Librarians as Mischief Makers

One characteristic of librarians I have come to admire is that we do not suffer foolishness gladly, particularly when it come to information-related topics. Another way to put this is that librarians can be viewed as "troublemakers" because they refuse to hop on the bandwagon of the latest IT fad be it the latest widget that "must be" added to web-based publications, the latest tech gadget (e.g., Kindle), or the immediate deployment of the latest version of Microsoft software, OS and apps. Meanwhile, librarians also have the courage to point out that many things taken for granted are simply wrong (e.g., the common practice of distributing digital documents in non-ADA-compliant formats like PDFs.) You might say librarians are mischief makers, so here's a brief guide to mischief. [JH]

The Pocket Guide to Mischief
by Bart King

List Price: $9.95
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher (February 1, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1423603664
ISBN-13: 978-1423603665

Book Description: The greatest leaders and geniuses in history were mischief makers. They were the brave women who looked at how unfair the world was and said, "I can do better than that." They were the stalwart men who saw stupidity and asked, "Why do we have to do it that way?" And they were the delightful children who ganged up on the neighborhood bully and hit him with wet noodles until he said, "Uncle!"

Yes, history's mischief makers had the courage to point out that things like slavery, global warming, and turtleneck sweaters are bad. And they also pulled off some of the greatest hoaxes and practical jokes of all time. Their achievements include the Boston Tea Party, the "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast of 1938, and the Cheese Whiz Disaster of 2008. In honor of them, we introduce The Pocket Guide to Mischief, the perfect addition to any prankster's collection, as well as a fun-filled how-to for the budding troublemaker in all of us.