Hoarding is not collection development
Email Addresses of the Rich and Famous
E-mail addresses of the Rich & Famous
Godin
1994
Submitter: This is perhaps the most embarrassing offerings we’ve ever submitted to Awful Library Books, and we’ve offered up a few doozies! An email directory from 1994? We’ve hit a new low. I wonder if Al Gore still checks his email at vice.president@whitehouse.gov. I wonder why the author included page 20. The heading there reads, “CELEBRITIES (PROBABLY FAKES).” The page includes an email address for Howard the Duck, for crying out loud! Why did we buy this book?
Holly: I can actually see buying something like this, but you have to know you’re going to weed it within a few short years. I just love it when people ask for a celebrity’s personal email. You know their publicist handles all that, right? And yours may or may not ever be opened at all, let alone read, and I almost guarantee it won’t be read by the celebrity themself. Interesting to note that this book is by Seth Godin.
Side note: in this post, Seth Godin says he’s embarrassed about this book!
For Lazy Web Designers
Build a Web Site the Lazy Way
Toyer
1999
Submitter: We just weeded this 1999 web site design book today (in 2016…). I was a little embarrassed it was still in the collection. Technology-wise it’s hilariously outdated, with a cheesy, condescending theme to boot.
Holly: I’m all for WYSIWYG, but this is too old to be useful.
The Internet
The Internet
Henderson
1998
Submitter: The Internet is an overview of how to use the internet from 1998. The internet from 1998 seems like an easy weed. My local library system has 3 copies. Three too many. I knew a now retired public librarian a few years ago who would teach basic internet skills to library patrons. She always referred to the internet as “The Google.” “You need to use “The Google.”
Holly: Don’t do that. Don’t call the internet “the Google.” Just…don’t. There are any number of free internet tutorials online that are better than this book. It was perfectly fine until the very early 2000s, but technology needs to be weeded (or at least considered every 3-5 years). Also, who let someone have a cup of coffee next to the computers?