Contact: Catherine English
ALA Publishing
800-545-2433 ext. 1537
guidetoreference@ala.org
For Immediate Release
November 11, 2008
ALA Publishing announces launch of Guide to Reference online
ALA Publishing announced this month the launch of the new online edition of Guide to Reference. Offering more than 16,000 essential print and Web reference resources, Guide to Reference provides guidance in the form of expert introductory essays and annotations for entries. It also offers tips for LIS reference-course exercises and reference department activities such as collection development and reference-desk training.
"We are delighted to offer Guide to Reference online," said Patrick Hogan, director of online resources for ALA Publishing. “Guide to Reference has been used internationally as the ‘source of first resort’ for training reference staff, developing reference collections, assisting interlibrary loan staff and serving as a gateway to reference literature, and the new online edition will continue this proud tradition.”
Robert Kieft, general editor of the guide noted “Guide to Reference is the first edition to list sources on the World Wide Web and the first to be issued in electronic form. It takes full advantage of the Web's capacities to connect information sources and create and link to content that will make it a center for learning about and practicing reference librarianship.”
Guide to Reference supports curricula for undergraduate and graduate students, the research efforts of faculty and academic staff and the advanced information needs of the public. Expert contributors from more than 50 universities have identified the best available reference sources from leading collections in their subject specialty, including Agricultural Science (Cornell) and Engineering (Carnegie Mellon).
Distinctive features of the online edition of Guide to Reference include:
- A highly selective range of reference resources across key academic disciplines, including General Reference, History, Science, Humanities, and Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Ability to edit, print, email and share records to create collection development lists and notes
- Sophisticated browse and search capabilities to help pinpoint resources
- Connectivity from Guide to Reference to WorldCat’s Find in a Library service
- Easy access via IP address to authorized users on the subscribing institution's campus or institutional network
Established in 1902 with publication of Alice Bertha Kroeger’s (Drexel University) Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books with later editions edited by Columbia University luminaries Isadora Mudge, Constance Winchell, and Eugene Sheehy, the new online edition is published under the leadership of Robert H. Kieft (Occidental College). For more information and to sign up for a free trial subscription, visit www.guidetoreference.org
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