Editorial

Citation

Chalcraft, T. (2009), "Editorial", Reference Reviews, Vol. 23 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2009.09923haa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Reviews, Volume 23, Issue 8

One of the pleasures of editing Reference Reviews (RR) is the opportunity to peruse review copies of new print reference items received from publishers before despatch to reviewers. Every so often a review copy is received that immediately stands out from the crowd. One such is the Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalists in Great Britain and Ireland (RR 2009/352). Published jointly by Belgian publisher Academia Press and The British Library, this substantial single volume is distinguished not only by its size, there are 1,629 entries for periodical and newspaper titles, prominent journalistic personalities (journalists, editors, proprietors, etc.) and associated topics, but by its thorough bibliography, careful indexing, useful supporting matter and overall excellent execution. It also fills a relative gap. Unlike the USA, where there are several reference sources on journalism history and biography, such as Downs and Downs (1991) and volumes in Gale’s Dictionary of Literary Biography series, hitherto there has been comparatively little published for the UK. At least now the nineteenth century is covered. What we need next is a companion volume for the twentieth century.

Another area where there is relatively little reference material available for the UK in comparison to the USA is business history. The American literature has now been further strengthened by the publication of Historical Encyclopedia of American Business (RR 2009/367), a three-volume set from Salem Press. Aimed at the undergraduate enquirer rather than the researcher and with the focus on business rather than the wider social and political context, this print set also comes with three years electronic access as standard.

The size of the US university and college library market continues to prompt a steady flow of student focussed encyclopaedias similar in concept to the Historical Encyclopedia of American Business. Greenwood Press is possibly the most active player in this field and in this issue we feature several of the company’s titles that are primarily directed at this market. These include Poverty in America: An Encyclopedia (RR 2009/364) and, perhaps with a wider intended audience, but still a North American geographic focus, Encyclopedia of Women’s Folklore and Folklife (RR 2009/358) and American Folk Songs: A Regional Encyclopedia (RR 2009/387). Greenwood also has a UK-based publishing arm, Greenwood World Publishing, and it is refreshing to see this produce occasional titles with a different geographical focus, an example of which is the two-volume Early Peoples of Britain and Ireland: An Encyclopedia (RR 2009/398). Spanning from the Stone Age to the coming to power of the Plantagenet’s, this is an important new set that covers an area of British and Irish history that, like journalism, is hardly replete with up to date encyclopedic reference sources.

Sage are another publisher that markets encyclopaedic reference titles largely to the university and college library sector, usually in the company’s primary area of focus, the social sciences. In this issue we review the e-book versions of two publications, the Encyclopedia of Stem Cell Research (RR 2009/380) which, it should be emphasised, concentrates on social and political aspects, and The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (RR 2009/365). Other electronic references we review include Encyclopedia of Earth (RR 2009/378) and Orphanet (RR 2009/384). The former, from the Environmental Information Coalition, is part of the Earth Portal, which includes Earth News and Earth Forum and has as its objective the provision of articles from scientists and environment professionals about the environment and related topics. Orphanet, from the French Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, is a portal for rare diseases and orphan drugs. A welcome European initiative in a field generally dominated by North American sources, it will be of use to knowledgeable lay people as well as medical professionals. While highlighting some of the health and medical related reference tools reviewed, we cannot ignore a new multi-volume offering in the field from Gale. The Gale Encyclopedia of Senior Health: A Guide to Seniors and Their Caregivers (RR 2009/381) in five volumes is the latest in an impressive array of new and updated medical sets from this publisher all of which have the general user as the primary intended audience.

Gale is also responsible for another multi-volume set we review, the more modest two-volume Psychology of Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia (RR 2009/355). Coincidentally, this is one of a number of education related reference products reviewed in this issue. Most of these are oriented to US curricula and include the electronic version of one of H.W. Wilson’s well-known Standard Catalogs, Junior Authors and Illustrators (RR 2009/373), the subscription Kraus Curriculum Development Library (RR 2009/363) now only available as a database, and MATHVids (RR 2009/382) an online collection of videos on the teaching of mathematics and perhaps the only one of the trio likely to have significant application outside the USA. Finally, while noting resources giving this issue a mildly educational theme, we should not neglect to record a review that represents a first for RR. As far as the Editor is aware, the review of the International Handbook of Distance Education (RR 2009/361) is the first for an Emerald publication to appear in these columns and signals the company’s move into the reference monograph market following the acquisition of a significant string of established titles and series.

Tony ChalcraftEditor, Reference Reviews and University Librarian, York St John University, York, UK