Introduction to Reference Work, Volume I

VOL I review
I am not in library school, but I am following along the curriculum of some library schools. This was one of the books required for reference courses in a number of universities so I picked it up to expand my knowledge.

The first two chapters are awful, the author seemed to take a 'librarian knows all' stance. I think you can skim through these chapters since they are not page turners.

In my opinion this "textbook" is not really a textbook per se. It is intended to teach you some new information, but in reality this book is really meant to be used as a reference book. It lists a lot of databases, what they are good for, where to find them, and how much they cost. I did not hang on every word of the text, I skimmed through it, because I am not rainman, I won't be able to remember all these facts from memory.

Using this book as a reference book, I expanded my knowledge of databases, I gained greater appreciation of the databases that my local and college libraries have, and I experimented more with them since I knew a little more about them.

Treat this book as a desk guide, and not a textbook, and you'll be fine.

The book gets 3 stars because: it is a bit out of date (8th edition), it is a bit self righteous, and because it is misleading. The book should be called something like "A Reference Librarian's guide to Reference Resources"



VOL II review
This book barely squeaks by with a 2 star rating.

The pros:
It has some valuable information on reference processes that people should be familiar with if you've never worked at a reference desk, or at a service desk where you deal with the public, or have never conducted detailed research for your own projects (the last 3-4 chapters)

The Cons:
1. Horrific writing, this book needs a good editor and co-author.

2. The technological aspect is woefully out of date to the point that it's useless. This websites mentioned may no longer exist, and it doesn't take into account a lot of Web 2.0 applications, Google Books, Google Scholar, and other valuable resources.

3. Chapter 11 (not part of the 8th edition, but it is downloadable from the publisher's site) is very badly written and even though it's "recent" it still reads like it was written for middle-schoolers


Conclusion:
Don't buy this book, just get it at your library and read through it. It has some good points, but most of it is pretty bad. Definitely not a Master's level textbook (or reference book for that matter)

Just when you think you know all about reference resources, you are bound to learn something new in this book. For a beginner or an experienced person if you are looking for ways to reach different references , this book is great! I think it is worth every cent I paid for it... now looking to buy the second Volume.

As one pursuing a master's degree in Library Science, I was required to buy this book for my reference course. I have found it to be poorly written and organized and of little practical use. Someone out there must be able to know enough about reference techniques to write a more coherent and interesting text on the subject.

This was used as a college textbook in my class, and to be blunt, I and several other classmates were shocked at the poor quality.

Spelling mistakes, poor grammar, etc. abound. If ever a book needed a good editor, this is the one!

It escapes with 2 stars instead of 1 because the patient reader and beginner Library Science student may be able to glean some helpful advice from the text. At the very least, it seems the late William A. Katz knew a thing or two about the subject of reference work. I have to believe there are MANY better resources on this subject however. If not, then someone needs to start writing, there's money to be made!

(Review edited for spelling)

This book is terrible. I bought it for a class and by the end of the semester I was completely disgusted with it. It is full of errors: misspelled words, improper examples, inconsistencies in style and usage, and the like. It's hard to believe that this is the book's 8th edition! If you can ignore all of this then maybe you'll find some of the information useful. I'm not sure about its companion volume, I didn't bother reading it. All I know is that when I pay $120 for two thin books I expect far better quality than this.