Guide to Reference
Encyclopedia
Guide to Reference, published in 2008 as the online successor to Guide to Reference Books, is a selective guide to the best print and online reference sources. An editorial team of reference librarians and subject experts have selected and annotated some 16,000 entries, which are organized by subject. It is a subscription database, published by the American Library Association
, and is updated on an ongoing basis. It is intended as a resource for libraries when answering reference questions, planning library instruction, identifying items to purchase, and training staff.
The print edition was published regularly since 1902 by the American Library Association
, and had been a staple of academic reference libraries throughout the United States. However, its popularity of use had dropped in recent years with the continued rise of electronic databases.
in Philadelphia, PA. She developed a 104 page volume meant to educate students and professionals within the library community. Filled with short articles and indexes to other publications for further reading, Kroeger used her book to “codify both the principles of education for reference librarianship and reference librarianship’s province of expertise” (Kieft, 331). It also included a series of indexes describing and evaluating reference publications on a variety of topics and was meant to help the aspiring librarian learn about the most useful and reliable reference sources available on the market. The American Library Association published her book as Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books: A Manual for Librarians, Teachers and Students. Kroeger produced two editions, one in 1902 and a second in 1907.
After Kroeger’s death in 1909 the American Library Association
asked Isadore Gilbert Mudge
, head of the reference department for the library at Columbia University
, to take over the project. Mudge started a trend at Columbia that would last for several decades, pushing their reference staff to essentially “lead four lives-as editors, administrators, collection builders, and front-line reference specialists” (Plotnik, 130). Much of the work for the Guide was accomplished alongside the normal reference work duties of collection development and assisting students and professors with their research requests. During this time the indexes on reference materials expanded and the book went through two title changes: New Guide to Reference Books in 1923 and Guide to Reference Books in 1929.
After taking the volume through three decades and four new editions, Mudge retired and passed the responsibility on to her successor at Columbia University
, Constance Mabel Winchell
. Winchell reorganized the book, classifying the indexes into different disciplines similar to the academic departments of a university. The indexes were greatly expanded under Winchell; when the eighth edition was published in 1967 it was quite a tome, including entries on some 7500 individual publications.
When Eugene P. Sheehy
took over as head of reference at Columbia in 1967 he took on the Guide. Having worked as Winchell’s assistant for several years Sheehy adopted her style, process of selection and organization as his own. He began issuing supplements to the Guide, with versions in 1968, 1970, and 1972. The supplements expanded on the entries of Winchell’s eighth edition, adding indexes of material newly published or newly discovered. A new ninth edition, which required Sheehy and his two assistants to update and correct entries from Winchell’s edition and add in material from their three supplements, was finally published in 1976. This ninth edition was the first version to include listings of early electronic databases. Sheehy continued editing and publishing supplements until he retired in 1986.
The editorship passed for the 10th edition supplement and the 11th edition to Robert Balay of the Association of College and Research Libraries' Choice magazine. No longer the vision of a lone individual, the Guide became an increasingly cooperative project as reference literature grew and as contributors were drawn from libraries around the country.
and JSTOR
. The project to develop a 12th edition of the Guide as an online database was announced in 2000 under the editorship of Robert H. Kieft, then librarian at Haverford College
(now college librarian at Occidental College). This online edition is the first to include listings of websites and is the first to be issued in electronic form. The Guide is now under the editorship of Denise Beaubien Bennett, engineering librarian at the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library.
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
, and is updated on an ongoing basis. It is intended as a resource for libraries when answering reference questions, planning library instruction, identifying items to purchase, and training staff.
The print edition was published regularly since 1902 by the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
, and had been a staple of academic reference libraries throughout the United States. However, its popularity of use had dropped in recent years with the continued rise of electronic databases.
History
The Guide began in the first decade of the twentieth century as a labor of love of Alice Bertha Kroeger, head of the library school at Drexel UniversityDrexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
in Philadelphia, PA. She developed a 104 page volume meant to educate students and professionals within the library community. Filled with short articles and indexes to other publications for further reading, Kroeger used her book to “codify both the principles of education for reference librarianship and reference librarianship’s province of expertise” (Kieft, 331). It also included a series of indexes describing and evaluating reference publications on a variety of topics and was meant to help the aspiring librarian learn about the most useful and reliable reference sources available on the market. The American Library Association published her book as Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books: A Manual for Librarians, Teachers and Students. Kroeger produced two editions, one in 1902 and a second in 1907.
After Kroeger’s death in 1909 the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
asked Isadore Gilbert Mudge
Isadore Gilbert Mudge
Isadore Gilbert Mudge was ranked by the magazine American Libraries as one of the top 100 important leaders that libraries have had in the 20th Century. Mudge was a defining influence on what a contemporary reference librarian is and was essential for helping organize and promote reference books...
, head of the reference department for the library at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, to take over the project. Mudge started a trend at Columbia that would last for several decades, pushing their reference staff to essentially “lead four lives-as editors, administrators, collection builders, and front-line reference specialists” (Plotnik, 130). Much of the work for the Guide was accomplished alongside the normal reference work duties of collection development and assisting students and professors with their research requests. During this time the indexes on reference materials expanded and the book went through two title changes: New Guide to Reference Books in 1923 and Guide to Reference Books in 1929.
After taking the volume through three decades and four new editions, Mudge retired and passed the responsibility on to her successor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Constance Mabel Winchell
Constance Mabel Winchell
Constance Mabel Winchell was an American librarian. Winchell worked at Columbia University for thirty-eight years before retiring in 1962. She is best remembered for producing the seventh and eighth editions of the Guide to Reference Books...
. Winchell reorganized the book, classifying the indexes into different disciplines similar to the academic departments of a university. The indexes were greatly expanded under Winchell; when the eighth edition was published in 1967 it was quite a tome, including entries on some 7500 individual publications.
When Eugene P. Sheehy
Eugene P. Sheehy
Eugene P. Sheehy is a retired academic librarian, professional researcher, author and editor. As a librarian he served as the head of the reference department at Columbia University in New York City from 1967 to 1986...
took over as head of reference at Columbia in 1967 he took on the Guide. Having worked as Winchell’s assistant for several years Sheehy adopted her style, process of selection and organization as his own. He began issuing supplements to the Guide, with versions in 1968, 1970, and 1972. The supplements expanded on the entries of Winchell’s eighth edition, adding indexes of material newly published or newly discovered. A new ninth edition, which required Sheehy and his two assistants to update and correct entries from Winchell’s edition and add in material from their three supplements, was finally published in 1976. This ninth edition was the first version to include listings of early electronic databases. Sheehy continued editing and publishing supplements until he retired in 1986.
The editorship passed for the 10th edition supplement and the 11th edition to Robert Balay of the Association of College and Research Libraries' Choice magazine. No longer the vision of a lone individual, the Guide became an increasingly cooperative project as reference literature grew and as contributors were drawn from libraries around the country.
Current developments
Use of the Guide became less and less frequent as research had turned more towards electronic databases such as EBSCOhostEBSCO Publishing
EBSCO Publishing, headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is an aggregator of premium full-text content. EBSCO Publishing's core business is providing online databases via EBSCOhost to libraries worldwide. EBSCOhost is used by libraries, schools, academic institutions, medical institutions, and...
and JSTOR
JSTOR
JSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
. The project to develop a 12th edition of the Guide as an online database was announced in 2000 under the editorship of Robert H. Kieft, then librarian at Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
(now college librarian at Occidental College). This online edition is the first to include listings of websites and is the first to be issued in electronic form. The Guide is now under the editorship of Denise Beaubien Bennett, engineering librarian at the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library.