Topical Reference Books

Library Journal

The care and thought that went into this collection development guide is evident on every page. The third offering in the Bowker ``Buying Guide'' series, this solid new title is intended to assist librarians in creating and maintaining core collections in 91 subject areas. (The two previous titles, General Reference Books for Adults , LJ 12/88, and Reference Books for Young Readers , LJ 10/15/88, covered general encyclopedias, atlases, and dictionaries.) All books included here were chosen by an advisory board of librarians with varied backgrounds. All titles examined are in English, in print at press time, available in the United States, and intended for high school-level or above. Each subject section consists of an overview of resources and suggestions for collection development; a list of core titles and a chart showing their applicability for public, academic, or school libraries; a critical review of each title; a list of supplementary titles for further expansion; and a ``New & Noteworthy'' section which mentions titles just released as the book went to press. (The cutoff date for inclusion is January 1990.) Numerous appendixes and indexes list much useful information, including publishers and their reference titles and titles arranged by Dewey and LC numbers. Painstakingly created for the library professional, logically and graphically organized, substantial, and packed with information, this invaluable work has for its only competition Eugene Sheehy's Guide to Reference Books (American Library Assn., 1986), which might be preferred by large libraries because of its broader scope and inclusion of foreign titles. However, Sheehy is now rather dated, and Topical Reference , while not comprehensive, will prove valuable as budget constrictions make purchasing decisions even more crucial. For those planning to begin collection development, this may be the first book to buy. For all libraries.-- James Moffet, Bald win P.L., Birmingham, Mich.

Booknews

This fine new bibliography reviews and evaluates some 2,000 reference books in 50 specific areas of knowledge (from advertising to zoology) to assist librarians in developing and maintaining core subject collections. Each topical category includes headnotes, which provide background information, suggestions for collection development and information on out-of-print titles; core titles, which identify the most essential books for the core collection on that subject; charts, which show if a particular work is suited to a specific need; supplementary titles, for expanding the collection on that subject; and a section that highlights the newest and most promising releases. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)