The guide identifies over 75 sources of book reviews in the reference department of McLennan Library at McGill University as of 1977. Describing many standard reference books, the guide was designed to assist students looking for book reviews and to illustrate the variety of sources for reviews in the McLennan Library. Section one, Major Sources…

The two units of the instructional package included in this document are: Introduction to Serials Indexing and Abstracting Services and Introduction to Reports Indexing and Abstracting Services. The unit on serials is limited to periodicals. It discusses the factors to be considered when choosing an abstracting and indexing service to use for…

Discusses accessing and using documents from international (intergovernmental) organizations. Profiles the United Nations, the European Union and other Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs). Discusses the librarian as "Web detective," notes questions to focus on, and presents examples to demonstrate navigation of IGO sites. Lists basic…

Presents a way to model a large class of reference information based on a semantic network technique with embedded argumentation of the information provider. Shows by discussion of several alternatives that the approach is flexible enough to be adapted to different user and system requirements. (Author/AEF)

There are a number of Web-based Internet resources available in the performance arts, created by hobbyists, amateurs, professionals, and corporations for commercial and recreational purposes. Collected here are Internet sites in the areas of music, dance, film/cinema, and theater/drama that are useful when answering typical reference questions in…

Describes the winner of the AASL (American Association of School Libraries) Information Technology Pathfinder Award for 2002 in the secondary category, the "Article Finder," a Web-based hyperguide to finding articles in the Lovett School (Georgia) library media center, a customized information portal highlighting the library's resources…

Discusses references collections in academic libraries and offers guidelines for placing materials in a reference collection that focus on their suitability for true reference functions and the expected frequency of use. Problems with poorly managed collections are discussed, and the importance of selection policies and weeding are emphasized. (37…

Discusses the use of CD-ROMs in library processing and public services units. Topics discussed include local area networks, workstations, network security, search software, disk operating systems (DOS), computer viruses, CD-ROM selection and acquisition, licensing, and standards. A sidebar lists current CD-ROM products appropriate for reference…

Reference materials used by librarians responding to reference requests and by patrons at the Iowa State University Library were analyzed to determine which subject areas of the collection received greatest use, and whether subject areas and types of materials used by librarians differed from those used by patrons. (19 references) (MES)

An experiment investigated whether the format in which information is stored affects the outcomes of ready reference transactions in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Results indicate that bibliographic questions are more efficiently answered online, while factual questions are more efficiently answered with print sources. Results of the study are…

Examines the history of telephone directory collections in libraries and describes a survey of telephone directory use at the Colorado State University libraries. Data collection is described, and implications for more effective use of such collections are suggested. An appendix lists sources that augment telephone directory collections. (16…

Presents American Library Association guidelines for medical, legal, and business responses at general reference desks covering the role of the librarian, including interpretation, advice, confidentiality, and tact; sources, including currency and referrals; telephone or mail reference; and ethics. (MES)

Discusses implementation of the automated recording of reshelving statistics for print reference materials and the use of these statistics in reference-collection development and management, especially in making acquisitions and weeding decisions, based on experiences at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. (Author/LRW)

Describes the development by the Alexandria Digital Library of a gazetteer (dictionary of geographic names) composed of a Gazetteer Content Standard, a Feature Type Thesaurus, and an operational interactive gazetteer service. Illustrates the use of this tool in a georeferenced digital library and relates progress in working with Federal agencies…

Developed in response to a trend toward using hourly students and library school graduate students at the reference desk, this training manual provides basic training for library staff involved in providing engineering reference services. It integrates traditional and electronic resources into a 10-unit, 6- to 8-week program of instruction. The 10…