Preface

	Introduction to Reference Work, Volume I, 8^th Edition by William A. Katz
	About the Book
				Return to Main Page

PREFACE

As in previous editions, this eighth edition of Introduction to Reference Work: Volume I, Basic Information Services is virtually rewritten. It is the author's conviction that the ongoing revolution in reference sources and the reference process requires such complete revision.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

Since the previous edition of this text, which offers an overview of reference services for curious students, the computer revolution has become an intransigent part of the library. What was radical is now an acceptable, expected part of daily library reference work. The revolution sped from agitation to acceptance in less than a decade. This is not to say the shape and methodology of reference service is now established. Change and motion is built into the electronic miracle and it continues to transform itself. Reference can be summarized in the words of the immortal Monty Python: “Now, for something completely different.” Not a month goes by that somebody, somewhere discovers a new method of finding answers to questions. And it normally is tied closely to a computer.

Today reference libraries turn to indexes, encyclopedias, or directories for the same type of information as they did decades ago. The essential difference is threefold.

First, one may use not only a print source, but also an electronic database, usually online and easily accessible on the Internet. CD-ROMs, too, are popular.

Second, the library offers access not only to local resources, but also to all that has been published since the beginning of printing. There is little information that is not within the reach of a computer keyboard in almost every library in the United States and Canada.

Third, the reference librarian uses traditional basic reference works and now acts as mediator as well, a middle person between masses of information and the user who is unable to discriminate the good from the poor, the best from the better. More and more the reference librarian has become the key professional information expert. Today he or she is necessary to filter the mass of undifferentiated information that flows over national and international networks.

Other trends in this revision are based upon probable reference services in the next decade. The changes represent a consensus among working reference librarians:

The Internet and its numerous configurations and promises is the basic carrier for information. In a short time it will replace standard print and CD-ROM formats.

The information highway is filled with ruts, bumps, and numerous hazards which few laypersons can avoid. The trained reference librarian not only bypasses such dangers but takes the user from beginning to end of a search with a minimum of difficulty.

Thanks to government intervention which ensures cheap access to the Internet, coupled with a growing trend towards literally giving away hardware in order to persuade people to use the Internet, all libraries will have Internet services available free to the public.

At the same time, standard information sources will remain as they are today, slightly to wildly expensive. As truly refined information databases become increasingly available, the library equally is increasingly important to ensure information's free access to the public.

Public, school, and academic libraries will make more databases available. The reference librarians will be called upon to solve problems as they arise for individual users.

The new technologies will increase the amount of reference services.

Thanks to constant changes in technology and resources, the librarian will have to continually renew, sharpen, and master new skills.

Subject expertise is increasingly important, particularly as the number of reference sources become more specific and the users more sophisticated.

Demand for instruction in the use of everything from computers to networks to pamphlets and, more particularly, online CD-ROM searching will continue to grow.

This first volume is by way of a training manual. No one can move into the finer points of reference services (present and future) without an understanding and mastery of basic reference forms, no matter what packages they are delivered in. The primary purpose, as in past editions, is to offer a lucid, accurate description of standard reference sources.

PLAN OF THE BOOK

The organization is much the same as in all editions. There is no reason to change since the text is dealing with fundamentals which, no matter what the information highway looks like or where it wanders, are essential to information understanding.

The first section considers the reference services process. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 cover the parameters and meaning of the electronic library. Both chapters are expanded over the previous edition. The initial chapters serve as an explanation to two vital areas of reference services—the community served and the technologies employed in service.

As in the previous edition, Part II, Information: Control and Access, is concerned with bibliography and indexes. At this point, though, the basic layout changes. There is first an online format for a reference work, followed by a CD-ROM version, and last by the usually initial printed book.

The format pattern (throughout both the first and second volume) for reference works is shown below:

Online: Title of the reference source/publisher when it began publication/frequency — and usually with a URL, i.e., an Internet address. As all major reference sources are for a fee, the Internet address is not the actual address of the database (which requires a password), but the address of the publisher and background information on the source. Turn to your library's Web page to find the actual reference source online. If there, use the link to the online source. If not available from the library, turn to another library and/or use the publisher's URL given here as many for-fee databases allow a limited free search, which is ideal for students.
CD-ROM: Title and publisher not given as the same as for online. Note, though, where title of CD-ROM differs from the online version, this title is given when it began publication/frequency/price where this is known.
Print: Title, which often differs from the online and/or CD-ROM when it began publication/frequency/price (usually, let it be noted, much earlier than the electronic formats).

It is important to recognize that prices and bibliographical data changes. Even titles and publishers are subject to revision. Still, the basic information given here remains much the same from year to year. Bibliographical data is based on publishers' catalogs, Books In Print, Gale Directory of Database, and examination of the titles. Online and CD-ROM titles, for the most part, have been used at a computer terminal. Also, the author has turned to excellent reviews for support and assistance—particularly those in the Library Journal, Booklist, Online, Database, and Choice. The information is applicable as of 2000 and, like price, is subject to change.

Emphasis is on form, not on specific titles. Each form, from bibliographies to biographies, is discussed. Examples are given of titles—and particularly those titles likely to be found in most public, academic, or school libraries.

In describing each reference title the primary focus is on content, and how that content differs from, say, similar titles. The use of the reference work is indicated.

No exhaustive effort is made to show how to search X or Y database. Basic search patterns, especially where they are found in similar databases, are considered, but sophisticated searching is not discussed. Why? First, most schools and libraries have separate, necessary courses on database searching. Second, software (in which the search is found) is as likely to change as rapidly as the means of delivery of information. What may be a valid explanation of a search today may be nothing but history tomorrow. On the other hand, the basic content, the basic search approach, is not likely to change. And that is why both are stressed.

Part III, Sources of Information, follows the pattern of previous editions. Again, entries are as they were outlined for the first section. Here, though, the focus is on using “one-stop” information sources and how they fit into the average reference services arrangement.

Online version of the text and updates

This text, and its companion volume, can be purchased in electronic format. Contact either your McGraw-Hill sales representative or visit www.mhhe.com/primis/online for more information. Updates to the text will be available on an accompanying website: www.mhhe.com/katz.

Suggested Reading

In both volumes, suggested readings are found in the footnotes and at the end of each chapter. When a publication is cited in a footnote, the reference is rarely duplicated in the “Suggested Reading” section. For the most part, these readings are limited to publications issued since 1998. In addition to providing readers with current thinking, the more recent citations have the added bonus of making it easier for the student to locate the readings. It is beyond argument, of course, that all readings need not necessarily be current. Many older articles and books are as valuable today as they were when first published. Thanks to teachers who have retained earlier editions of this text it is possible to have a bibliography of previous readings.

Two points about Internet readings. Material on the Internet dates the moment it is published, whether in print or online. What is listed here is considered basic, if only for a few years. Second point: Books in Print from year to year has from 550 to 650 “Internet Guides.” Most of these are so ephemeral to be worthless, but an effort has been made to pick a few that deserve a longer life and are likely to be of most value to beginners.

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the reviewers who critiqued this book: Lesley Farmer, California State University, Long Beach; Judith V. Lechner, Auburn University; Ketty Rodriguez, University of Southern Mississippi; Gail M. Staines, University of Buffalo; Ibrahim M. Stwodah, Longwood College.

Thanks are also due to the editors for this volume, Valerie Raymond and Amy Shaffer, as well as thanks also to the indexer, Kelly Lutz.

----William A. Katz

Copyright ©2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

If you have a question or a problem about a specific book or product, please fill out our Product Feedback Form.
For further information about this site contact webmaster@mcgraw-hill.com