A must purchase; those who love New York will adore it, and those less enamored with the Big Apple will still find this fun and informative encyclopedia a fascinating portrait of the metropolitan area.
Occasionally dry, with useful background for the general reader on democracy, the Electoral College, and the Supreme Court.
Geologists both amateur and expert, rock hounds, geo-travelers
A quick read, of possible interest to etymology buffs and historians.
Skeptics will remain unconvinced, but many will enjoy reading about the Hope diamond, Shakespeare’s grave, and whether it is safe to ignore a chain letter.
Clear, concise, beautifully photographed. Likely to find an audience in most libraries.
Aimed at middle school readers and older, this book will see use in most public and school libraries.
This scholarly work provides an intriguing, unique way to consider maps. Recommended for those who like cartography and history.
A diverting compendium, probably more suited to personal purchase, while enjoyable through library checkout as well.
Covering topics such as Black studies, business, history, nature, statistics, and technology, the following databases will help academic and public libraries meet the research needs of patrons—a task that's become even more difficult now that access to physical materials is more limited owing to the pandemic.
Paired with Sally Kuykendall’s Skewed Studies, this work provides everything one needs in designing and following through on LGBTQ research. A must for health science and social science majors, graduate students, faculty, and researchers.
A must for anyone who appreciates geology or antique atlases and maps.
A handy one-stop resource that concentrates on identifying and locating dementia resources by diagnosis. Accurate and useful for those searching for basic information and a resource directory.
Hiam and her contributors have effectively eschewed medical jargon for comprehensible language, making the material here accessible and appealing to high school and undergraduate students.
A useful, if not inspiring, work that may prove beneficial to general readers and high school students.
The focus of this user-friendly tool on women’s voices provides an important perspective for research, while the emphasis on female authored works makes it stand out from the crowd. An important addition to academic libraries.
Complementing Gale’s Human Diseases and Conditions, this will be invaluable to the general public, as well as to students and researchers in need of background or introductory material outside of their expertise.
The question is not whether or not selectors should purchase (they should); it’s where to shelve it (reference or circulating?). Probably the latter
This is a handy source for high school students, undergraduates, and general readers seeking a brief look at the basic concepts, evolution, and contemporary perspectives of climate change.
This set explains scientific achievement over centuries while offering a glimpse at where technology may take us. Middle and high school students will find the subject matter excellent for reports and background research, while nonspecialists and history and science buffs will value the wide selection of topics and authoritative presentation of the authors.
Author Emily Oster's latest project finds her teaming up with researchers and students to launch COVID Explained, a site that aims to provide unbiased, comprehensive information to help people make good decisions.
The quasihuman charm of penguins is hard to resist, and this title is sure to find its audience.
A fascinating look at what Americans have bought, paid, and earned over the past 150 years.
Not for the faint of heart. The blood-spattered cover and straightforward title convey the type of information found here.
Equally useful for completing school assignments, settling bets, and discovering trivia.
Unlike other titles, which limit discussion to a specific topic, such as sports law, this set offers a moderately in-depth examination of multiple sports topics, giving readers a big-picture overview. Will be of interest to undergraduate business, sociology, anthropology, and sports career students.
Well organized and easy to search, it features a great breadth and depth of content from highly regarded contributors; high schoolers and general consumers of science information will be comfortable using this database.
This outstanding one-stop gateway is invaluable, enabling users to find books, journals, videos, audios, dissertations, and more without having to switch platforms. Despite the overwhelming amount of content, this offering is intuitive.
Though this is not a replacement for more in-depth titles such as Andrew Chevallier’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine and Susan Weis-Bohlen’s Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide, this wide-ranging work will be of interest to the general public, high school and undergraduate students.
A worthy effort that will be helpful for general readers at public libraries, for high school students, and for early-level undergraduates. A comparable work is ABC-CLIO’s Encyclopedia of Public Health: Principles, People, Programs, which emphasizes people from the history of public health along with diseases, conditions, and our efforts to combat them.
This year's Best Reference articles are marked by stunning visuals, from the stirring Protest! A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics to the quirky Atlas of Poetic Zoology.
LJ's best databases of the year are a wide assortment, from a one-stop shop for fashion students to archives of sex and sexuality.
A roundup of the best free resources, from a way to identify bots on social media to an app geared at helping those with low vision.
