Cliffs Notes, Acceptable Uses

Back in August 1958 an enterprising man developed a series of small, yellow and black striped books that summarized several Shakespeare plays. Known as Cliffs Notes, they soon developed a reputation among students as the place to go if you hadn't read the book. So then teachers began forbidding the use of Cliffs Notes. That certainly did nothing to impact sales, and over the years the line has continued to expand. Barnes & Noble, seeing a good thing, publishes Spark Notes with the same intent.
A brief survey of our Library staff confirmed what I knew to be true: in our Library the primary usage is from older adults who wish to refresh their memory of a book read years ago, read something about a work they will just never get to, or brush up on some facts for an upcoming book discussion.
As I prepare for a book discussion of The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, I picked up the Cliffs Notes for Dante's Inferno. There are so many references in The Dante Club to sections of the Inferno, that I just needed to expand my knowledge. I certainly intend to disclose my source to my group, and they too will be pleased to know of these gems of materials on our Library shelves.
For the web savvy, the companies that offer Cliffs Notes and Spark Notes have websites
CliffsNotes.com and Sparknotes.com that offer expanded serivces through their websites. You may view the particular book, purchase for download a PDF version, or order the actual book version.