The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources [Paperback]

Nicholas Tomaiuolo (Author), Barbara Quint (Editor), Steve Coffman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0910965676 | ISBN-13: 978-0910965675 | Edition: 1

With this remarkable, eye-opening book and its companion Web site, Nicholas G. (Nick) Tomaiuolo shows how anyone can create a comprehensive personal library using no-cost Web resources. And when Nick says "library," he's not talking about a dictionary and thesaurus on your desktop: he means a vast, rich collection of data, documents, and images that--if you follow his instructions to the letter--can rival the holdings of many traditional libraries. If you were to calculate the expense of purchasing the hundreds of print and fee-based electronic publications that are available for free with "The Web Library" you'd quickly recognize the potential of this book to save you thousands, if not millions of dollars (fortunately, Nick does the calculating for you!). This is an easy-to-use guide, with chapters organized into sections corresponding to departments in a physical library. "The Web Library provides a wealth of URLs and examples of free material you can start using right away, but, best of all, it offers techniques for finding and collecting new content as the Web evolves. Start building your personal Web library today!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nicholas Tomaiuolo is the associate librarian at the Elihu Burritt Library at Central Connecticut State University. He is a frequent contributor to professional publications in librarianship and information science with a special interest in end-user database and web searching.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Information Today, Inc.; 1 edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910965676
• ISBN-13: 978-0910965675
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nick Tomaiuolo earned his MLS at Southern Connecticut State University
where he was named a Scholar of the School of Library Science and
Instructional Technology, inducted into Beta Phi Mu (the International Library
and Information Studies Honor Society), and has been designated a Distinguished Alumnus. He teaches online research skills courses for both Central Connecticut State University and the University of Maryland University College.

Likes: database searching, literature, marottes, Stratocasters, theater, and travel. Dislikes: hubris, martinets, opportunists, and technology for technology's sake.

His first book, The Web Library, was published in 2004. His second book UContent: the Information Professionals Guide to User-Generated Content was published in January 2012. Nick also writes for Searcher Magazine.


Web Page: http://web.ccsu.edu/library/tomaiuolon/cse.htm (see also: http://web.ccsu.edu/library/tomaiuolon/theweblibrary.htm and http://web.ccsu.edu/library/tomaiuolon/UContent/toc.htm )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique in several ways...., February 14, 2004

By 

Stephanie Bell (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources (Paperback)

Glancing at the title I thought it was just another list of websites, and although many sites are listed, most of them aren't the common knowledge everyday sites that librarians and general web surfers already know about. What makes the book quite a bit different is that the author includes quite a few interviews with people from the websites that are mentioned -- people from Project Gutenberg, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution, etc. The author also uses several methods to judge site longevity (i.e., will the site be around in the future), plus there's a website he manages to keep track of changes. With Open Access becoming a trend, this book is the most credible to date.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A librarian says "this is the right stuff", February 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources (Paperback)

A vast amount of energy, experience, expertise and intelligence must have gone into the making of this book. I don't think there is a comparable guide to bona-fide free information on the internet.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!!, February 9, 2004

By 

Stefan Fabrini (Red Lion, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources (Paperback)

I managed to see a pre-publication copy of the Web Library & I highly reccommend it to any/all web searchers. Very exhaustive, complete, insightful & witty to boot. Believe the sub-title. Nick Tomauolo has done an amazing job of finding all of the free web sources known to man & organizing them in a cohesive, coherent manner. It's actually a joy to read (not some dry, dusty tome). You can indeed build your own "million dollar library" for free- and never leave your house. Just buy this excellent book & start building- and have a darn good time doing so.