Citation for the article:Castiglione, James. “Internet Abuse and Possible Addiction Among Undergraduates: A Developing Concern for Library and University Administrators.” Library Review 57.5 (2008): 358-371.Read via Emerald.I have to admit that title may sound a bit provocative, but the article does look at an issue that has potential to become a serious problem. The article looks at the literature of librarianship and of addiction to see if there is a problem with Internet addiction amongst undergraduate students. The answer is not an easy one.The literature review begins with some basic statistics about Internet use for young people. The definition for young people does cover high school and college levels. The bottom line is that there is some relevant literature, but there is still a lot more to learn. What concerned me was that I often observe in the librarian blogosphere a very high level of cheering for Internet use and online social toys and tools that at times can be seen as inappropriate uses, especially in an academic setting. And this cheering is often done under the rubric of increasing circulation, bringing more people into the library, or just making the library look hip. I don’t think some of those cheerleaders stop and think about possible consequences, and I have seen that questioning like I am doing now can lead to the “you just don’t get it” syndrome. I think there is a lot of potential for good uses of the Internet and social software in a library setting, and some recreational use is fine. I am not saying some recreation is a bad thing. But when it becomes a significant distraction that can interfere with the academic performance of students, we have to ask questions, and we have to act to help prevent failures and dropouts.As usual, let’s look at some highlights and notes I made:”According to Kubey et.al. …

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