Reference Librarians' Page

Please place a comment below indicating any ideas you have for topics for individual sessions at our tech day over break.  These don’t have to be ones the library would do - also include ideas for ones that the Computer Center or OIT or visiting speakers might do - any ideas for content, you don’t have to have a presenter in mind.

The new titles added to Credo Reference for Oct and Nov:

• Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre in Art
• Critical Terms for Art History, University of Chicago Press in Art
• Shakespeare’s Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context, Continuum in Art
• Time Saver Standards for Architectural Design: Technical Data for Professional Practice, in Art
• Marquis Who Was Who in America: 1607-1984 in Biography
• Encyclopedia of the History of American Management, in Business
• Critical Terms for Literary Study, in Literature
• Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Media, Industry and Society in Music
• Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production in Music
• Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, in Philosophy
• Encyclopedia of Empiricism, in Philosophy
• Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, in Religion
• Manufacturing Engineering Handbook, in Science
• Rivers of North America, in Science
• Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts, in Social Sciences

The following titles are new in Credo Reference for the month of September.

From ABC-CLIO:

• Canada’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• The Former Soviet Union’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• The Former Yugoslavia’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• Iran’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• Nigeria’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• South Africa’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook
• African-American Writers: A Dictionary
• Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia
• The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs
• Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law
• Immigration and Asylum from 1900 to Present
• Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History
• Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present
• Public Opinion, Polling, and Democracy Around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia

From Routledge:

• Biographical Dictionary of Psychology
• Dictionary of World Philosophy
• Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003
• Encyclopedia of Postmodernism
• Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology
• International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics

From Elsevier:

• Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Leaders, Movements, and Concepts
• Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology
• Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics
• Condensed Encyclopedia of Polymer Engineering Terms
• Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender

There are 37 new titles in Credo for the months of July and August. They are from 3 publishers: ABC-CLIO, Routledge and Elesevier.

• Martial Arts of the World, in Art
• Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia, in History
• Conspiracy Theories in American History, in History
• Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, in History
• Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, in History
• Immigration and Asylum from 1900 to Present, in History
• Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History, in History
• Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present, in History
• Biographical Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology, in Social Sciences
• Canada’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Archaeology: History and Discoveries,in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Leaders, Movements, and Concepts, in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Fundamental Themes, in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs, in Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, in Social Sciences
• The Former Soviet Union’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• The Former Yugoslavia’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law, in Social Sciences
• International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics, in Social Sciences
• Iran’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• Nigeria’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• Public Opinion, Polling, and Democracy Around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia, in Social Sciences
• South Africa’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, in Social Sciences
• Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics, in Language
• African-American Writers: A Dictionary, in Literature
• Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003, in Literature
• Condensed Encyclopedia of Polymer Engineering Terms, in Science
• Science in the Contemporary World: An Encyclopedia, in Science
• Biographical Dictionary of Psychology, in Psychology
• Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, in Psychology
• Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender, in PsychologyThe American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia, in Business
• Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Philosophers, in Philosophy
• Dictionary of World Philosophy, in Philosophy
• Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, in Philosophy
• Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology, in Technology

Two titles have been updated:

• The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide,  in Encyclopedias
• Chambers Biographical Dictionary in Biographies

The following titles were added to Credo in June.

• Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature
• Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Routledge
• An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930, Routledge
• Concise Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology, Routledge
• Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, Elsevier
• Encyclopedia of Insects, Elsevier
• Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Elsevier
• Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Elsevier
• Science in the Ancient World: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
• Science in the Early Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
• Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
• Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Routledge
• Encyclopedia of Ethics, Routledge
• Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children, Routledge
• International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management, Elsevier

The following titles were updated to the most recent editions.

• CIA World Factbook
• Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage 2008
• Good Word Guide, A&C Black

The titles added to our Credo Reference subscription since May 1 are:

• The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory, in Literature
• Word Origins: The Hidden Histories of English Words from A to Z, in Language
• Late Antiquity: A Guide to The Postclassical World, in History
• Marquis Who Was Who in America 1985-present, in Biography
• Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary: Completing the Twentieth Century, in Biography
• International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent, in Philosophy & Psychology
• Elsevier’s Dictionary of Psychological Theories, in Philosophy & Psychology
• Handbook of Forensic Psychology: Resource for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, in Philosophy & Psychology
• The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965, in Social Sciences
• Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, in Social Sciences
• The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health, in Medicine
• Black’s Veterinary Dictionary, in Medicine
• Handbook of Vegetable Pests, in Science

The following titles were updated to the latest editions.

