Thanksgiving Break Reading? or; A Different Type of CRAAP

Introduction:
Many of you who call on me to teach research and information literacy classes for your students may have heard me refer to a handout we have in the library called the "CRAAP Test." I use this handout to help teach students how to evaluate information. If you haven't seen this, take a look at the .html version or the .pdf version available from the ReSEARCH Station.

Really Poor Segue:
I've selected for you three books owned by our library on a "theme" similar to the CRAAP Test. Check them out. Literally. Maybe a little light reading for Thanksgiving Break? (Tip: If the book is already checked out, click the "Place a Hold" button in the upper-right hand corner of the Library Catalog screen. You'll be placed in the queue to receive the book.)

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SELECTION #1:
On Bullshit
by Harry G. Frankfurt
Princeton University Press, 2005
Call Number: BJ1421.F73 2005 (Main Collection)

Brief Synopsis: "Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it, yet we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves--and we lack a conscientious appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory." Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here."

SELECTION #2:
Your Call is Important to Us: The Truth about Bullshit
by Laura Penny
Crown Publishing, c2005
Call Number: HM1231 .P46 2005 (Main Collection)

Brief Synopsis: "This book is a manifesto for anyone who's sick and tired of the twenty-first century's tidal wave of crapulence. Dating the renaissance of bullshit to wartime propaganda, Penny skewers the "corporate bafflegab," scripted, question-proof political events, toxic faux foodstuffs, and miracle pills that clutter our lives."

SELECTION #3:
Bullshit!: The Media as Power Brokers in Presidential Elections
by Jeffrey Gale.
Bold Hawk Press, c1988
Call Number: JK2391 C46 G35 1988 (Main Collection)

Brief Synopsis: "This compendium of interviews, speeches and articles fails to prove its premise that "the national news media . . . have become the key power brokers in U.S. presidential elections." However, for those who are unfamiliar with the Citizens party, formed by "a coalition of left-wing groups" in 1979 by Barry Commoner, Julian Bond, Bella Abzug, Studs Terkel and others, the book is an enlightening bit of political history. During the 1980 campaign, when the prominent environmentalist Commoner ran as the Citizens party candidate (the title of the book comes from a campaign commercial), the author served as "voluntary ombudsman" for the national news media on Commoner's candidacy and was national press secretary for Sonia Johnson when she ran for president in 1984."

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Reading!