What is the future direction of reference books? What types of policies are libraries implementing regarding the purchase of electronic reference books? Are libraries still buying hard copy reference items when an electronic equivalent is available? This paper discusses a national survey of libraries regarding the purchase and use of electronic…

Presents questions for evaluating a media center's reference section, focused on types of resources; reference-material evaluation criteria and items that belong in or are misplaced in the reference section; relocating materials and ensuring use of newly classified materials; and how to collect data on usage of resources. (AEF)

This 30th volume of American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) covers 1,578 books and CD-ROMs published in 1998 (with some from 1997 that were not included in the previous volume). The basic purpose of ARBA is to provide comprehensive coverage of English-language reference books published or distributed in the United States or Canada during a single…

The sixth volume of American Reference Books Annual (ARBA 75) covers 1974 imprints plus some 1973 reference books that were received too late for the previous volume. It reviews all reference books published or distributed in the United States in all areas of knowledge. ARBA 75 contains 1,855 reviews, and the individual reviews are markedly longer…

This annotated bibliography provides a selected list of marketing reference sources for undergraduate and graduate business students interested in marketing and related topics. All sources listed are available in the Reference Department at the University Library at the University of Rhode Island Kingston campus. Most sources, with the exception…

Prepared by an occupational analyst of the California Analysis Field Center, this publication is intended to suggest maximum flexibility in acquiring and organizing an occupational library. This is accomplished in sections which describe the purposes of an occupational library and provide suggestions for organizing the information, acquiring…

The number of electronic resources has climbed up steadily in recent times. Some of these e-resources are reference sources, mostly in Science, Technology and Medicine (STM), which publishers convert to electronic for obvious reasons. The library budgets for materials usually have two main lines, budget for one time purchase (monographs) and…

Like any well-run company deciding on what products and services to offer, a good library should pay attention to customer demand when it is building its business reference collection. What kind of information do business patrons want? Most are looking for company and industry details: a corporate address or name of an officer, financial data for…

Provides guidelines for ordering the best computer books, geared to the library's size. Covers series, articles, subjects, and publishers most useful to a broad audience, as well as the best places to seek information on new titles and where to find reviews. Offers time savers for upgrading a computer book collection and discusses weeding…

Assigning students to write resource papers about the library provides the instructor with the opportunity to teach about basic rhetorical methods and gives students the chance to become acquainted with resources they should know. Four different types of papers which give students a variety of writing experiences are a description of two reference…

Identifying and describing hundreds of the most valuable and up-to-date references for smaller libraries and media centers, this book can help librarians build better reference collections and answer everyday reference questions with confidence. Approximately 500 titles have been selected from "American Reference Books Annual" (Libraries…

A good professional library should contain a variety of professional materials such as textbooks and supplementary aids, best sellers' books and resource materials, tapes and recordings, professional organizations, publications, films and filmstrips, references, and research studies. Also discussed are library budget preparations and…

Like the first two editions, this third edition is designed primarily to provide the beginning student of library and information science with an overview both of the concepts and processes behind today's reference services and of the most important sources consulted in answering common types of reference questions. The first 12 chapters deal with…

Suggests library-based activities that focus on the relationship between art and literature. Suggests van Eyck's painting, "The Arnolfini Marriage," to elicit from students the history, conditions, themes, and symbols portrayed. Lists a Web-site for more resources and suggested related literature available at several student levels. (ET)

For the past two decades, Syracuse University has been publishing studies in adult and continuing education and collecting resources in those fields. This work has been collected through the Syracuse University Resources for Educators of Adults (SUREA) program and the Syracuse University Publications Program in Continuing Education (SUPCE). SUPCE…