• Dictionary of Accounting, in Business
• The Wisden Archive of Cricketers’ Lives 2008, in Biography
• Philip’s Encyclopedia 2008, in Encyclopedias
• Philip’s World Factbook 2008-2009, in Geography

New titles added to Credo since February:

• The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, in Philosophy & Psychology
• Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Harvard University Press) in Science
• Handbook of United States Economic and Financial Indicators, in Business
• Notable American Women: 1607-1950, A Biographical Dictionary, in Biography
• Notable American Women: The Modern Period, A Biographical Dictionary, in Biography

The following have been updated to new editions.

• The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Design Since 1900, in Art
• The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers, in Art
• The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers, in Art
• Marquis Who’s Who in America, in Biography
• Marquis Who’s Who in the World, in Biography
• Dictionary of Business, in Business
• Merriam-Webster’s Geographical Dictionary, in Geography
• Who’s Who in Ancient Egypt, in History
• Who’s Who in Gay and Lesbian History - From Antiquity to World War II, in History
• Collins Dictionary of Medicine, in Medicine
• Who’s Who in Christianity, in Religion
• The New Penguin Dictionary of Science, in Science

Substitutions ~ Laurie needs some for next month, and will email us about them.

Reference Desk / Instruction Issues - None reported.

Extended Hours for Reference During Finals ~ Anne & Scott have signed up. Sharon indicated that she can only work some of the hours already chosen. Anne & Scott indicated that they were flexible and could do some re-arranging. So, Sharon will work with them to re-arrange and put her’s in, and then she’ll put the Sheet in Jeff’s mailbox.

Ref Works ~ Laurie is working on the text for the future email to Steve & Vickie to open up discussion about this.

