Introduction to Library and Information Science

Reviewed by Barbara Tait, Instruction Librarian, Radford University on 1/27/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The book is a decent overview of library and information science; the author manages to touch on important aspects of librarianship without getting too ‘in the weeds.’ That said, there are several ways this book could be strengthened without making it excessively lengthy.

Content Accuracy rating: 2

There are several terms that are inaccurate or lack context. As one example, the digital divide section does not mention anything about the wide variance of technology and broadband access in different communities and relies too heavily on the year of someone’s birth as the determiner of their digital skills, leaving out important factors that contribute to digital literacy.

In several sections the author gives too much weight to his own opinions and does not provide a nuanced perspective.

Overall, it includes good external resources, though a couple links are broken.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

It includes recent information (generative AI and how it is being used in librarianship, for example) but needs to be updated already.

Clarity rating: 3

There are exercises included at the end of some of the sections to help students integrate knowledge. Some of them are helpful, some are not. A few examples of what I mean by unhelpful - a couple of them lack instructions, one displays on the eBook version such that it’s very hard to see all the words, and a handful of questions don’t actually evaluate knowledge from the previous section.

Consistency rating: 3

There are a few carelessly used abbreviations.

This is a small thing, but worth noting - the introduction states: “Please consult ODLIS, which stands for the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. I will not link to it, because as a library scientist, you should know how to search for things and find them" (para. 5).
I find this to be unnecessary and belittling. Presumably, most of the readers will not be library scientists, they will be students, and all the ‘should-ing’ (here and in many other places) is not supportive of learning. Later on, there are a number of links provided – the consistency would be improved by simply providing links for everything (for ease of use) and taking out the above comment.

Modularity rating: 4

The sections are manageable and clearly outlined.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The sections are sensible enough – some rearranging could be argued for and would strengthen the book but nothing too jarring.
The exercise at the end of the acquisitions section includes questions about weeding, but weeding has not yet been covered.
It would be nice if you could just click next to go to the next section for the eBook, as opposed to going back up to navigate through the menu – this was only the case in Google chrome with the window enlarged.

Interface rating: 4

Multiple formats are provided – I tested a small amount of the xhtml version with a screen reader and it seemed accessible.

Grammatical Errors rating: 2

For the most part the grammatical errors do not obstruct the overall meaning but there are quite a few typos; this book could benefit from an editor.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

I did not note anything overtly culturally insensitive, but the book doesn't present multiple perspectives in several places. The author does talk about the importance of treating all patrons with dignity, and covers DEI in the library, including some decent examples.

Comments

Overall, this book is OK – it could be used in strategic ways to support an LIS class, but I do not recommend using it as the sole textbook, at least not without adaptation, elaboration, and some framing.

The tone is slightly arrogant throughout, and much of the content is presented in an oversimplified way that will not require students to think critically about some important issues of librarianship. It would be useful to provide more of a critical framework for students to explore pros and cons of various approaches, instead of feeding them opinions (some of which do not represent the consensus of experts in this profession).

It should be noted that the author used ChatGPT to write some of this book (chapter 12, AI section). He talks about the importance of editing any material generated by AI, but unfortunately this book does not demonstrate that he is 'walking the walk.' He does talk about issues of ethics when using generative AI, but this book is not a great model, given that you only learn halfway through the book that AI was used to write some of it, and given that many sections of the book are not well edited or well written.

It does include some good information and external resources - it's a starting point.

Reviewed by Kathy Evans, Reference & Archive Librarian, Shenandoah University on 11/10/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This textbook is logically organized, with distinctive chapters covering essential practices of librarianship. Hepler and Horalek do not offer an index in this introductory text. The authors define key concepts within the text, and those words are conveniently bolded and offer a "pop-out" definition. Unfortunately, these concepts are not in a glossary of terms or a helpful index. However, the text is searchable as an eBook.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The text reads accurately in regards to librarianship. Some wording in the texts indicates bias. For example, the authors describe OCLC as a monopoly. Which is arguably true, but is it necessary to state that? The authors mention "publisher's whims." Whims? Another word may be more appropriate. Curiously, there is no mention of the ancient Library of Alexandria in Chapter 2 – History of Libraries.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Overall, the text is straightforward and relevant to the subject. Updates should be relatively easy, given the organization and format of the information.

Clarity rating: 4

Current terms may help clarify the different aspects of librarianship and library services. Some sections are wordy and lack confidence in the subject discussed, while others seem almost rushed.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework. As mentioned under clarity, more current descriptions of library services could be added to the text to clarify the terminology used.

Modularity rating: 5

The authors do a good job organizing the sections into readable chunks of information.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The authors organized the textbook logically.

Interface rating: 5

The interface is easy to navigate. The self-check modules at the end of each section are helpful, albeit clunky, to use.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

The text is wordy in the delivery of the material covered. Some language seems too familiar when presenting the information. Several punctuation errors are apparent.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors address the importance of diversity, inclusion, and equity in library collections.

Comments

Introduction to Library and Information Science could be a helpful textbook with some added proofreading and revisions.

Reviewed by Taylor Tharpe, Research & Digital Services Librarian, Longwood University on 7/18/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

In Part I of the textbook, the author offers consistent definitions of certain terms, such as data, knowledge, and information. The author does a great job of providing helpful resources and information to go hand-in-hand with each chapter/section. However, some of the material that is questioned in the interactive quizzes are not mentioned in that particular section.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I noticed no bias while reading this textbook. All information is presented in an accurate and unbiased manner.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The majority of the content was relevant and up to date.

Clarity rating: 5

This textbook is written in accessible prose and provides a disclaimer and instructions for the interactive features that accompany each section/chapter.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

Textbook is broken into three different parts, that can be separated to support different units of a course or class.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics presented are organized in an understandable manner. They flow together nicely.

Interface rating: 4

Pictures and graphs could use some formatting work as the some of the captions aren't directly under the image, but I think this just depends on how you are viewing the textbook. The online version of the textbook is much more user-friendly than the PDF version.

Grammatical Errors rating: 2

This textbook makes many grammatical errors. This includes capitalization, sentence structure, spelling, misusing, etc. I counted numerous errors throughout the entire text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The author touches on the subject of demographics and knowing how to serve patrons regardless of ethnic group, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. The textbook also has a section on DEI and how important it is for libraries to acquire materials and hold events that meet the DEI initiative.

Comments

The author focuses more on the application of skills associated with working within the library field, rather than just lecturing about library theory. However, the author also mentions using ChatGPT, which doesn't seem very reliable to me.