The first edition of this book, published in 2002, was well received in a Program review (Vol. 37, No. 1) by Garry Humphreys. Indeed it clearly found widespread favour, receiving the Reference Reviews award for the Best General Reference Work in 2003. Surprisingly the authors were only prompted by the need to reprint the book to undertake a new edition. I think, however, that users want some reassurance that such a work is reasonably up‐to‐date; and in today's fast‐paced, electronic information society a biennial edition would seem to be a minimum requirement.
As in the previous edition, 150 of the subject areas most frequently encountered at the enquiry desk are standardly divided into three parts. These are:
- 1.
Typical questions, that library users might ask.
- 2.
Considerations for the librarian to take into account, when dealing with a particular subject.
- 3.
Where to look for the information.
Occasionally a section will conclude with some helpful tips and pitfalls. For example, there is a note about the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar under “Dates and anniversaries”. Like Garry Humphreys I could quibble with some of the authors' preferences for one information source rather than another, and I note that the 2002 edition of the Oxford Companion to Music he referred to in his review has still not been included (although arguably there are those that prefer the cited Arnold's earlier two volume work).
More importantly there are two significant changes to this edition. At the beginning of the book a new “General sources” section has been added, intended “to pick up those almanacs, encyclopaedias and websites that have a wide application”. The second change, at the request of the book's readers, is the addition of an index. This has around 400 entries, as compared to the 150 subject areas chosen to organise the material, which are listed in the contents. Helpfully, all the secondary subjects appearing in the subject headings now have their own access point, as have topics that might have proved difficult to locate through the contents listing alone (e.g. pensions, funerals, prizes, listed buildings). Both of these are welcome additions.
Otherwise the work is very much as before, intended by the authors as a “first point of reference for library staff unfamiliar with the subject of the enquiry”. In that respect it succeeds admirably. The helpful structure is supported by a consistent easy‐to‐read layout that should ensure the work continues to serve the need of its intended users.