Planning for Reviewing / Adding Databases

• Sharon indicated that she would like to see if we can develop some kind of plan for how decisions about which databases should be listed for suggestion or review to insure that we are not just being driven by vendor calls, ads etc. She suggested that we perhaps draft something by which Liaisons review information needs in their subject areas to determine if there are gaps in our current coverage and/or better options for providing that same coverage. The idea would be that they would then only suggest to others for review and/or trials databases when they had determined a need and done a preliminary review of what was available. Sharon also indicated that it might also be useful if we could build into this process some kind of schedule or structure so that liaisons could be prompted to take various steps at various times. What I think we want to avoid is sending Laurie every email or phone call we get from a vendor about an online service.
• Jeff pointed out that we also needed to think about Individual Reference work titles - print equivalent kinds of things-, and that the process for these might be different or similar. He noted that for these maybe even more so than for databases that we would need to communicate directly with faculty about the options. He gave two specific examples of the type of thing we might want to do :
• Film Studies - identify if there were online Encyclopedias or other types of reference works in this area that might benefit the large group of students across departments that are working in this area. Then talk to all the faculty teaching film studies courses to see if one or more of these would be useful to have
• Asian Studies - Same thing as above.
• Sharon pointed out that we also do have something currently in place so that each time a reference work is suggested by someone, we investigate a print vs online option. So far, most of the time the resources have only been available in print. Several of the online reference books we have purchased so far were reference books suggested by faculty.
• Sharon brought up Laurie’s comment from the previous meeting that we would need to come up with plans for how to connect users with new online resources in addition to just planning for how to decide on them. We talked about the difficulties in promoting reference sources to students and faculty, and that we will need a strong plan for how to do this. Later in the meeting Laurie came back to this thought and suggested that the Lib Guides software might be a particularly effective way of doing this. If we have subject guides by department that then have links to these online reference sources, then students may be much more likely to get to them because they are writing an econ paper - so look for Economics - click on that and get to the subject guide and then see the reference work prominently displayed and easy to link to.
• It was brought up that there are some types of resources that are very large and expensive and that really don’t fit into our regular budgetary structure, but that sometimes we still need to review these because we may be able to obtain them with some kind of special funding. We talked about the need for a balance between not ignoring things just because they were expensive, but also not wasting too much time on trials and reviewing something that was probably out of the question financially.
• Two examples of this kind of resource were mentioned : Web of Science & ArtStor
• It was suggested that when a resource comes to our attention that is very expensive (say over $5000+?), that is interdisciplinary, and that is a major resource that would not be replacing something existing, but would be a basically adding something totally new that we consider these as a kind of Capital expense rather than a routine one, and that we review such items with Jeff to get a sense of whether they are totally out of the question or worth pursuing for potential extra funding before we do trials or extensive reviews.
• Plan for Choosing databases - We got back to this, and a tentative kind of structure / schedule was suggested as follows (this is a bit fleshed out based on what was said at the meeting):
• Summer - For each of their departments - Liaisons would review the courses that had been taught the previous year, the course schedule for the upcoming year, their experiences with reference questions and instruction, to determine if there are needs in certain subject areas that are either not being met at all, or that just need increased resources, or if there are problems with interfaces that could be improved by changing products. In terms of coverage they would look at both Indexing, and full text needs. They would generate a list of subjects that needed additional coverage and what type, and also if there were any products that should be reviewed because of interface issues.
• August - Liaisons would review the Annual Choice volume on online resources - with the identified needs in mind.
• Fall - Liaisons would consult the list of databases in the Try-It resource in the Fall in the areas that the had determined needed more coverage or review.
• Fall/Winter using the Choice volume, The Try-it resource, and potentially other sources, the liaisons would generate a list of databases/resources to consider adding or changing to. Liaisons can request usage data on current databases from Laurie if wanted to help make a decision.
• Winter - Liaisons would post to the blog their suggestions for resources to add or change and solicit comments.
• Winter - Librarians would review the blog regularly and make comments on these lists.
• Winter(late)/Spring(early) - Liaisons would review comments and decide on which resources to trial, and then would pass those requests on to Laurie, along with any info on dates that would be most useful for a trial.
• Winter(late)/Spring(early) - Trials would happen. Laurie would send info to librarians about trials. Liaisons would be responsible for communicating and working with their departments to get faculty and students to use trials.
• Spring - Liaisons would comment on the trialed databases on the blog. Librarians would review all the posts and comments.
• Spring - Librarians meet, having reviewed all the blog material, and begin working towards decisions in each subject area.
• Specific Resources/databases considering now
• Web of Science -
• Look into more information on this over the summer, and determine exactly what the options are and what subjects are covered, etc.
• Start to gather some feedback from departments in the summer to gauge interest.
• Schedule a Trial for Mid Fall
• Earliest adoption would be July 09
• Performing Arts Index
• Suggested that we do have gaps in current coverage for Theatre, Dance and Film - particularly for late 20th and 21st century - so worth looking at this and/or others to see if those gaps can be filled.
• Suggested that we determine if this index has late 20th and 21st century coverage before starting a trial.
• Anne & Scott will look into this, and then either recommend a trial for this or for something else or let us know if there are no resources to do this at this time.
• Gale Literature Collection
• Sharon pointed out the following drawbacks
• We do not currently subscribe to any of these titles - so there is no print to drop to make up for the cost.
• Several of the titles on the list (mostly the genre specific ones) are dead titles that ceased being added to 3-4 years ago. So, the info in these is not current, and her understanding is that these portions are not being updated.
• All overlaps with MLA. There would be no citations in this that would not also appear in MLA
• Sharon pointed out the following Strengths of the product
• Contains excerpts of the criticism
• Is Selective - so student is pointed to the seminal articles -and fewer, not as overwhelming as MLA, not as likely to pick obscure articles.
• Gives an overview across time - allows you to see how criticism on an author has altered across time.
• Sharon indicated that we might want to get pricing information first, before deciding on a trial. Because of the downsides to this, it does not make sense to invest a large sum of money in it. However, if the price is reasonable, the assets of this product could make it worthwhile.
• Laurie is going to get pricing. Depending on that, we’ll set up a trial.
• Miscelaneous - These are some things that came up tangentially - that did not fit in the above categories.
• Need to review collection development procedures across the board, as well as what we are doing now.
• How do we work towards a proposal / plan for routine growth in the acquisitions budget now that things have stabilized.
• How do we re-coop losses from the cuts that were made 4- 5 years ago.
• Periodicals - do we need more reviews of these
• Monographs - is our current model broken. Do we need to find a way to make this less burdensome on our faculty. Has the elimination of choice cards made this too difficult for faculty, etc.
• Jeff mentioned a couple of other specific reference sources that were moving online :
• Annual Register - we do not currently get this, and have not for many many years. Currently probably only need historical coverage not current.
• Annals of America - we stopped our subscription in 1991. May want to look at this at some point.
• Encyclopedia Britannica via Missouri Link- we get this free through CARLI
• RSS feed for Librarian blog - Scott will look into how to get RSS of comments. Scott later emailed the URL for this. If you need instructions for how to set this up, refer to Scott’s email earlier this month. If you can’t find the email, feel free to ask Scott or Sharon how to set this up - it is really easy : )

