ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (4th edition)

One of the enduring hallmarks of a well-established professional body is the range of useful biblioethical and reference tools it produces such as handbooks, bibliographies, guides and so on. This very useful and up to date glossary of LIS from the oldest and biggest LIS professional body in the world fills a workaday gap in the array of tool available for the modern LIS practitioner and student. Edited by two senior academic librarians the book has now reached its fourth edition – which must say something about the book's popularity and usefulness. It is a well-produced and laid out work, alphabetically arranged with good clear cross referencing and with a small but useful bibliography. As LIS terminology expands remorselessly, practitioners are constantly faced with obtaining a definitive understandable meaning of a new term; this handy glossary does just that. Words and meanings grow and mature, they also wither and die and it is interesting to note that this fourth edition has had 2,000 terms removed – and 1,400 completely new terms added! Such is the speed and range of change in the LIS world today. It is an easy book to use and the range is excellent and up to date. Terms such as “horn book”, “geotag” and “digital curation” are all included and lucidly explained. This is an American work so I was surprised to note that CILIP and IFLA were defined – a good start. In conclusion a useful, up to date desk-book for the LIS practitioner and student.