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College and Research Libraries
September 2006, Vol. 67, No. 5

Book Review

The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the Web. Ed. William J. Frost. Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth, 2005. 310 p. alk. paper, $34.95 (paper); $49.95 (cloth) (ISBN 0789028409;0789028395). LC 2004-22799.

Edited by William J. Frost, retired librarian from Bloomsburg University, The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the Web was co-published simultaneously as the Haworth Press journal The Reference Librarian numbers 91/92. In his introduction, Frost states that this work was assembled around the theme of "the migration of reference materials in print to an electronic format accessible on the World Wide Web." In today’s electronic environment, librarians are finding themselves using more and more Internet resources. The Reference Collection combines sixteen articles on all aspects of electronic reference sources, including "a survey of the most important Web-accessible reference tools."

In the first article, "Getting It Right—The Evolution of Reference Collections," author Margaret Landesman traces the development and transformation of reference collections. She looks at print reference sources, automated searching through systems such as MEDLARS, commercial providers like DIALOG, CD-ROM, and Web databases. Landesman concludes that libraries will soon move away from "reference collections" since "given the convergence of formats, we can’t recognize a reference book when we see one. Nor can its electrons be pinned down to a ‘reference collection’."

The next few articles discuss a variety of issues surrounding Internet and electronic reference sources in all types of libraries. In "Out of the Stack and into the Net: International Perspectives on Academic Reference Resources," readers see how university libraries in Australia shifted their reference collection from print to electronic format. Authors Gaynor Austen and Carolyn Young also look at this transition in other English-speaking countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and South Africa. Jeanne Holba Puacz’s "Electronic vs. Print Reference Sources in Public Library Collections" explores the impact electronic sources have had on public libraries, specifically addressing accessibility, ready reference sources, research and free Web resources, and library-created resources for local history, genealogy, and archives. In his "Digital Versus Print: The Current State of Reference Affairs in School Libraries," D. Jackson Maxwell examines the use of both print and digital sources and its implications for the future of school libraries.

The next several articles in this book are devoted to topics like plagiarism, ready reference Web sites, and federated searching. Jennifer R. Sharkey and F. Bartow Culp’s "Cyberplagiarism and the Library: Issues and Solutions" offers librarians methods for detecting and deterring plagiarism in addition to listing a number of library Web sites that provide "informational guides for instructors and students on defining plagiarism, how to avoid it, and how to detect it." In his "Structures and Choices for Ready Reference Web Sites," Steven W. Sowards shares the results of his survey of one hundred library Web sites. Among the features he addresses are number of links, search method options, categorization of resources, and technical aspects like the use of frames and tool bars. Concluding this portion of the book is Stephen C. Boss and Michael L. Nelson’s "Federated Search Tools: The Next Step in the Quest for One-Stop-Shopping." This article describes and evaluates federated search systems from four leading vendors: MetaLib by Ex Libris, ENCompass by Endeavor, Agent by Auto-Graphics, and WebFeat by WebFeat and Thompson ISI. The authors examine the basic design and searching capabilities, management of search results, user customization, and, in addition, administration, configuration, and maintenance for each system.

The latter portion of the book consists of articles about Internet and electronic reference sources in a variety of disciplines, including the humanities, science, medicine, social sciences, business, and education. These articles provide readers with descriptions of a number of important Web sites and databases for each subject area; the authors include both free and subscription-based resources. The book concludes with Lori Morse’s "100 Best Free Internet Web Sites: A Selected List." She supplies readers with an annotated list of Web sites that are "useful for almost all reference librarians, regardless of whether they are in an academic, public, school, or special library setting."

The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the Web is a timely work on the transition of reference sources to today’s increasingly electronic environment. With its insightful articles and helpful resources, The Reference Collection is sure to become a valuable tool for all librarians, especially those engaged in reference and collection development.—Nicole Mitchell, University of Alabama