Information Policies for Collection Development Librarians

Beware of “Info‐Smoke” warns Art Plotnick in a recent American Libraries editorial. It clouds the meaning and purpose of libraries by embroiling them in the “world's hottest commodity”—information. “The information age” or “the information society” are clichés used with abandon by many librarians. “Information” is the buzzword for grant applications, articles, and new names for libraries and library schools. As Plotnick rhetorically asks, “Who isn't in the information business?”