The Dialectic of Academic Librarianship by Stephen Bales

The Dialectic of Academic Librarianship by Stephen Bales

Oftentimes, academic librarians are not fully conscious of the role that their libraries play in late-capitalist society or how they, as information professionals, help to perpetuate this role. Adopting a dialectical materialist perspective, Stephen Bales investigates the modern academic library as an institution and academic librarianship as a profession. The author examines the academic library's position as a culturally and historically situated producer and curator of knowledge and its instrumental role in driving social reproduction and the status quo. The book then considers the effect of academic librarians in bolstering dominant ideologies and argues instead for a transformative, engaged librarianship that recognizes and implements the academic library as a locus for positive social change. To these ends, the book serves as a tool for deepening the theoretical consciousness of practicing academic librarians and as a point of entry for praxis.

Bales, Stephen: - Stephen Bales is Professor and Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian and Associate Professor at Texas A&M University Libraries, where he is the subject liaison for Philosophy, Religious Studies, Communication & Journalism, and Anthropology. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee. His research areas include the philosophy of libraries and librarianship, and ideology and the library.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781936117895
ISBN 10	1936117894
Title	The Dialectic of Academic Librarianship
Author	Stephen Bales
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Litwin Books, LLC
Year published	2015-05-11
Number of pages	202
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.