in General, Libraries/Info Sci

ALA vs. “Blog People” ?

Found via Library Stuff:

Michael Gorman, president elect of the ALA, wrote a column in Library Journal titled “Revenge of the Blog People”.

In said column, he manages to be both dismissive of and insulting to librarian bloggers.

I don’t pretend to be anywhere near the top of the pile when it comes to librarian bloggers. Heck, I don’t even focus solely on the topic. I don’t pretend to be the most literate person in the world, or the best writer. But still, I feel personally insulted by the column. In part:

Given the quality of the writing in the blogs I have seen, I doubt that many of the Blog People are in the habit of sustained reading of complex texts. It is entirely possible that their intellectual needs are met by an accumulation of random facts and paragraphs.

I’m not aware of the content of Mr. Gorman’s L.A. Times op-ed regarding Google’s book digitization project that kicked off this controversy. So I won’t comment on it. If anyone has a copy, I’d appreciate a chance to read it.

I just think it unwise for a president of such a prestigious and influential organization to dismiss and insult a growing portion of his constituency out of hand.