Reference & User Services Quarterly articles from September 2003

Reference & User Services Quarterly archives from September 2003

RUSA Awards, 2003
September 22, 2003... The RUSA Awards program recognizes outstanding achievement by members of the library profession. These awards honor librarians, publishers, libraries, and authors for significant current or past achievements such as publications, program...

Food safety in the biotech era.(The Alert Collector)(food safety web sites)(Directory)
September 22, 2003... Bad beef, killer cold cuts, mercury-contaminated fish, and salmonella-infected sprouts are just a few of the food scares that have made recent headline news. On top of this, there have been warnings about the need to safeguard the country's...

Suppressing the Commons: Misconstrued Patriotism vs. a Psychology of Liberation
September 22, 2003... In these affairs, no gun is needed. The victims do it all themselves. And the bullets never miss.--Bruce Jackson, CounterPunch, May 2003 Libraries play an important role in community building by supporting the public sphere to provide a...

Recreating the Credit Course in an Online Environment: Issues and Concerns
September 22, 2003... In the last decade, a major trend in instructional delivery on many campuses has been the development and implementation of online courses or tutorials of information literacy. These offerings have unique characteristics, opportunities, and...

Privacy and Confidentiality in Digital Reference
September 22, 2003... In a library, the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others. Confidentiality exists when a library is in possession of personally identifiable information......

The Reference Interview through Time and Space
September 22, 2003... "Good afternoon, this is a reference librarian. May I help you?" Variations on this greeting have been uttered by librarians for over a century as the first step in the reference interview. And over that century, thousands upon thousands of...

The Reference Interview: Why It Needs to Be Used in Every (Well, Almost Every) Reference Transaction
September 22, 2003... I have been thinking about the reference interview a lot recently. I've had to. I've been proofreading a book that my coauthors--Patricia Dewdney and Kirsti Nilsen--and I have just finished called Conducting the Reference Interview. (1) And yes,...

The Reference Interview Online
September 22, 2003... One of the biggest challenges in providing reference services in real-time is learning to communicate effectively with remote users and to translate the interpersonal skills used at the physical reference desk into the virtual environment....

Communication, Patron Satisfaction, and the Reference Interview
September 22, 2003... First of all, let me say that I am pro-reference interview. I believe the research about communication and patron satisfaction. I believe that it ultimately saves the time of the user. Most significantly, to me, I believe my own experience. I...

Reference at Its Core: The Reference Interview
September 22, 2003... The 2002 Annual Conference of the American Library Association was remarkable in that it included two major programs about reference services: The RUSA-sponsored program "The Future of Reference" and the RUSA President's Program "The Reference...

Best free reference web sites: fifth annual list: RUSA Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS).(From Committees Of RUSA)(Directory)
September 22, 2003... The Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) appointed an ad hoc task force at the American Library Association's 1998 Annual Conference to develop a method of recognizing outstanding...

E-Mail Reference Responses from Academic ARL Libraries: An Unobtrusive Study
September 22, 2003... E-mail reference connects patrons with reference service providers who can find answers for them. How accurate are the responses to e-mail questions? How firm are libraries' guidelines for time of response, type of questions addressed, and...

Culturegrams
September 22, 2003... Lindon, Utah: Axiom. www.culturegrams.com. Pricing: Pricing is based on number of full-time users, and access is through IP-authentication. Multiyear subscriptions are discounted. Requirements: Web browser. Public and school librarians...

The 1950s.(An Eyewitness History series)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Richard A. Schwartz. An Eyewitness History; Facts On File Library of American History. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 504p. alkaline $75 (ISBN 0-8160-4597-6). If your reference collection includes a set of books detailing the events...

African-American Athletes.(A to Z of African Americans series)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Nathan Aaseng. A to Z of African Americans; Facts On File Library of American History. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 262p. acid free $44 (ISBN 0-8160-4805-3). A one-volume compendium of biographies of prominent African-American...

American Indian History.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Carole A. Barrett. Magill's Choice. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem, 2003. 2 vols. alkaline $99 (ISBN 1-58765-067-3). The editor of American Indian History intended this compact two-volume set to serve as an overview of native American...

American Religious Leaders.(American Biographies series)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Timothy L. Hall. American Biographies; Facts On File Library of American History. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 430p. acid free $65 (ISBN 0-8160-4534-8). American Religious Leaders is one volume in Facts On File's American...

American Writers Classics, vol. I.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Jay Parini. New York: Scrlbner, 2003. 388p. $130 (ISBN 0-684-31248-4). This worthy work fills a niche for all high school and college libraries. With its focus pieces of fiction frequently taught in college general education...

The Creation: Secular, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim Perspectives Analyzed.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Everett Jenkins Jr. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003. 438p. alkaline $75 (ISBN 0-7864-1042-6). This work seems meant to provide a starting point for a personal religious quest; it also seems to be intended to express feelings of...

