Best Reference Selections - 2010

RUSA’s Best in Reference Selections for 2010 Presented at Midwinter Meeting

BOSTON—The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its list of Outstanding Reference Sources for 2010.

The list is compiled by a committee of RUSA members who are readers’ advisory and reference experts. They review publications and online reference resources released in the previous calendar year and present their selections at the RUSA Book and Media Awards Reception at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

The 2010 selections for the Outstanding Reference Sources List are:

• Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press), Francis P. McManamon
• Encyclopedia of African American History: 1896 to the Present (Oxford University Press), Paul Finkelman
• Encyclopedia of Modern China (Charles Scribner's Sons), David Pong
• The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars (ABC-CLIO), Spencer Tucker
• Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (Gale Cengage), J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman
• Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Oxford), David Forsythe
• Social Explorer, an online reference resource located at http://www.socialexplorer.com/
• Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts (McFarland & Company Publishers), Thomas S. Hischak
• American Countercultures (Sharp), Gina Misiroglu
• Encyclopedia of Gender and Society (Sage), Jodi O’Brien
• Encyclopedia of Marine Science (Facts on File), Nichols C. Reid and Robert G. Williams

The winner was selected by the Outstanding Reference Sources Award Committee, whose members include Estella M. Terrazas (chair), Cynthia Crosser, Anne-Marie Davis, Denise Goetting, Patricia L. Gregory, Danise Hoover, Deborah Fay Katz, Peggy A. Keeran and Patrick J. Wall.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.ala.org/rusa.

Tell Us Something We Don't Know!

Now published:
A Perfect Storm Brewing: Budget Cuts Threaten Library Services at Time of Increased Demand

About the Study

Today’s public libraries are vital community technology hubs that millions of Americans rely on for their first and often only choice for Internet access. Despite increased demand for library computers, however, libraries typically have not seen a corresponding increase in budgets and many are challenged to provide enough computers or fast-enough connection speeds to meet demand.

The Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study is a multi-year project that builds on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries. The study assesses public access to computers, the Internet and Internet-related services in U.S. public libraries, as well as the impact of library funding changes on connectivity, technology deployment and sustainability in FY2007-2009.

Built on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries, begun in 1994 by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure, this study provides information that can help library directors and library IT staff benchmark and advocate for technology resources in communities across the nation. The data are also of importance for policymakers at local, state, and federal levels, manufacturers of information and communication technologies, and the communities served.

The project is made possible by a generous donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association.
For more information on the Public Library Funding and Technology Access study, please contact the Office for Research & Statistics.

New Book

• Building a Buzz: Libraries & Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace

FYI: "Want to get the word out about your library in the most cost-effective way possible? You can achieve this with the effective word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) strategies laid out in this book." - from the back cover

New Book

• Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects edited by Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah

FYI: "Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects has been co published simultaneously as The Reference Librarian, Number 81 2003." - from the title page

Sometimes when journals are published, we skim the articles and years later we wish to revisit the concepts presented when they become relevant to us. Having topic-dedicated issues repackaged in book form somehow seems more readable. While many of the articles focus on academic libraries, as academics generally publish more, the core concepts translate to public librarianship.

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