Goodreads and on his blogg "Kiss My Left Behind"

He has lived in Arkansas (Little Rock, Jacksonville, Fayetteville, Strawberry, Calamine); Tennessee (Memphis); Wisconsin (Appleton, Ashwaubenon, De Pere, Madison, Rice Lake); Oklahoma (Enid), and Kansas.

Lee has attended Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas (B.A. in Literature); the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (M.A. in English); Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (teaching certification); and the University of Wisconsin--Madison (M.A.L.I.S).

His articles have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including bestselling anthology You Are Being Lied To.

Currently he is working on a political satire and a non-fiction work on the history of religion. His horror fiction is often graphic and always literate.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real mixed bag.

[John Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very influential to me in my formation as a librarian in library school and in my early career.

[Marc Stremciuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the funniest criticism of modern society and how it affects the most important institution humanity has ever made: the library