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Why is it that “flatlined” may be the best term to describe the state of discourse in librarianship?
In the traditional library literature one rarely sees an article that takes issue with the research or perspectives of a particular author.
There may be a dissenting letter to the editor every so often, but one would be hard pressed to identify a juicy back-and-forth between two camps engaged in academic discourse about a controversial issue.
Maybe we’re just too nice to take an intellectual sledgehammer to a colleague’s work, even if it was well deserved.
Some librarians might point to any number of the profession’s electronic discussion lists as the virtual ground where real debates between librarians are happening, but I would argue that what debate takes place on these lists often occurs between the same small crew of librarians who simply have an axe to grind with each other’s positions.
The vast majority of list members never get involved, and what transpires might be more accurately described as bickering than intellectual discourse.
As one explores and delves into the world of library blogs it soon becomes apparent that the rules of disengagement dominate the la...
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