“Reference and Information Services Today” is the most current introduction to reference work available. Its integrated approach effectively synthesizes the growing need for electronic resources with the continued importance of print titles and face-to-face transactions. The second edition of this highly regarded textbook incorporates a timely new chapter, ‘Using New Technology – Reference 2.0′, which will include a wide range of new tools that can be used for refer… More >>
Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction
This book was required for a class. It was good for the class, but it is not something I would pay $60 on just for light reading. But as far as LMS it is helpful and there is a lot of information that will help when working on a degree in LMS.
Rating: 2 / 5
After calling my local school bookstore I did some shopping around. I found that even with paying for shipping I would be saving money by purchasing my book from amazon. I could have saved even more if I would have checked out amazon sooner. There was an option for free shipping, but I didn’t allow enough time to recieve the order before my class started. So I got the same product and not only saved money but got it delivered to my house in record time.
Rating: 4 / 5
Required for Grad class but would purchase even if it was not because it contains a lot of helpful information!
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a great reference tool. I read it in my master’s level Library Science class and I intend to refer to it after I complete my degree.
Rating: 5 / 5
Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century by Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath was my assigned textbook for my required reference class toward my master’s degree in library and information science. Having completed a semester of library school I have realized that a lot of writing about the ins and outs of libraries can be quite dry. (I tell my mother the titles of books I need to read and she starts to laugh nervously. For a really long time.)
That said, this one is not as bad as it could be. While the writing follows a very clear formula, it is still informative. The writing is also not so redundant as to render the text into nonsensical gibberish. Some of the information, if you have spent any time with libraries in your own life, will be redundant. Some pieces of information will be pure gold. Unfortunately, I suspect that is often the way with textbooks.
The sections on readers advisory and the reference interview were both well put together but the text spends just as much time with more specific topics like maps. I enjoyed the chapter on dictionaries but that might say more about me than the book. That aside, I am forced to underscore the fact that Cassell and Hiremath’s treatment of numerous sources for each topic, while undoubtedly informative, did start to feel very repetitive.
I like this book for three big reasons. First because the book is dedicated to me. Not to me specifically, but to me and all of the other intrepid librarians of the twenty-first century. I also like that the book does focus on electronic resources which, lets face it, are a really big part of library reference work nowadays. Finally, I am forever indebted to this book for introducing me to KDL’s What’s Next Database–a searchable database to find series titles, order of books, and authors. I’ve known about the site for a couple of months and it still feels like a dream come true.
Rating: 4 / 5