Library and Information Center Management: [Paperback]

Robert D. Stueart (Author), Barbara B. Moran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002 | ISBN-10: 1563089904 | ISBN-13: 978-1563089909 | Edition: 6

Updated and expanded, this text aims to reflect the many changes that have taken place in libraries and library management. Students should acquire important knowledge about the complex and interrelated functions common to all organizations: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. The book introduces new thoughts and techniques alongside those that have stood the test of time and trial. Contemporary examples are given to illustrate discussions on such themes as strategic planning and total quality management. The text exposes students to the technology and the political, economic and social environments that are powerful forces which influence the planning for information services today. At the same time, it outlines new knowledge, skills, and techniques that are required by staff members at every level of an organization's operations.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Any textbook that reaches its sixth edition has achieved classic status! Stueart was a longtime professor and dean at Simmons College. Moran has been a professor and dean at the University of North Carolina. Their challenge is to apply the best practices from the management discipline in a meaningful way to the institutions and operations of library and information science (LIS) and at the same time to make this non-LIS field interesting to LIS students. They meet this challenge by examining through a management lens the basic processes and operations of LIS institutions: evolution (of management as a facilitative process), planning, organizing, staffing (human resources), leading, and coordinating. Illustrations, tables, and sources abound. All this is backed up with a "living" Web site with updated readings, case studies, exercises, exhibits, and a discussion forum [http://[e-mail]/management]. This volume serves the needs of LIS students well. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

?Updates and significantly reorganizes the content of the the previous edition....It is expected that the sixth edition of Library and Information Center Management will follow its predecessor as a staple of library and information courses.?-Technical Services Quarterly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited; 6 edition (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563089904
• ISBN-13: 978-1563089909
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,199,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring, pedandic...more useful for MBA than MLS..., November 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Library and Information Center Management (Library Science Text Series) (Paperback)

I'm almost tempted to turn in my LIS professor to the Hague tribuinal for "Crimes against Humanity" for assigning us this textbook. This has got to be the most boring, pedandic,
jargon-ridden, vacuous text...page after page of blather with less true intellectual content than the average soundbite and conclusions so plain and commonsensical you wonder why you bothered reading most of these chapters at all. I'd pick Will Manley's amusing ramblings & observations any day over this

worthless tome. This textbook feels like it was designed for MBA students originally, then an editor threw in obligatory references to "library & information centers" and viola, instant "Library Science" textbook. Yet one more sign/symbol of librarianship fawing a bit to much on corporate models and methods instead of staying true to their own roots, unique missions and objectives as public service agencies. Read Michael Gorman's _Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century_ if you want a real orientation on what being a librarian (and thus a library director) are all about.
Heck, I bet most thoughtful LIS professors could put together
reading lists of enough LJ articles discussing "library & information center management" that would be far more rewarding and informative to new LIS students seeking their MLS than this textbook ever could hope to be. Avoid this book!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sucking the joy out of librarianship page by page..., June 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Library and Information Center Management (Library and Information Science Text) (Paperback)

I could go on and on about what a useless snoozefest this book was, but another reader has already done a far better job. Please see the review entitled "Boring, pedandic...more useful for MBA than MLS"-- it hits the nail right on the head.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Required reading, September 17, 2005

By 

hrladyship (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Library and Information Center Management: (Paperback)

Dull reading is not helped by repetitive statements in this management textbook. Stueart and Moran add to textbooks' reputation for dullness and difficult reading. The authors give long definitions for terms that must already be understood by a large portion of the population, but use specialized terms long before an explanation is given in the text. One can only hope that there are better management textbooks and that most professors choose those.