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Rights and Liberties under the Law.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Joseph A. Melusky and Keith A. Pesto. America's Freedoms. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 2003. 376p. alkaline $55 (ISBN 1-57607-602-4). This compact volume delivers a balanced review of the history, development, and current status...

Encyclopedia of African Literature.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Simon Gikandi. New York: Routledge, 2003. 629p. $150 (ISBN 0-415-23019-5). In addition to updating other reference sources of African literature such as C. Brian Cox's African Writers (Scribher, 1997) or Donald E. Herdeck's...

Encyclopedia of American History.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Gary B. Nash. Facts On File Library of American History. New York: Facts On File, 2003.11 vols. acid free $935 (ISBN 0-8160-4371-X). In the Encyclopedia of American History, Gary Nash, professor of history at UCLA and director of...

Encyclopedia of American Military History.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Spencer C. Tucker. Facts On File Library of American History. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 3 vols. acid free $225 (ISBN 0-8160-4355-8). This work contains more than 1,200 signed articles, averaging about one page each, about...

The Encyclopedia of American Prisons.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Carl Sifakis. Facts On File Crime Library. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 320p. acid free $75 (ISBN 0-8160-4511-9). The essential human fear of being incarcerated, together with a sometimes lurid curiosity about what happens behind...

The Encyclopedia of American Television: Broadcast Programming Post World War II to 2000.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Ron Lackmann. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 528p. alkaline $75 (ISBN 0-8160-4554-2). Ron Lackmann, author of The Encyclopedia of American Radio: An A-Z Guide to Radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern (Facts On File, 2000), takes on...

Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Antonio S. Cua. New York: Routledge, 2003. 1,020p. alkaline $150 (ISBN 0-415-93913-5). This authoritative work, a labor of love ten years in the making under the editorial direction of Antonio S. Cua, is destined to become the...

Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Harry Henderson. Facts On File Science Library. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 450p. acid free $82.50 (ISBN 0-8160-4373-6). There are a number of general computer science reference works currently in print. These works vary in scope...

Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Luis Martinez-Fernandez, D. H. Figueredo, Louis A. Perez Jr., and Luis Gonzalez. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2003. 2 vols. alkaline $174.95 (ISBN 1-57356-334-X). The editors' purpose is to present a balanced picture of Cuba and...

The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by James Robert Parish and Allan Taylor. The Facts On File Film Reference Library. New York: Facts On File, 2003. 722p. acid free $95 (ISBN 0-8160-4604-2). The past few years have seen an explosion of excellent works on ethnic groups...

Encyclopedia of Food and Culture.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Solomon H. Katz and William Woys Weaver. Scribner Library of Daily Life. New York: Scribner, 2003. 3 vols. alkaline $395 (ISBN 0-684-80568-5). One cannot help but love a book that gives not only the top ten countries in beer...

Encyclopedia of New Media: an Essential Reference to Communication and Technology.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Steve Jones. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2003. S32p. $125 (ISBN 0-7619-2382-9). The Encyclopedia of New Media examines artifacts, concepts, personalities, and contexts surrounding the history, adaptation, and growth of new media....

Encyclopedia of Terrorism.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Harvey W. Kushner. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2003. S23p. $125 (ISBN 0-7619-2408-6). If timing really is everything, then the publishers at Sage should be acknowledged for recognizing the need for a resource on a subject that has...

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Alan Charles Kors. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2003.4 vols. alkaline $495 (ISBN 0-19-$10430-7). The Enlightenment, commonly understood as a loosely connected set of intellectual movements across eighteenth-century Europe, and...

Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza and Dickson Eyoh. New York: Routledge, 2003. 652p. $150 (ISBN 0-415-23479-4). As implied by its title, the Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History focuses on African history and culture during the...

Holocaust Literature: an Encyclopedia of Writers and their Work.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. By S. Lillian Kzemer. New York: Routledge, 2003. 2 vols. alkaline $295 (ISBN 0-415-92985-7). At last, we have one work that pools together a world of writers influenced first-hand or through second- or third-generation experiences by...

Human Rights Violations.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Charles F. Bahmueller. Magill's Choice. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem, 2003. 3 vols. alkaline $179 (ISBN 1-58765-089-4). This work is a collection of 134 short articles focusing primarily on twentieth-century human rights abuses. The...

Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Marine Sciences.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by James w. Nybakken, William W. Broenkow, and Tracy L. Vallier. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Academic Reference, 2003. 3 vols. alkaline $349 (ISBN 0-7172-5946-3). The Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Marine Sciences (hereafter called...

Latin American and Caribbean Artists of the Modern Era: a Biographical Dictionary of More than 12,700 Persons.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Steve Shipp. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003.864p. alkaline $115 (ISBN 0-7864-1057-4). Latin American and Caribbean Artists of the Modern Era: A Biographical Dictionary of More Than 12,700 Persons provides concise biographical...

