This is one of those reference books where it seems that all of its information is available elsewhere, but in many different and often very expensive titles. Once again we look at the assembly and packaging of the information as much as at its content, and we find much reference convenience. This was last noted in detail by us in review 96/406 and there is no change in this newer edition except, of course, in bringing it all up to date.
The convenience value of this well established title is very considerable, and not only for the main body of information. We are also given such things as international dialling codes, exchange rates and a matrix showing individual countries’ memberships of major international organisations. All the major international bodies are covered, often in some considerable detail. The country section gives a good range of information from government and politics to communications and media. It is more concise than the information to be found in, for example, the Eurospan titles, but in fact there is plenty of detail to be found here, including major banks, newspapers etc. Then there are the biographies of some 7,000 people, again with enough concise information to satisfy most reference library enquiries (including a note that the British Prime Minister’s club is the Trimdon Village Working Men’s Club ‐ Old Labour is alive and well?).
The mixture is the same as before, but why change something that works and is well established in reference collections? This certainly has a place between more general encyclopaedias and specialist titles, and as such must be considered for any reference collection either as a principal source in smaller libraries or for quick reference in larger collections.
