From: Ruth I. Gordon <Druthgo>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:16:17 -0800

I wonder if the reason that there has been a paucity of nf for the biggies (Newby,Caldy) is that people feel unsure about nf. If so, it is a very bad situation since we should all be aware of "fact" (which is sometimes NOT fact) and fiction (which is sometimes presented as "fact." ) I had a sign
(which may very well be somewhere in my files in this house" that
"FACT IS MERELY CURRENT OPINION.") I wanted young people to question what they were being handed as "truth," history, historical events, science, modern conditions, and the like. You can bet that I was in trouble for introducing such revolutionary ideas as questioning current opinion. I had the odd notion that it was my job--for which I was paid--to teach young people to question and search. Maybe the library training schools might teach students how to examine nf. (Don't hang by your thumbs for that.)

Opinion and "facts" are mutable and we should think of them as such. So--we, as non-specialists--may be afraid to put our opinions and ratings on the line for nonfiction. Some years ago, (see--here's an example of how things change: I use a comma (,) after a prepositional phrase--"modern" writers do not) when I chaired a Newby, we selected three different genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (officially in Dui, nf--but not really). BUT-- the nf was really biography which tends to read as fiction. Mathematics and science do not. (Well, that's not quite true if you have read some of the delightful mathematical fantasies like "Flatland," etc.). It is a good idea to learn what is factual (through research) so that we may be able to review properly. There is a great deal of self-education in that. (Right now I am trying to bone up on 19th century music composers.)

Really, we really must all learn to review and recognize nonfiction-- most of those Dui #'s not in the 800s

A somewhat confuzzed

Big Grandma
Received on Sun 20 Jan 2008 10:16:17 PM CST