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Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 14:35:52 +0300
I really hate to send more than one nSubject: Re: Ref:  human development index
t, but this question needs a little perspective.

Publishers have always made popular skinny books, the most popular in my
day (don't tell, but for book report purposes) were Classic Comics.

We still have what my parent's generation considered a plague of skinny
books, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. There's lots of others.

My parents would read Dickens and measure the value of a book by how thick
it was and how it was bound

When Penguin started the paperback business, a marketing device of
standardized size and format, it just wasn't the same quality of reading.
Might still be Dickens, but.....

And I complained when those Hinton "things" were made part of our
curriculum.  The books were too small, the topics to relevant, the
vocabulary too shallow.

As for the publish in sections?  Consider that Dickens published his novels
as a weekly serial.  Many of us have had the joy of reading full novels
serialized in popular magazines.

Sesame Street, of course, has researched well the "sound bites" and
produced a generation who are used to things ending in a very short space
of time.  And, perhaps, that concept has influenced a whole generation of
children to a significant extent.

And, just perhaps, publishers have failed to realize that we and our
children are capable of much more than bits and pieces, pictures and sounds.

Just be sure before there's criticism that :

-  publishers are in the business to make a profit.  If enough don't buy
their products, they'll change or go out of business

-  as a consumer, you have no obligation to purchase anything you don't
want and most purchases have a money back guarantee.  If the product is not
what you want, don't buy it and, if you do, be willing to return it if it's
not what you have been led to expect it to be

-  as a consumer, support those publishers which provide the materials that
you want by purchasing from them.

-  keep things in perspective -  one of the ancient Greek philosophers is
quoted as saying that, in his day, the youth were more and more going to
the dogs.

Well, folks, they're still a very wonderful bunch to work with and to try
and get the best for.  And, at least in my library, they're still exploring
the fat ones, the thin ones, the picture ones, the old ones and the new ones.

Earl


Earl Sande
Secondary School Librarian
International School of Tanganyika
Post Office Box 2651
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
(e-mail :  sandes@wilken-dsm.com)

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What a good question Grace has posed on the "human development index" (also
called the quality of life index, etc., if I'm not mistaken).

It is a real eye-opener to live abroad or in the more remote sections of
our countries, because it makes one realize just how centered we are on
certain cultures, certain values, deeming these superior, quality, etc.
and, unfortunately, making other cultures and other values think of
themselves as of less quality.

Consider an example -  if one of the factors of quality is say, a water
system, we are saying that urban areas are of a higher quality than a small
town one.  A certain business style is another prime example :  in the
west, most frequently transactions are documented.  Yet much of the world
exists on a barter or "best price" system.  I am constantly amazed that the
Third World has developed (note the value word) as much as it has.

The question arises not only for those of us in the Third World, but in our
own backyard as well.  When we pose a young fellow with bulging muscles to
sell a product, we give us old fat ones a complex.

What about, then, when we make school stars and award medals, trophies, and
scholarships to those who are well coordinated and physically able?  That
poor clutz in middle school or that girl in the wheelchair is constantly
reminded that they do not quite reach (and possibly can never reach) the
quality of life that we show them as being of value in our daily lives.

That doesn't affect you as a librarian?  Well, consider - does a
handicapped person have equal access to the services?  How many of them
have to be assisted into the library itself?  How many have to get help to
reach the shelves?

How many reading disabled are you providing for?  And, what are you
providing?  Do you have flowers around a child with allergies?  Or, do you
sell books to children of families who are just barely making it?  The list
is endless, of course.

There's a whole array of "indicators of quality" built into our system that
we should be very much aware of when we provide students with any materials
that purportedly ranks anything.  Use that time, then, to ensure that your
students are aware of the bias involved.

And, just perhaps, think about moving those book shelves a little further
apart so that new wheelchair person can feel a little more "qualified"

Earl

Earl Sande
Secondary School Librarian
International School of Tanganyika
Post Office Box 2651
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
(e-mail :  sandes@wilken-dsm.com)

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