Whether you're looking to beef up your history, political science, literature, or religion reference section, here are the titles we'll be turning to this March.
Though relatively new, this database offers effective searching options and is full of content that education students and researchers will find extremely valuable, especially those interested in international perspectives and practices.
This comprehensive volume, written in supportive, nontechnical language, is a solid option for public libraries; retirement and assisted living center libraries may also wish to consider.
Readers will never again flush a toilet without marveling at this miracle of convenience and sanitation. A quirky and delightful asset for most libraries.
Consider for libraries with significant patron interest in Irish and Christian genealogy sources.
This supportive and authoritative reference will be of solid use to students, beginning researchers, and family members of addicts looking for broad guidance.
With more than 400 photos and illustrations, including images of aerial dogfights, New Yorker covers, and mechanics at work, along with carefully documented and readable text, this title will appeal to historians, aeorphiles, graphic designers, and commercial artists.
Concise, informative, and accessible. Consider when updating health and nutrition sections.
This amusing, occasionally enlightening work is a testament to the sleuthing skills of reference librarians and an excellent diversion from more serious research queries.
Besides appealing to general readers who enjoy cartography, art, and “superlative” books, such as the Guinness Book of World Records, this is also well suited to academics and students of history, geography, and art.
The quality of this tome and its emphasis on current features make it worth a purchase even where libraries own National Geographic the National Parks: An Illustrated History.
The same information and more can be found in the latest edition of The Merck Manual and specific titles, such as Chandrima Biswas’s Pregnancy Encyclopedia.
A marvelous work of synthesis. Selectors would do well to place it the circulating collection, as readers will need time and leisure to absorb the many wondrous facets.
A fun, breezy resource for fans of National Geographic; kids and teens will enjoy it, too.
Tying together a vast topic, this comprehensive set will be useful to students and professionals in the fields of audiology, clinical linguistics, or language pathology, as well as those in the fields of education. General readers curious to learn more about a disorder that affects them or someone they know may also be interested.
Ilona Bray, coauthor of How To Get a Green Card, offers a guide to help immigrants navigate the system.
Editor Peter Sokolowski on the challenges and rewards of editing the dictionary.
Academic Video Online has been a popular choice in libraries for many years, and with good reason. Its catalog is large and diverse, with strengths in many different subject areas. Overall, this is an excellent resource for libraries serving educational organizations at any level.
A solid introduction to the idea of ghosts and hauntings, for those with a serious interest in the paranormal.
Packed with information on the 1,200 years of this influential empire and accessible to nonspecialist general readers, these volumes will also be of use to undergraduates studying medieval history.
This inspired look at the evolution of health and medicine will appeal to the general public and undergraduate students.
Consider for academic arts libraries or collections where filmmaking and film criticism are popular.
More for dabblers than researchers, this is an enjoyable way for the scientifically inclined to while away a few hours.
Graphically pleasing, with a varied, international selection, this is an engrossing introduction for any public library.
Wine continues to be a popular topic, and this updated atlas will interest browsers and travelers.
Will probably see most use in high school or college libraries. Those in need of a deep dive into the Roaring Twenties or the Swinging Sixties will appreciate these titles.
From more intuitive searching to digital circulation of formerly print-only reference materials and to more materials on marginalized populations, trends in reference reflect library users’ changing needs and expectations.
Taking on everything from tables and figures to bias-free language, this is a clear guide to APA style. Though much of the information is available online, the print format is concise and well organized.
Digitizing, organizing, and contextualizing primary sources from libraries and archives presents unique challenges and rich opportunities.
A music lover’s walk down trivia lane, with occasional four-letter input when quoting band members. For large public libraries.
Will likely find an audience, whether readers know their single coil from their humbucker pickup or just want a peek at Willie Nelson’s Trigger or one of Prince’s Clouds.
Consider for all libraries when updating earth sciences or mineralogy sections.
This readable resource will appeal to historians, travelers, and those interested in stories of rumored lost treasures, as well as to the obvious numismatic audience.
Highly useful for business librarians or researchers. Berkman also compiles a monthly subscription e-newsletter.
With this series addition, DK’s science experts have gone beyond “reduce-reuse-recycle” and embraced a comprehensive idea of ecology, complete with eye-catching graphics and succinct text to engage browsers.
