BAD BOOK COVERS

     My library is part of a school that is only 14 years old. But that doesn't mean I haven't found some pretty out-dated stuff now that I'm weeding the non-fiction. To my knowledge this is the first time this library has ever been weeded. I'm not a weeder by nature, I'm more of an archival-minded hoarder, but some of this stuff even I have to pitch.

Opportunities In Direct Marketing Careers
Copyright 2000, VGM

      Dude. If the dork on the cover doesn't scare you off, then you're probably already on your way to a grim career in direct marketing.
     If they were publishing that book today, I would hope they'd at LEAST replace the bulky curly noodle-corded land line phone with an iPhone or something.

The Internet for Teachers and School Library Media Specialists
Copyright 1996, Neal-Schuman NetGuide Series

     I love how Miami Vice that cover is. It looks more '86 than '96. And I was expecting to find all sorts of references in it to "The Information Superhighway," and other now-quaint terms. Which I did. But the MOST shocking thing to me was in a chapter written by a teacher on how he had set up a website for his school.
     He proudly shows an example of one of the webpages they set up for an individual student, with a PHOTO of the child, the child's full name, and all sorts of personal information, such as what the child likes to do, his family, their names, etc.
     Great way to provide plenty of tools for would-be child abductors! Good job, guys! I guess internet SAFETY has come a long way, although it seems like it should have been common sense, even back then, not to post all that personal info about children on a public forum.
     The boy whose webpage was printed as an example in this book probably got really sick of dodging strange men who knew his name, the names of his parents, and his favorite hobbies.