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In 1999 Library Quarterly published the author's article "Tunnel Vision and Blind Spots: What the Past Tells Us about the Present; Reflections on the Twentieth-Century History of American Librarianship." In it he argued that library and information studies (LIS) research and discourse suffered from a narrow perspective that limited its ability to discern a wider range of contributions and roles libraries played in their host communities. In this follow-up article, by harnessing conclusions emanating from research for his new book, "Part of Our Lives": A People's History of the American Public Library (2015) as a test case, the author argues that LIS discourse and research continue to manifest tunnel vision and blind spots that limit librarianship's ability to more deeply understand its present circumstances and more prudently prepare for its future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the results of a survey administered to a consortium of academic libraries in the U.S. to find if recreational reading collections are enjoying some kind of renaissance. Recreational reading collections, or popular collections, were defined. The literature dealing with recreational reading collections was also examined. A connection between recreational reading and greater overall academic achievement for college students was found.

Reconstruction has been seen as the period of redeeming lost southern honor. I argue, however, that the Reconstruction struggle was not simply about restoring pre-war honor to defeated Southerners, for the Civil War had not terminated or subdued honor. Rather, its contents, the idea of what was honorable, underwent changes. These changes were observed and lamented by James Chesnut, Jr. (1815-1885), a politician from South Carolina. Honor can be seen both as a source of emotion guidelines and as a tool used for navigating between acceptable and unacceptable emotions. By expressing acceptable emotions, an individual could claim ownership to honor and attempt to achieve life goals. During Reconstruction, the role of honor and the importance of honor-related emotional expression intensified. Because of major changes in society, individual goals changed and the necessity of forceful alteration to the understanding of honor arose. It became transformed, borrowing from violence, racism and a more acute fear of shame. Aiming to preserve white supremacy, many white Southerners readjusted their honor ideals and emotional expression. Nonetheless, some moderate individuals, like Chesnut, found it difficult to adopt these new ideals and thus all but lost their political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the interaction between law and emotions as enforceability is questioned in the U.S. The connection between the affective background of donative promises and modern unenforceability is discussed to draw distance view of the law from the association of irrational decision making and separate from emotional spheres. It seeks to correct the erroneous way of affective giving through gifts context to achieve proper enforcement of the law without intervention and disruption.

Surveys the historiography of emotions in Western history. Importance of studying emotions in history; Information on a study on the emotional history of the U.S.; Groups of modern emotions history in the U.S.

The article talks about the role that social intelligence can play in general education literature courses and its importance for the future of humanities studies. Topics discussed include the challenges faced by higher education in the U.S.; the analysis of college students' score on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI); and the learning benefits provided by reading fictional works.