Medieval Jewish Civilization: an Encyclopedia.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Norman Roth. The Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, vol. 7. New York: Routledge, 2003. 701p. alkaline $150 (ISBN 0-415-93712-4). Medieval Jewish Civilization: An Encyclopedia traces the history of the Jewish people's...

Mexico and the United States.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Lee Stacy. Tarrytown, N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish, 2003. 3 vols. $279.95 (ISBN 0-7614-7402-1). "Poor Mexico, so far from God, and so near to the United States," reportedly remarked former Mexican president, Porfirio Diaz. Over more...

The New York Times Guide to the Arts of the 20th Century.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2002. 4 vols. $395 (ISBN 1-57958-290-7). This four-volume exhaustive work is a compilation of more than 2,500 critical reviews, news stories, essays, interviews, and editorial commentaries on the visual and...

Religions of the World: a Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. By J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 2002. 4 vols. alkaline $385 (ISBN 1-57607-223-1). In this new encyclopedia, J. Gordon Melton (Institute for the Study of American Religions), working with Martin...

The Scriber Encyclopedia of American Lives: the 1960s.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by William L. O'Neill. Thematic Series. New York: Scribner, 2003.2 vols. alkaline $312.50 (ISBN 0-684-80666-5). This work is the second in the thematic series by Scribner that supplements the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives...

The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Ed. by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2003. 428p. alkaline $89.95 (ISBN 0-313-31699-6). Now seventy-two, Toni Morrison has had an extraordinary literary career. The author of seven highly acclaimed novels, she has...

The Wehrmacht: the German Army of World War II, 1939-1945.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Tim Ripley. The Great Armies series. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003. 352p. $95 (ISBN 1-57958-312-1). Part of the new Great Armies series from Fitzroy Dearborn, this one-volume source helps fill a gap in military history reference: an...

Cataloging Sheet Maps: the Basics.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Paige G. Andrew. New York: Haworth, 2003. 240p. $39.95 hardbound (ISBN 0-7890-1482-3); $24.95 softbound (ISBN 0-7890-1483-1). www.haworthpressinc.com. Paige Andrew has created a very friendly and thorough handbook for cataloging,...

E-Serials: Publisher, Libraries, Users, and Standards.(2d ed.)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... 2d ed. Ed. by Wayne Jones. New York: Haworth, 2003. 294p. $59.95 cloth (ISBN 0-7890-1229-4); $39.95 paper (0-7890-1230-8). www.haworthpressinc.com. Wayne Jones has updated his 1998 tour of the e-serials world. While keeping the structure...

Hands-On Information Literacy Activities.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Jane Birks and Fiona Hunt. New York: Neat-Schuman, 2003. 135p. Incl. CD-ROM. $75 (ISBN 1-55570-456-5). www.nealschuman.com. Birks and Hunt are practicing librarians employed in the field of information literacy at Zayed University in...

The Library's Legal Answer Book.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Mary Minow and Tomas A. Lipinski. Chicago: ALA, 2003. 361p. $48 (ISBN 0-8390-0828-4). This is a really good book. Minow and Lipinski took on the near impossible task of outlining the law for librarians in fewer than four hundred pages...

Lost Gay Novels: Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Anthony Slide. New York: Harrington: 2003. 204p. $49.95 cloth (ISBN 1-56023-413-X); $24.95 paper (ISBN 1-56023-414-8). www.haworthpressinc.com. Slide defines lost gay novels as stories with gay themes or characters that are not...

The Practical Library Manager.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Bruce E. Massis. New York: Haworth, 2003. 149p. $34.95 cloth (ISBN 0-7890-1765-2); $24.95 paper (ISBN 0-7890-1766-O). www. haworthpressinc.com. In the May 17, 2003, Dilbert comic strip, Scott Adams has Dilbert ask: "Doesn't the...

Puzzles and Essays from "The Exchange": Tricky Reference Questions.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Charles R. Anderson. New York: Haworth, 2003. 215p. $34.95 cloth (ISBN 0-7890-1716-X); $14.95 paper (ISBN 0-7890-1762-8). www.haworthpressinc.com. One of the pleasures I enjoy in public library work is what a recently deceased library...

The Ultimate Digital Library: Where the New Information Players Meet.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Andrew K. Pace. Chicago: ALA, 2003. 168p. $35 (ISBN 0-8389-0844-6). www.ala.org. This book is not about digital libraries, in any of its many definitions. Instead, a wide-ranging discussion of vendor-library models and relationships...

The Virtual Reference Librarian's Handbook.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... By Anne Grodzins Lipow. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2003. 199p. Includes CD-ROM. $75 (ISBN 1-55570-445-X). www. neal-schuman.com. Virtual reference has revolutionized the ability of librarians to provide point-of-need assistance to off-site...