Reference and Information Services in the Twenty‐first Century: an Introduction (2nd edition revised)

Sherrey Quinn (Libraries Alive! Pty Ltd, Canberra, Australia)

Library Management

ISSN: 0143-5124

Article publication date: 20 July 2012

144

Keywords

Citation

Quinn, S. (2012), "Reference and Information Services in the Twenty‐first Century: an Introduction (2nd edition revised)", Library Management, Vol. 33 No. 6/7, pp. 436-437. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121211266429

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


This is a textbook, designed “ to complement every introductory reference course”, according to the publisher's cover notes. It is a substantial volume, octavo format, with 21 chapters in four parts. The contents include a mix of fundamental concepts, practical information and notes on reference sources.

The short but useful introductory section discusses the nature of reference work; ethical considerations; types of questions clients ask; evaluating sources, staff and services; and promotion and marketing. Principles of the reference interview: why the librarian should ask questions; what to ask and how to ask it, are covered.

Part II, introduction to major reference sources, takes up about half of the book, with nine chapters devoted to major reference sources, discussed according to format (such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, ready reference sources) and/or subject matter (health, law and business; geography, countries and travel; and government information sources). Multidisciplinary periodical indexes, and general subject‐based indexes for science and technology, education, social sciences and humanities are discussed in the chapter on indexes and full‐text databases. Notes for collection development are included.

Special topics (Part III) provide guidance on using the Internet as a reference tool, information literacy and information‐seeking behaviour, reader's advisory work, and reference work with children and young adults. These last two chapters are written by a guest author, Mary Chelton, an authority on these topics.

Managing the reference service (Part IV) is addressed in chapters on selecting and evaluating reference sources, organising staff and service delivery, and continuous improvement of reference services (why, what and how to assess performance). Recent changes and new service models are discussed in the chapters on “Reference 2.0” (cooperative content creation, social networking, mobile and personal devices) and the future of information services.

The review copy has a British imprint (Facet Publishing) but is published simultaneously with the US edition (Neal‐Schuman Publishers, Inc.). This explains the US spelling throughout, and the strong North American focus. Many reference sources are international in coverage, and some chapters acknowledge British sources as well as North American ones. Other than the UK and the USA, Canada is the only country explicitly mentioned. The chapter ‘Answering questions about governments – Government information sources’ is almost entirely focused on the USA; just one and a half text pages out of 15 cover non‐US topics – United Nations publications and Canadian and UK government publications. Similarly, the top ten readers' advisory tools include three large commercial databases and selected web sites emanating from the USA but not the excellent British Who Else Writes Like […]? nor Fantastic Fiction.

Supporting information includes lists of recommended further reading, and a bibliography of works cited in each chapter, and an appendix, RUSA Outstanding Reference Sources 2006‐2011, from the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association. There are two indexes – Index of Reference Sources Described (an index of titles of works) and an excellent subject index.

This book was first published in 2006, with a second edition in 2009. The authors state that over 300 sources were updated in 2011. A companion web site provide updates to the more than 1,000 reference sources listed in the book. Brief updates for the chapters on dictionaries, encyclopedias and government information sources were posted in late 2010/early 2011. At the time of review (May 2012) both Facet Publishing and Neal‐Schuman are promoting on their web sites a “third edition”, forthcoming in December 2012.

This book is a useful practical guide which achieves its aim to introduce reference work to library science students. It will be helpful to those inexperienced in reference work, or those returning to it after working in other areas. The concepts and management advice are useful for all types of libraries, and are the most interesting sections of the book. The many reference sources described are those most likely to be offered in academic and public libraries, so libraries with more specialised services (specialised in subject matter and/or clientele) would need to augment this book with more focused tools relevant to their own services. Given the imminent publication of the third edition, and considering rapid changes in technology and the volatility of web sites, that edition is the one to buy.

Related articles