Reviewing Reference Publications: The Importance of Relevant Subject Knowledge: Selected Case Studies

Those responsible for purchasing reference books for libraries rely to a great extent on reviews that appear in those journals which, broadly speaking, constitute the library press. The idea of a library press, though it is usually identified with a number of periodicals—known either by their brief names, such as The Booklist, or by their initials, LJ, RQ, and WLB, probably should be extended to include such standard “authorities” as ALA's Guide to Reference Books and many of the volumes in Bowker's buying guide series. In these periodicals and monographs, librarians take it upon themselves to express judgments on new books that do in fact have an influence on purchase decisions.