This book is something of a lucky dip. It is described as “a comprehensive overview of the key information sources available online in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences”, but rather than attempting to be encyclopaedic in coverage (which would be next to impossible) it is in fact a collection of 26 articles on aspects of internet reference in an assortment of subject areas. Some of these articles cover broad areas such as engineering or psychology; others cover very specific areas such as “African American Kentuckians”, which raises the suspicion that the book was formed around the available articles. Nor do the articles appear to follow any kind of template pre‐set by the editors, which means that they very widely in approach and depth of coverage.
William Miller's introduction points to the rapid evolution that has come about since 2000 in the provision of information, both free and fee‐based, but the need for this book is almost undercut by that very rapidity: although sources date from as recently as late 2004, already some of the subject areas, such as maps, have seen such a proliferation of material as to render the relevant article obsolete. It would be good if the majority of the specialist articles could be kept up‐to‐date, via an electronic version; however the publishers do not offer this service. Perhaps there needs to be a clearing‐house of articles such as these?
A great deal of informative pleasure can be had by selecting any one of the articles and exploring all the recommended sites, links and blogs, and the expertise displayed by the subject specialists is often marvellous. Yvonne J Chandler's overview of legal and regulatory information, for example, at 60 pages is almost a book in itself, and although exclusively American in coverage, shows a very professional brio. Ola C. Riley's look at environmental web sites also shows real command of the subject‐matter, and recommends a plethora of useful resources. Elsewhere, there is an enjoyable article by Debora Richey and Mona Kratzert on poetry on the internet, and the dynamic transformation the medium offers for poets. Less convincing is the claim by Julie Roberson that “no other field of study has been so impacted by the Internet as Rhetoric”; what, not even, say, medicine?
Lisa Klopfer in discussing internet reference sources for Asian studies refers to the ephemeral nature of producing a bibliography of useful web sites, pointing to the rapid flux of the medium; her approach, the right one for a book such as this, is to emphasise authority and accuracy of content. Thomas W Conkling offers a range of useful reference sources for engineers, which any reference library would be glad to bookmark. While some of the articles, such as college and career information, are exclusively American in content, others, such as English as a second language, have a more international outlook.
Any reference librarian should find much of interest in this compilation.
