Library and Information Center Management (Library and Information Science… (edition 2007)

I'm going to start this review by saying that I'm going to talk about why this book was really redundant and awful and I didn't learn anything. First, it was really redundant and repeated itself. Second, it said the same thing over and over and I didn't learn anything. Last, it was pretty pitiful and it makes me wonder if maybe more librarians need to write textbooks to weed out all the other librarians who can't write but somehow get a contract to write one anyway. I'll conclude by saying that, in summation, this book was redundant and awful and not representative of how anyone should manage anything. I'll elaborate this mundane point via a nondescript venn diagram that shows in a visual way how I didn't quite finish this textbook, but I'm labeling it 'read' because I got through enough to realize it was awful. And redundant. (see: Figure 1, Vague Venn Diagram). ( )

An appalling mix of '90s management jargon and bad grammar. It's a chore fighting my way through each assigned chapter, and when they are over I feel like all I got from it is the loss of an hour of my life.

If you are a teacher, please do not force this on your students. ( )

Was a great read for dealing with the management of research institutes and their employees.

Useless, except as a dust collector. Very poorly written, very poorly organized. The only thing worthwhile were the bibliographies at the end of each chapter which led me to better sources. ( )

As is the problem with many textbooks, this book explains its subject well, just not in an interesting fashion. Admittedly, many writers would have trouble making an explanation of budgeting processes (just to choose a topic) fascinating. I do want to give the authors credit for understanding their audience. At the end of the book, they talk about how most library science students don't intend on becoming managers and that many of them have really negative feelings about managing. (They figure students should study management anyway, since most librarians will have to manage someone at some point in their careers). ( )