Sources About Books (Bibliographies: Trade, National,
Subject; Catalogs, Union Lists, Web Bookstores,
Bibliographic Utilities, Reviews, Reader’s Advisory)
First, have a look at a few:
Books in Print in print (Z 1215), on
Web
National Union Catalog
National Union
Catalog: Pre-1956 Imprints
Library of Congress
Catalog
Bowker Annual: Library and Book
Trade Almanac
Amazon.com
bn.com
Powell's
netLibrary
fatbrain
Octavo
OCLC WorldCat
(the OCLC Union Catalog)
Book
Review Digest
(printed version at
Z 1219)
Book Review Index (Z1035)
Reader's Adviser (Z 1035)
Guide to Reference Books (11th ed) (Balay)
library catalogs, national libraries
Then, answer some questions about words and their uses:
1 My mom has recently joined a Bible-study class. Can you suggest any good books for her to start out with?
2 A patron wants a complete text of Euclid's "Elements" in digital form (for easier searching, cutting and pasting, etc.), preferably in both English and Greek.
3 I am looking for a book
by Shaw and Wright. It was published in 1967, I am not sure, but
the title has to do with Students’
attitudes toward their classes. I am looking for the nearest
library that may have the book. Thanks! patron is in Grand
Rapids
4 I’m looking for reviews of a book,
Lolly Willowes, by Sylvia Townsend Warner. I need at least three,
preferably from British
sources.
5 I am interested in receiving
a list of some elementary (picture books) level books that will help a
young (grades K-3) child deal
with his parent’s cancer.
6 We are a small public library.
A patron has asked us for the title of a book that he heard about that
was written entirely without the
letter E. He would like to borrow this book and read it.
He heard about it several years ago. He has since forgotten the author
and title. There is no big hurry. He believes it is a fiction
novel. Someday we will run across it again.
Finally, think about these, and be prepared to discuss them in class:
When might you consider using each of these sources?
What are the most important criteria for evaluation of these kinds of sources and how would you carry out that evaluation?
What importance does format play? Are the factors the same when you consider personal use rather than institutional use?
What other ways might you get at this information?
How do you think this type of information resource might change over the next few years?
What new resource did you discover that you'd like to add to our list?
mholland@umich.edu
8/24/03