This is a guide to the genetic engineering debate. Genetic engineering has quickly become one of the more controversial issues of our time. The author provides a detailed history of the debate in a fair and balanced manner, using proponents' points of view to make individual cases, both pro and con. Narrative chapters cover such topics as the Human Genome Project, gene splicing, cloning, genetically altered foods, and DNA and crime-solving. Students and the general public will find a comprehensive survey of the genetic engineering debate. Appendices include statements from Leon Kass and Peter Singer, two of the most prominent scholars on the subject, and a bibliography of print and electronic resources for further research.

While the disagreements on abortion date to the beginning of our country, most of its public debate has taken place during the 20th century. Herring examines the issue from the debate's origin to its current state and expected future. Narrative chapters include discussions of the pro and con arguments associated with abortion, featuring quotes from doctors, politicians, religious figures, and ordinary people. First in the new Historical Guides to Controversial Issues in America series, this volume studies the major events and periods in the development of the abortion debate throughout its history. Students will find a nonpartisan approach to landmark cases, acts and amendments, and Pro-Life and Pro-Choice advocates. A list of Pro-Life/Choice Web sites and other electronic resources for further research is included.

Social media has accelerated communication, expanded business horizons and connected millions of individuals who otherwise would never have met. But not everything social media touches turns to gold--much of it is brass. Social networking sites are used by scammers, criminals and sexual predators, and many people now self-diagnose illness based on misinformation shared online. Businesses make great claims about social media as a marketing tool but few show any real returns. We communicate through social media but are we really saying anything? Is social media doomed to be a conduit of narcissism or can it become a channel for responsible communication? Can social networking overcome its manifold violations of privacy? Must we sacrifice our identities in order to tweet or ""friend"" our associates? This book examines some of the legal and ethical issues surrounding social media, its impact on civil discourse and its role in suicides, murders and criminal enterprise.

This work skeptically explores the notion that the internet will soon obviate any need for traditional print-based academic libraries. It makes a case for the library's staying power in the face of technological advancements (television, microfilm, and CD-ROM's were all once predicted as the contemporary library's heir-apparent), and devotes individual chapters to the pitfalls and prevarications of popular search engines, e-books, and the mass digitization of traditional print material.

The digital age has transformed information access in ways that few ever dreamed. But the afterclap of our digital wonders has left libraries reeling as they are no longer the chief contender in information delivery. The author gives both sides - the web aficionados, some of them unhinged, and the traditional librarians, some blinkered - a fair hearing but misconceptions abound. Internet be-all and end-all enthusiasts are no more useful than librarians who urge fellow professionals to be all things to all people. The American Library Association, wildly democratic at its best and worst, appears schizophrenic on the issue, unhelpfully. "My effort here," says the author, "is to talk about the elephant in the room." Are libraries obsolete? No! concludes the author. The book explores how libraries and librarians must and certainly can continue to be relevant, vibrant and enduring.