Reference Services Review: Volume 11 Issue 3

If I Had to Choose

Bill Katz

The charge is clear. Ignoring the intrusion of reality, Jim Rettig asks you to create a reference service of ten sources on a desert island. Let's, then, imagine a primitive, yet…

My Desert Island Reference Collection

Robert Pierson

From the point of view of reference service, the crucial fact about my desert island is that I am its sole human resident: I am therefore the sole potential recipient of any…

Cable Television and Libraries

Tom Szudy

The cable television industry began to expand greatly in the 1970s as a consequence of several court decisions forcing the Federal Communications Commission to lift its previous…

Dictionary of American Biography

W. Keith McCoy

When discussing biographical works in the context of reference necessities, it is impossible to exclude the Dictionary of American Biography. Having already looked at Who's Who in…

Public Access to Microcomputers: Thoughts From the North‐Pulaski Experience

Patrick R. Dewey

Of the 88 public libraries responding to one 1982 survey, twelve (or 13.6 percent) had at least one “public access” microcomputer and ten (or 11.4 percent) planned on getting one…

Counseling the Handicapped: An Annotated Bibliography for Children, Counselors, and Parents

Kathleen W. Craver

In the 1970s, the United States Congress enacted two statutes that have had dramatic and far‐reaching effects on the education of handicapped children by public schools. These two…

Business Directory Databases

Mary Ann Walker

Every reference librarian knows the frustration of being unable to find information requested on companies. Often, the information exists; but not every library can justify…

Data Base‐ics & Trends: The Future of the New York Times Online

Martin Kesselman

Deborah Silcox assured the audience that Mead resorted to no “under the table” deals to obtain NYTIS. Rather, the New York Times, deciding to get out of the online business…

Alaska Newspaper Index: Microcomputers and Information Access Company

David Hales, Brenda Artman

No one working at a library reference desk needs to be convinced of the importance of indexes to local newspapers. With the tremendous interest in genealogy and local history…

Which Dog? Which Book? A Shaggy Dog Tale

Barbara Branstad

Why does a library need reference sources concerning the various breeds of dogs? What kinds of questions are likely to be encountered which could be answered by books of this…

Astronomy Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Arlene Greer

Astronomy has experienced a rapid rate of discovery and change in the recent past, particularly because of the space program and general technological development. Through…

Anthropology: Haas Revisited

Donnie R. Nelson, Paula J. Perry

In the October/December 1977 issue of Reference Services Review Marilyn Haas provided a superb review of the basic reference sources for the study of anthropology. Her review is…

American History Reference Sources, 1982–83

Gary D. Barber, Carol Burroughs

Judging from the titles in this year's survey, 1982/83 was the “Year of the Bibliography.” Wherein half of last year's reviews were bibliographies, almost three‐fourths of this…

Reference Serials

Judith B. Quinlan, David Pilachowski, Larayne J. Dallas, Carol J. Veitch, Ray Gerke, Bessie Carrington

“What above all marks out a reference book from other works is the way it is arranged: it must be deliberately designed for ease of consultation rather than for continuous…

Canadian Reference Books; Or Benevolent Ignorance Dispelled

Edith T. Jarvi, Diane Henderson

“The best things in life are free” goes a popular song of the twenties. One of those “best things” for a librarian developing a collection of Canadian materials is Guide to…