Here’s a list of new titles that have been added to Credo since October.

• Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development, Cambridge University Press, in Social Sciences
• Contemporary Youth Culture: An International Encyclopedia, Greenwood, in Social Sciences
• Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences, Routledge, in Social Sciences
• Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Greenwood in Social Sciences
• Cambridge World History of Food, Cambridge University Press, in Food
• Collins Spurrell Welsh Dictionary, Collins, in Bilinguals
• Harrap’s Polish Dictionary, Chambers Harrap, in Bilinguals
• Encyclopedia of African History, Routledge, in History
• Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, Routledge, in History
• Reader’s Guide to British History, Routledge, in History
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, Gale in History
• Encyclopedia of German Literature, Routledge, in Literature
• Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Routledge in Literature
• Dictionary of Italian Literature, Greenwood in Literature
• Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature, Greenwood in Literature
• Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms, Routledge, in Language
• Reader’s Guide to the History of Science, Routledge, in Science
• Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained, Chambers Harrap, in Philosophy & Psychology
• Dictionary of Existentialism, Greenwood, in Philosophy & Psychology
• Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy, Greenwood, in Philosophy & Psychology

And here the titles that have been updated to their most recent editions:

• Collins Spanish Dictionary, in Bilinguals
• Collins Italian Dictionary, in Bilinguals
• Collins French Dictionary Plus, in Bilinguals
• Collins Portuguese Dictionary, in Bilinguals
• Collins Irish Dictionary, in Bilinguals
• The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics, in Science
• Merriam-Webster’s Medical Desk Dictionary, Revised Edition, Merriam-Webster, in Medicine
• The Wisden Archive of Cricketers’ Lives, John Wisden & Co. Ltd., in Biography
• The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, in Dictionaries
• The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, in Philosophy & Psychology
• The New Penguin Dictionary of Music, in Music
• The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, in Social Sciences
• The Penguin Dictionary of Economics, in Business
• The New Penguin Business Dictionary, in Business
• The Penguin International Dictionary of Finance, in Business

I believe we talked about this earlier this year when it came out. Gale is having a sale, and I thought it might make sense to re-visit it - just in case. This encyclopedia was a standard that was heavily used in the past (i.e. 15 years ago and prior to that), and was a standard that no academic library would have thought they could survive without.

However, now that we have such a hard time getting students to use encyclopedias regardless of print or online, we’ve pretty much decided that these large, expensive and more general encyclopedias just don’t make sense to spend 1/5 of the entire reference budget on.

But, since Gale was having the sale - I thought I would double check.

So, it is 9 volumes and we can purchase it for $972 and free shipping - List price is $1080 and shipping for a 9 volume work would normally be about $20.

It is available in e book form - and we can look at pricing for that if there is strong interest. But so far we have not had much luck getting students to use online encyclopedias either unless they are sent there by faculty.

Let me know if this is something you think we should consider in print or online. The deadline for the sale is March 14th.

Sharon