The Internet Searcher's Handbook: Locating Information, People, & Software,

V OL . 27, N O . 2, 2001 69 ethical vision across the board in American education” (p. 28). Wisner identifies the uncritical acceptance of technological innovations in libraries as promoted by large corporate vendors as the primary force responsible for this paradigm shift. He further asserts that these same vendors may be concocting a sinister plot to subvert libraries in general. “Commercial vendors and suppliers of information will display a short memory for the gullible ‘information specialists’ they have been courting and testing their products on before making a strenuous, calculated move into the private sector” (p. 29). No evidence is offered to support this view. Wisner continues to despair, noting that “In the long run, I think librarians will be used by the information god and then discarded . ” (p. 29). Unfortunately, Wisner offers only imprecise ideas concerning how to rectify or improve the situation. Apart from occasional suggestions to proceed cautiously and to treat technology as a “means to an end,” (p. 85) little of concrete value is placed on the table for discussion. In fact, Wisner’s central recommendation to address the problems he perceives is highlighted and presented in capital letters on page 85: “THE SOLUTION TO THE ‘PROBLEM’ OF TECHNOLOGY IS, PRECISELY, A LIBERAL EDUCATION. ” This is an interesting and even ironic comment when one considers how many librarians have had liberal arts educations, and still the technological beast has dropped its tentacles over libraries. As mentioned earlier, the book’s autobiographical style relies largely on anecdote, and this gives Wisner the deceptive rhetorical advantage of being able to select the scenes from his past that bolster his assertions. In addition to his idyllic remembrance of the Integrated Humanities Program, in chapter four he tells the story of how his wonderful relationship with Felipe, a library patron and self-educated savant, was denigrated by the introduction of Internet workstations. The author’s anecdotal style also allows him to make blanket statements such as “It is our patrons, frankly, who seem most concerned about where we are heading” (p. 14) when, in fact, the two patrons he is referring to, Nicholson Baker and Sally Tisdale, have both written prominent articles critical of library automation. It is disappointing that Wisner’s style does not allow him to make a stronger argument, that real and concrete solutions are not presented. Likewise, his conspiratorial undertones overshadow his basic assertions about education and the role of technology, assertions that are compelling and in need of a more widespread professional discussion. In some ways, readers of Whither the Postmodern Library? are analogous to anchorman Howard Beale’s viewers in the motion picture Network : although they sensed something substantial behind Beale’s proclamation that he was “madder than hell” and wouldn’t “take it any more,” his viewers were not sure what to do about it. Likewise, readers will probably recognize and empathize with what Wisner sees as a downward spiral, but find proposed solutions harder to come by. In spite of its shortcomings, this book may find an audience with librarians who are concerned about the role that technology plays, as well the role it should or shouldn’t play in the educational environment. It will probably be more useful, however, in framing some of the philosophical parameters of that debate rather than in providing solutions. If nothing else, it will be interesting to know the author’s reaction if and when this work is rereleased as an e-book.