Some books in this series will be of wider general interest (The Bathroom; The Bedroom [scheduled for 2020]). The Tavern and The Factory, with their more specialist topics, will likely find readership with sociologists and architects and in academic libraries.
This volume may prove of some interest to the general public or high school students but is an otherwise middling effort of substandard value to most library collections.
High school students, undergraduates, and general readers will find this an invaluable and accessible synthesis of traditional sources and current scholarship.
This informative compilation on fascinating conspiratorial topics that will continue to be debated for decades will be a solid addition for all libraries.
Highly recommended for undergraduate majors and graduate students of history or military science, or general adult history buffs.
A thorough, conscientious look at the topic, given the space provided. If the writing is sometimes dry, that’s an acceptable trade off: even though comics and graphic novels have risen in general and academic esteem, most writing on them mirrors the author’s enthusiasms, rather than going for general coverage. This volume is a solid corrective.
A valuable and insightful set for undergraduate and graduate students, scientists, faculty, and the public.
Offering secondary and undergraduate students an introduction to a vast subject, these densely informative volumes might also appeal to lay specialists.
Certainly not the final word on the historical significance of presidents and their relationships with African Americans, this is an effective overview, with excellent supporting documentation.
These volumes’ stellar organization and depth of scholarly coverage make them important supplements to the numerous existing World War I reference works.
Bloomsbury Fashion Central more than meets its promise to serve as the central source for interdisciplinary research on fashion and dress. The breadth of peer-reviewed and original content sets it apart, making it valuable for those interested in the history of fashion, industry, culture, and more.
This unique, extremely user-friendly collection of historical sources is highly recommended. Wiley’s dedication to the user experience, as demonstrated through promises of expanding the breadth of digitized materials from additional partnerships, improved features and search capabilities, and prominent invitations for feedback, make it an exciting platform to comb through, as well as one to keep an eye on as it expands and adapts to user needs.
This authoritative, accessible work not only answers questions but also provides a variety of perspectives about future Latinx political trends. For general readers, high school students, and undergraduates.
College and advanced high school students, as well as general readers interested in Asian American history, will find these thorough writings a rich source of research ideas.
A good starting point for research into current literature or as a readers’ advisory tool.
Anyone interested in learning more about personal or corporate accounting will find useful information here.
This eye-opening, thought-provoking work challenges readers with accurate, current, and important information about the environment. For high school students, lower-level undergraduates, and general readers.
This title will be a hit among readers interested in 19th-century American cultural history and African American history, along with baseball fans wishing to know more about an important piece of the national pastime’s early story.
Sf enthusiasts will appreciate this comprehensive reference about extraterrestrials in popular culture.
There is a great need for trustworthy material such as this given the human and financial resources devoted to penitentiaries and the thousands of lives they affect on a daily basis. A strong starting point for researchers and readers
Readers familiar with Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs will miss its generous back-of-book selection aids, and some will find the current volume’s index erratic, especially concerning common names. But these are quibbles: Dirr and Warren have given those who plant, care, and love trees an essential reference.
Recommended for general readers and researchers interested in UFO phenomenon.
An approachable, scholarly work on a topic that many find fascinating, this encyclopedia will appeal to both public and academic communities in the hard and soft sciences.
A hefty yet thoroughly absorbing reference for most public libraries.
As the bibliography of transatlantic studies continues to develop, this work will be of immediate interest and lasting scholastic consequence to educators and students in 19th-century world history courses from high school to the university.
Filling a need for historical and cultural information on an understudied subject, this title highlights the economic and political power of people with disabilities and should be an essential resource.
This title will interest young adults, general readers, Christians curious to learn more, and those who are spiritual but not religious and would like to explore the basics and some of the mysteries of the religion.
A stimulating work that provides readers and researchers with a wealth of information and historical data. For high school students, college undergraduates, and general readers.
Timely and inclusive, with thoughtfully chosen illustrations. One or more from the series would brighten any library.
Every reader is likely to find at least one speech (or speaker) with which to connect. Attractive, with ample food for thought.
Readers will find the well-organized, contextualized, wide-ranging coverage here convenient and accessible, with many leads to additional research.
This research-oriented title fills a need in an academic library's graduate and professional collections, as similar volumes are single topic monographs or textbooks. For upper-level undergraduates majoring in psychology or sociology, graduate students, professionals, researchers, and clinicians.
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