Sep 02 2008
Book review: Leadership: The Challenge for the Information Profession
Roberts, Sue and Rowley, Jennifer. Leadership: the Challenge for the information Profession. Facet Publishing, London, UK, 2008. ISBN 978-1-85604-609-1. 248p. $115.
In the first sentence of their introduction, Sue Roberts and Jennifer Rowling offer all information professionals and aspiring information professionals an open invitation to “reflect on and engage with the development of their leadership role and contribution.” From the first chapters, which give a introduction to leadership and its context in the information professions, to the last chapter, which talks about influence, politics, power, and networking, this text is written for all levels of information professionals who are (or plan on) managing or leading within the profession.
This book is built like a course text, giving a broad range of information and research on each topic covered. At times it seems a bit clinical, yet it is easy to understand and follow, offering practical applications for leadership among the information professions. Each chapter provides learning objectives, review questions, and (my favorite part!) case study interviews with real-world professionals. It can be read cover-to-cover, or one chapter at a time as needed.
Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen is the Portland Operations Librarian for the Oregon Institute of Technology and is co-author of the forthcoming book, A Leadership Primer for New Librarians: Tools for Helping Today’s Early Career Librarians to Become Tomorrow’s Library Leaders.