Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Reviews, Volume 24, Issue 3

Although The Oxford Companion to English Literature first appeared in 1932, it was not until perhaps the publication of the fifth edition in 1985 under the editorship of Margaret Drabble that it became firmly regarded as a reference standard or “classic”. Fondly known to devotees as OCEL,Drabble piloted the Companion through a further edition (2000) and update (2006). Now she is no longer at the helm and with the new seventh edition(RR 2010/120) Dinah Birch, Professor of English at Liverpool University, has taken editorial control. Perhaps conscious of the competition from Wikipedia, the new editor has refreshed OCEL giving it a more contemporary feel and focus, while retaining the overall style and format of the earlier volumes. Although some library users may see printed mini-encyclopedias like OCEL as touchingly anachronistic in an age where the internet and especially Wikipedia has become the standard first port of call for much “snippet type” information, there is surely a place for an authoritative and evolving work such as this; reference librarians are duty bound to have this edition on their shelves and encourage its use.

Another reference linchpin is Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. First published in 1870, and largely given its current feel with the centenary edition of 1970, this has just been released in an eighteenth edition(review forthcoming). In this issue of Reference Reviews we review the latest in a series of spin-offs, Brewer’s Dictionary of London Phrase &Fable (RR 2010/146). Combining content from the main Brewer’swith that from the London Gazetteer (RR 2007/161) this extends the Brewer’sbrand with a title, which will, like the original, find a place on both the library and the home bookshelf. While flagging the new Brewer’s it is worth noting some of the changes taking place in the companies responsible for this title that reflect the ongoing consolidation within the reference publishing sector. New works under the Brewer’s label are now published by Chambers Harrap rather than Cassell as since almost the title’s inception. However, the Edinburgh based Chambers Harrap, which like Cassell is part of the Hachette Livre multinational and whose titles frequently feature in these columns (and do so again in this issue with Chambers Slang Dictionary(RR 2010/116)), is undergoing major change with the Edinburgh offices recently closed and operations transferred to London. What this means for other titles produced under the Chambers imprint remains to be seen, but another part of the UK’s publishing heritage associated with Edinburgh since the early nineteenth century and best known for the Chambers Dictionary (RR 2007/176), would appear to have lost its distinctiveness.

For many students a more familiar “reference” standard to either OCEL or Brewer’s will be the titles in the Bloom’s Literary Criticism series that are widely used as sources for term papers and assignments. Facts on File have taken content from these and their own literature titles, plus other material by the Yale professor Harold Bloom including The Western Canon, and put them together as Bloom’s Literary Reference Online (RR 2010/115). To some extent, although not directly comparable in content, size or focus, this might be seen as Facts on File’s rival literature database to those provided by the likes of Gale with Literature Resource Center (RR 2007/229). Another major literature database that could be viewed as a national equivalent of Literature Resource Center is AustLit (RR 2010/113). Confined to the literature of Australia and with perhaps a greater bibliographical focus than the Gale product, this is an important resource which deserves to be more widely known internationally. It is also the first of a number of Australian focused reference resources we will be featuring in upcoming issues of Reference Reviews.

Gale titles are an ever-present in these columns and in this issue we feature the latest edition to The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine (RR 2010/125), at four volumes the most comprehensive general reference in this controversial area of “medicine”, and the single volume Encyclopedia of Management (RR 2010/112), now in its sixth edition. Other encyclopedias we cover include the important Encyclopedia of Blacks in European History and Culture (RR 2010/107), a two volume set from Greenwood and the single volume The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales (RR 2010/150). The latter, published in both English and a separate Welsh version (Gwyddionadur Cymru Yr Academi Gymreig) by University of Wales Press, will be a major source of reference on matters relating to the history of Wales and should be on the acquisition list for all collections where Welsh or British history and culture is studied.

Wiki’s are, of course, the current reference fashion, understandably so given the potential they have for creating new resources through pooled expertise outside the traditional, largely commercially driven, print or electronic publishing model. Increasingly we are seeing the emergence of mediated wikis, those that retain collaborative submission at the heart of the process, but where some form of peer-review or editorial control is exercised on the addition and revision of content. One such example is Scholarpedia: The Peer Reviewed Encyclopedia (RR 2010/130) created a few years ago and focussing on the sciences. With an editor in chief, a peer-review process and“curators” responsible for the writing and amendment of articles,this marriage of the traditional encyclopedia and the wiki concept and software is surely the way ahead for much reference provision. Here is an opportunity to escape the straightjacket and costs of the commercial publishing model while reducing the risk of erroneous and malicious posting that will forever loom over the unregulated wiki approach.

Two other electronic reviews to highlight are our brief look at the revised interface to PubMed (RR 2010/129) and Household Products Database(RR 2010/126), also a service of the National Library of Medicine providing information on the ingredients and health effects of over 9,000 domestic products available in the United States. Another print source that should be noted is Prairies and Plains: The Reference Literature of a Region (RR2010/148). Following the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (RR 2005/223)this single volume, part put together by Robert Balay, previously editor of the American Library Association’s Guide to Reference Books, has over 1,200 entries and is one of the old-style print reference guides aiming to steer librarians and library users to the key information sources on a subject, topic or geographical area. Also of this genre, albeit more discursive in approach and tone, is Literary Research and Irish Literature: Strategies and Sources(RR 2010/119) from Scarecrow Press. This is authored by J. Greg Matthews,Cataloging Librarian at Washington State University, and a regular reviewer in these columns. Indeed, Greg has contributed a review to this issue (RR2010/143), testament, not only to his industry and versatility, but also to the involvement of many Reference Reviews reviewers in both the production and evaluation of reference tools.

Tony ChalcraftEditor, Reference Reviews , and University Librarian, York St John University, York, UK