Outstanding Reference Sources

Administered by:

Award and Frequency

Eligibility

1. Sources from the current year should be emphasized. Titles from the previous year should be included only when necessitated by oversight or late publications dates.
2. "How to do it" publications should be included only if of wide scope and exceptionally fine character.
3. Important and separate indexes to an individual periodical or to groups of periodicals shall be included.
4. Spin-offs, derived from larger related works, whether in book, micrographic, or computerized form, will be considered if appropriate.
5. The new volumes of incomplete sets whose publications began in earlier years will generally be omitted in the annual list, although a note of the completion of such a set might be given.
6. Pamphlets will be omitted.
7. Reference works of purely local scope will be omitted.
8. Highly specialized and foreign language publications will be omitted.
9. New editions will be listed only where there is evidence of major revisions or important supplements to the earlier work.
10. Annuals, yearbooks, new printings of encyclopedias, etc., will be omitted unless the first issues appear during the year, or unless they have truly important revisions or changes in editorial and publication policy.
11. A reference source in any nonprint format may be considered as long as it meets the above-stated criteria used in selecting sources for inclusion. No source will be excluded from consideration by virtue of format alone.

Application Instructions

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

Contact Information

Selection Criteria

1. The contents of the list should adhere close to titles that comply with the conventional definition of a reference source: a work compiled specifically to supply information on a certain subject or group of subjects in a form which will facilitate its easy use; or, as the ALA Glossary states it, "any source used to obtain authoritative information in a reference transaction."
2. The list is directed toward small and medium-sized college and public libraries, although large secondary school libraries may also find the list useful.
3. The contents will consist of adult publications, although important reference works in the juvenile field that fit the definition in (1) above can be considered.
4. The contents will be arranged by broad topics, grouping comparable titles as far as possible. The bibliographic data will conform to American Libraries' recommendations for the annual list. Dates should be included for all entries.
5. Brief annotations of 75-125 words will be written for each title.
6. Items must have been physically examined by at least three members of the committee before consideration for inclusion.