Mary Kelly

Rap your way to breast health

May 16, 2023 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 11 comments

Coping: A Young Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer Prevention
Eisenpreis
1996

Do young women need information on breast cancer? Most definitely. This is weed worthy because of the age. Medical and science info is always suspect after 5-10 years. Nearly 30 years is ridiculous.

Also the image for the cover looks really distorted to me. That is the book, not my poor photo editing skills.

However, It is cringe worthy rap included in the second image that takes the cake. Because today’s teens really need a rap to get with the program of breast self exam.

Find a Job

May 3, 2023 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 7 comments

How to Find A Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Social Networks
Schepp and Schepp
2010

Career books are always going to be my trigger in collection management. Social media leads for jobs isn’t outdated, per se, but this book is now over 10 years old and that already makes the information questionable. The platforms themselves have been changed several times since this was published.

“The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective. “The pandemic is now becoming a mile marker for collection development. There will be items throughout the range of topics that will render many items obsolete. The large shifts in how the world works has dramatically changed the entire employment landscape from both the employer and employee perspective.

Meat for Dinner (Again!)

April 11, 2023 Mary Kelly You Ate What? 20 comments

Famous Brands
Meat Cookbook
Brand Name Publishing
1985

I don’t know how many more of these tasty recipes I can manage. They are everywhere on our site. The problem with hanging on to old cookbooks in a regular collection is that the photography or illustrations aren’t really helping the recipes.

Cookbooks and recipes go in and out of fashion. Vintage cookbooks are definitely an interesting collectable, but modern library collections really need to see if these items meet the library mission. If you have space and budget, you can hang onto a few of your oldies but goodies or maybe make a display. Pass your retro collections off to good homes.

Mass Media and Elections

March 7, 2023 Mary Kelly But it's Historical! 4 comments

Mass Media and Elections
Joslyn
1984

If there was ever a book that was outdated, I think this one might be in the top 10. Aside from the craziness of campaigns, the choice of candidates, and fake news, this book is missing a whole chunk of information.
Updates should probably include things like social media, the Internet, and for the American audience: Russian interference, conspiracy theories, false identities, massive voter fraud, mail in voting, fake news, and a whole chapter on Fox news.

how to profit from the coming rapture book cover

Business Plans for the rapture

February 6, 2023 Mary Kelly Department of God 11 comments

How to profit from the coming rapture
Getting ahead when you are left behind
Levy
2008

I was searching for something and came across this book. My first thought was this was a serious effort by some religious nuts. When I started reading and laughing, it was clear it was a spoof.

It was actually fun for about a half an hour. Then it was done, at least for me. Sometimes books like these tend to be too long. The joke just went on too long. What concerned me is the owning library had it classified in the 200s. I would have stuck this in the 800s with other humor books.

Carpentry for Kids

January 23, 2023 Mary Kelly For the Kids 10 comments

Carpentry for Children
Walker
1982

My general rule of thumb for kids nonfiction is that it shouldn’t be older than the age of the kid. Please don’t write us about all your examples of the exceptions. I get it. There are probably thousands of exceptions. But I digress…

This book was brought to me by one of my co-workers. Topic is fine, but this particular book was old and tired looking. (As I am old and tired looking, I feel qualified to judge.)

In this example, the date published makes me question the following:

Is the instructional component and other content appropriate for the age group?
Are the tools/equipment/materials available and safe? (Beware of products/materials that are no longer available.)
Do any of the projects or commentary use outmoded or inappropriate language when describing people or things?
Are the projects something kids would be interested in now? (Not 40 years ago.)

Again, I am not saying that just because it’s old, doesn’t make it an automatic weed, however it does mean we need to check further.

Jump for Joy!

January 10, 2023 Mary Kelly Sports, Games, and Exercise 10 comments

Jump Rope!
Skolnik
1974

This ancient artifact was only recently weeded from a public library. Given the publication date, I very well could have checked this out as I was teen in 1974. Even if the information isn’t “wrong”, this just is so old, it’s embarrassing. Check out the array of fashion choices. Just yikes!

When I was thumbing through the book, I was really disappointed in the pictures. I am not referring to the fact they are black and white, but how they are just bad pictures and add nothing to the narrative. It wasn’t just the ones posted here, but all through the book. It was like someone’s mom grabbed their Kodak Instamatic and just pressed the button in the general direction of some jump rope action.

Jumping rope was a pretty standard fare during my elementary school days. Everyone did it. Now I only see jumping rope as part of a fitness routine. Do kids even jump rope any more?

Fructose: A Magic Formula

January 4, 2023 Mary Kelly Health and Safety 11 comments

Diet Away Your Stress, Tension, and Anxiety
The Fructose Diet Book
Palm
1976

Well folks, this is the miracle diet you have been waiting for!

Dr Palm’s theory is that a fructose regimen can improve the function of the nervous system. Benefits include decrease of demand for alcohol in alcoholics and eliminate cravings for food among those who overeat. In addition, he continues with claims to improve symptoms in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, lessons the “premenstrual tension” and improves the management of diabetes.

Sounds like fructose is magic.

I think you can safely weed this one.