I had the pleasure of reviewing the original edition of this title (RR 2002/372) and gave it a very warm welcome. My own praise for both the conception and the achievement of the original work has been matched by that of the profession at large: a third edition in six years (and a reprint of the first edition) indicates the acceptance of this work, and its usefulness. My original review copy quickly found its way onto the enquiry desk of my library, where it stayed, and was used, until the new edition replaced it. Given my retired circumstances and comments elsewhere about the demise of the local reference library in favour of the web, I suspect this new copy will stay beside my desk.
Quite apart from its usefulness and demand from the profession, regular revision is demanded by the rapidly changing nature of reference sources. As the compilers themselves put it: “[M]ore than ever we find how rapidly the familiar landmark reference books had disappeared or become websites, sometimes free, sometimes only available on subscription, sometimes tricky to use”. Amen to that. An example of the oddities that arise: Oxford University Press's famous Dictionary of National Biography is available as an excellent website, but at a cost; how, then, do our Australian and Canadian colleagues manage to present equally thorough and prestigious dictionaries of their national biography in free, easily accessed and simple‐to‐use websites?
There is now a volatility about reference sources that was rarely there in the past: you bought the book and kept it until it was either replaced by a new edition or new title or until it ran too far out of date to be of any further use. Publishers and titles did come and go, of course, but rarely with anything like the volatility of the internet where sites may appear and disappear almost overnight, publishers and information producers change names or simply disappear, and compounding it all, the host technology is also subject to constant change, not to mention total breakdown: the worst that happened with a book was when it was too large to fit the relevant shelf.
Despite that, we will remain with hybrid sources for the foreseeable future: a proliferation of websites certainly, many of them of considerable value, and a proliferation of search engines, but alongside books with unique content which is not on the web, and alongside access to organisations and individuals who also possess, and are often perfectly happy to impart, unique information.
That situation is reflected in the revision underpinning this new edition. Subscription‐based websites are no longer excluded and all the content of the second edition has been revised. The divisions within entries between printed and electronic sources have been loosened or removed; new sources – with due acknowledgment of reviews in Reference Reviews and elsewhere – are added and older or superseded ones removed. There is also some revision of topics: “Some new headings have been introduced (e.g. Death, Funerals & Bereavement; Police & Security), some ditched (e.g. Textiles) and many modified (e.g. Books & Bibliographies; Tourism & Travel)”. The structure of the book remains as before, with headings arranged alphabetically; there is an index but this barely goes beyond the terms used in the headings. Most consultations will be to seek (and more often than not find) topics directly, aided too by cross‐references in many sections.
There is always the temptation with a work such as this to pick out one's own specialist subjects and look for omissions or errors. Suffice to say I have found no errors, and I if I had thought to suggest additions I stopped myself by referring to the stated purpose and use of this book. It is not a source of exhaustive references to information sources, but a quick handbook to guide the hard‐pressed front‐line staff faced with enquiries in the real world. One of the many strengths of this revision is that each subject is treated on its own merits and sources identified, and advice given, based on the topics and how they are most frequently met with in reference circumstances. That comment also applies to the depth of some topics compared with others: Food & Drink and Social Welfare, for example, have quite extensive entries compared with many others, and that is quite justified by the widespread interest in or necessity for these matters as reflected in reference enquiries.
One of the many positives in this title is its practicality: it is compiled by reference librarians, who will need no introduction to readers of Reference Reviews, with their own experience and the practical needs of other front‐line reference workers firmly in mind, and backed up by research into new sources. It not only refers to the most accessible information sources, but gives the user many useful practical hints relating to particular topics, including how to avoid various pitfalls. Know It All Find It Fast remains a book to be kept to hand, not on the reference shelf. No doubt, too, many previous copies have been heavily annotated within various libraries for their own more local or specific needs. My only quibble is with the title: the reference librarian cannot “know it all” which is why he or she needs advice such as is offered here. That advice will help a range of information workers, from the newest to the most experienced. The word “essential” is often over‐used by reviewers, but it covers this book, just as it is essential that the compilers continue to keep it up to date with regular new editions. A purpose, and one which would best be fulfilled by a handy paperback book, was defined and has been clearly met by the successive editions of this outstanding work.
