This book first appeared in 1987 as the Guide to Library Research Methods with a second edition in 1998 under the present title. It is published by Oxford University Press, from New York rather than the UK, and may be more familiar to North American readers than those on this side of the Atlantic. The author is Thomas Mann, a Reference Librarian in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress and, intriguingly, an ex‐private investigator. The book comes with an established reputation and the back cover endorsement from no less than American Library Association President, Michael Gorman, and New York Public Library President, Paul LeClerc.
Two initial points need to be made about this book. The first, as will be apparent from the paragraph above, is that it is by a US author and from a US publishing office. Not surprisingly, therefore, it has a strong US focus and flavour, especially in the methods, systems and, most notably, sources, it discusses. Secondly, as the title indicates, this is a guide to library research methods. It is most definitely not a general book about research techniques or one of the numerous “how to do it” texts that walk students step‐by‐step through researching and writing a paper or dissertation. Mann is a reference librarian in the world's greatest library and his focus is exclusively on the place of the library and its contents in the research process. Indeed, Mann is much concerned with championing the role of the library and does not hesitate to remind readers of the limitations of the internet. The third paragraph of the Preface sums up the approach which permeates most pages of the book: “As I will demonstrate, bricks‐and‐mortar research libraries contain vast ranges of printed books, copyrighted materials in a variety of other formats, and site‐licensed subscription databases that are not accessible from anywhere at anytime by anybody on the web” (p. xiii).
In Mann's reference map there are “nine major roads, and some important side paths (that) will lead efficiently into the full range of humanity's accumulated thought records” (p. xvii). These, which underlay the structure of the book, include concepts that at the same time will appear a little unfashionable but also reassuringly familiar to librarians: controlled vocabulary searching; subject classified bookstack browsing; keyword searching; citation searching; related record searching; use of subject bibliographies; Boolean combination searching; using subject expertise; types of literature searching. Mann hangs the book around these concepts, presenting fifteen loosely constructed mainly narrative chapters in closely spaced text only sparingly relieved by figurative and other material.
Unlike many guides to research techniques where basic bibliographical sources are the launching pad, Mann starts his journey with a chapter on encyclopedic works. Making the often‐overlooked point that these frequently provide valuable subject and topic overviews, he lists about 175 specialist titles after a short list of more general subject sets. Descriptions of the encyclopedias are not provided, but there is additional information on often‐neglected titles such as Kister's Best Encyclopedias and a few paragraphs on the Britannica, Collier's and World Book. The next chapter, Subject Headings and the Library Catalog is on of the longest in the book. Here, Mann, basing examples on Library of Congress Subject Headings, generally succeeds in explaining concepts such as Uniform Heading, Specific Entry and Precordination and Postcoordination in a manner that will be comprehensible and relevant to those without an information specialist training. The following chapter continues the focus on locating mainly monograph material dealing with General Browsing, Focussed Browsing and Use of Classified Bookstacks. Replete with examples drawn from Mann's experience, this is a welcome reminder of the riches that can be found through careful interrogation of the catalogue and purposeful scanning of the shelves.
The next chapters see Mann begin to cast the net beyond the monograph. Subject Headings and Indexes to Journal Articles includes short paragraphs on some of the H.W. Wilson family of indexes, gives a general overview of interrogating databases via FirstSearch and mentions some other key sources. There are also sections on cross‐disciplinary searching, locating indexing sources for journals and verifying electronic availability and even a page headed The Change in Cataloging Rules for Serials dealing with the 1981 modification in the treatment of serial titles from scholarly institutions and other organizations. Keyword Searches is the next chapter and focuses on databases that generally do not use a controlled vocabulary such as Web of Science, Periodical Contents Index, etc. There is also coverage of ProQuest, EBSCO and InfoTrac databases and brief discussion of JSTOR, ProjectMuse and LexisNexis. Concluding the chapter is the section Web Sites on the Internet where Mann outlines in very basic terms approaches to searching non‐subscription electronic sources.
The next group of chapters leads down a variety of searching avenues. Citation Searches has ten pages devoted to ISI's Web of Science with examples and lists of topics covered by each of the three component databases. Related Record Searches is a brief follow up chapter of four pages followed by the nearly as short Higher Level Overviews: Review Articles focussing on locating this form of periodical literature in the sources already described. Next is the much more substantial Published Bibliographies which looks at techniques for locating subject bibliographies and highlights sources such as Bibliogaphic Index, Library Literature, etc. In the following chapter Mann sets of on a more theoretical digression considering Boolean Combinations and Search Limitations. Fairly thorough coverage is provided here from Venn diagrams illustrating basic Boolean combinations to detailed consideration of search limitation methods in the Library of Congress database.
The remaining chapters offer a range of perspectives on using libraries. Locating Material in Other Libraries has a particularly US focus and also seems to dwell too heavily on largely superseded tools such as the National Union Catalog of Pre‐1956 Imprints. People Sources reminds us that librarians are key to finding information, but carries on to provide guidance on locating other experts through tools such as the Encyclopedia of Associations and Directories in Print. Hidden Treasures considers microforms, web collections (e.g. some Alexander Street Press files), government documents (15 pages, including Catalog of US Government Publications and CIS indexes) and, very briefly, archives, manuscripts and public records. Special Subjects and Formats covers key sources in biography, book reviews, business and economics, copyright, genealogy and local history, illustrative material, literary criticism, maps, newspapers, out of print items, primary sources, standards and specifications, statistics, tabular data, tests (psychological and educational) and translations. Inevitably, treatment here is brief (standards and specifications gets three paragraphs, statistics just over two pages), but many major information sources receive at least passing mention. Concluding the main chapters is Reference Sources: Searching by Types of Literature. This looks at forms of publications from almanacs to yearbooks, as well as acting as a form of summing up for the previous 14 chapters.
In the concluding pages are an appendix and index. The former, entitled Wisdom, is a perhaps unnecessary expansion of some of Mann's theories regarding a hierarchy of learning partially outlined in the preface. The far more practical ten page index will be of use to the researcher coming to this book for the first time listing both topics and, in italic type, those information sources given specific consideration in the text. Apart from a Contents listing there are no other additions or adornments other than a cover shot of the main reference room of the New York Public Library. This is apt, because this is really a book for those who need to understand the workings of major, particularly North American, research libraries. The audience most likely to benefit from what is unquestionably a splendidly navigated voyage through the main traditional channels and ports of the reference world, are researchers at postgraduate level and above and, just as importantly, information specialists working in or regularly using research libraries. For reference librarians especially, this excellent little book will be a reminder of some of the basic techniques of our craft that we should not be reticent in reasserting in an age where nearly everyone thinks that nearly everything can be found from Google.
