Editorial
Public reference libraries in the UK have experienced difficult times of late. Most of those that I have visited in the last few years, even central reference libraries in major metropolitan areas, are decidedly lacking in up to date reference resources. The absence of a good selection of new printed reference stock is the most striking feature on a quick amble round the shelves;less visible, but perhaps more serious, is the paucity of subscription electronic information sources available. Apart from a restricted core usually comprising the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Know UK, a business information database or two, perhaps a full text periodicals or magazines service and possibly NewsBank or Xrefer and a few other services such as Oxford Reference Online and the Grove databases,few other services are likely to be provided. And, I wonder, how many of the 149 public library authorities in England, not to mention the generally smaller authorities in the rest of the UK, offer even all of these?
The reasons for this limited provision are, of course, not inertia or ineptitude but largely financial. Hard-pressed budgets, prone to be chipped away to prop-up other services that catch the political eye, have not been able to support the comparatively high subscription costs demanded by many electronic information providers, even those favourably disposed to discounting for public library authorities. Furthermore, in the public library sector, unlike in UK academic libraries, where the Joint Information Systems Committee has played a major coordinating and consortia role, there has generally been a lack of collective action, at least on a national level. Now, we may be about to see a long overdue revolution that could, with a dose of innovation backed by some dollops of cash, transform the range of electronic reference sources available to public libraries and put the sector on a par with the academic world.
The revolutionary spark has been lit by the MLA (North American readers, not the Modern Languages Association of America but the UK government funded Museums, Libraries and Archives Council), which announced in February details of Reference Online, a new service negotiated by its Procurement Strategy Group for Online Resources. This will comprise a selectable service of up to 26 databases from a number of suppliers made available under standard contract terms at hugely discounted prices. For the first time public library authorities have the opportunity to provide a wide range of competitively priced electronic information sources within a national negotiated contractual framework. What is more, with provision for access at all service points and through the internet,major reference sources can be accessed not just through major central collections, but from the smallest branch libraries and, in some cases, remotely from home PCs.
One of the most interesting points about this development is the range of electronic information sources selected for Reference Online. All the named services in the opening paragraph of this column are included, but there is a wider range incorporating a number of North American produced or derived tools that hitherto might not have been regarded as mainstream content for UK public libraries. These include four H.W. Wilson databases, Art Museum Image Gallery, Biography Reference Bank, Book Review Digest and Omni Full Text Select and, perhaps most unexpectedly, OCLC’s ArticleFirst and WorldCat. The potential availability of the latter to England’s public libraries, opening up the world of books and other printed material in a way that neither Amazon.com nor Google can currently match, is especially groundbreaking. Previously only available in the UK in a limited number of mainly rich academic libraries, the idea that any member of the public can drop into the smallest branch and interrogate the globe’s greatest bibliographical database is, to my mind, truly transformational. This will give UK public libraries the opportunity for a level of bibliographical reference enjoyed by many North American counterparts and help to build their role in promoting access to the universe of knowledge.
The prominence of Wilson databases in Reference Online is testimony, if any were needed, to the major role this company has played in serving the reference world for more than 100 years. It has come a long way since Reader’s Guide became the first major regularly published English-language periodical index. In this issue of Reference Reviews we take a look at one of the company’s longest running products Education Index or, more specifically, Education Index Retrospective (RR 2006/243). This spans the years 1929-1983 and indexes content from nearly 600 English-language periodical titles. No other source gives such thorough and in-depth coverage to the serial literature of the subject and this will a major source for those undertaking research in educational history and related areas. The other subscription index we review is EBSCO’s Environmental Issues and Policy Index (RR 2006/267). This has selective coverage back to the 1950s,but is primarily a tool for accessing the current literature in an area of growing research and interest. EBSCO, until comparatively recently primarily a periodicals subscription service, have developed and acquired a number of databases and is one of several companies that increasingly challenge the long established services of H.W. Wilson. In the view of many, Wilson, with its use of qualified information professionals to provide much of the indexing and its move into full text, continues to provide generally superior products, and the company must be pleased with the new prominence it could acquire through the UK public library sector.
The above two indexes are amongst the most significant resources reviewed in this issue of Reference Reviews. There are many others we could highlight, but the following seem amongst the most important. Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction (RR 2006/242) is a further title from the new Berkshire Publishing Group. Tackling this “difficult”and often-neglected area it is one of the few reference sources in this rapidly changing field. The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers (RR 2006/265)deals with a relatively specialist filed and will probably have a comparatively limited audience. It is, however, a splendidly produced work and will be the definitive source on the subject for a good many years. Unlikely to stand for any length of time is the 2nd edition of the Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders (RR 2006/265). This updated edition comes just three years after the original publication and must surely lead libraries in fast-changing fields such as this to question the wisdom of purchasing print sets, Here,surely, the electronic version will be the judicious purchase. World War I Encyclopedia (RR 2006/289) and its companion set covering the Second World War (not reviewed) are two landmark works from ABC-Clio that will be essential references for libraries specialising in modern history. The Second World War set especially, coming at a time when the living memory of combatants has almost passed away, deals with a topic relatively lacking in serious reference provision. The final encyclopedia that particularly claims our attention is the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History (RR2006/277). This joins a number of other recently published reference sources in the field of contemporary popular music, but is especially notable for its depth of coverage (it comprises six volumes, albeit comparatively slim) and international outlook. Many other interesting reference works are assessed in these pages, some of the more unusual include the Encyclopedia of Cremation, An Eponymous Dictionary of Economics and The Hangman’s Record – for the full selection read on.
Tony ChalcraftEditor, Reference Reviews, and College Librarian, York St John University College, York, UK
