Outstanding Reference Sources

The Outstanding Reference Sources Committee was established in 1958 to recommend the most outstanding reference publications for small and medium-sized libraries. An annotated list of these outstanding reference works is published annually in the May issue of American Libraries. The list is also included in Reference & User Services Quarterly and published on the RUSA Web site.

Publishers are welcome to send books as they see fit if they believe they meet the selection criteria. For more information, please contact the committee chair listed on the committee roster page.

The Selections for 2012

The Encyclopedia of Political Science, George T Kurian editor-in-chief, published by CQ Press, (9781933116440)

The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia, edited by Spencer Tucker, published by ABC-CLIO, (9781598843385)

Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution: Fighting Words, edited by Michael Hickey, published by Greenwood, (9780313385230)

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible, edited by Michael D. Coogan, published by Oxford University Press, (9780195377378)

Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, by Donald B. Kraybill, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, (9780801896576)

The Polish American Encyclopedia, edited by James S. Pula, published by McFarland & Company, Inc., (9780786433087)

Green’s Dictionary of Slang, by Jonathan Green, published by Oxford University Press, (9780550104403)

Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine, edited by Lyle J. Micheli, published by Sage Publications, (9781412961158)

The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory, Michael Ryan, general editor, published by Wiley-Blackwell, (9781405183123)

The Homer Encyclopedia, edited by Margalit Finkelberg, published by Wiley-Blackwell, (9781405177689)

The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, edited by Joan D. Marter, published by Oxford University Press, (9780195335798)