I think I need to start a list of frequently asked questions I receive on library assignments. If I hear the same things over and over it's probably true that these are things that need to be addressed, in some cases for our institution, in some cases probably in libraries the world over!
This one is very indicative of one I often receive, which is 'how do I tell if the book is going to be useful from the brief amount of information I'm given?'. The answer right now is, in short, just request it. If it's not useful you can send it back no harm no foul. But that's not an answer I'm satisfied with.
Why, in an age where Amazon can foster not only book reviews, but people reviews, can we not provide more information about a book than mere subject headings? These are helpful in their own way, shape and form, but they're not perfect indicators of a book's usefulness. I know because I order things all the time that based on their subject heading are lovely, and their content, less so. Table of contents, when available, can help with this. But I'd like to see book reviews placed in catalog records, or at the very least a real summary of the contents of the book.
And it seems like it should be doable.
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