Reference Sources in Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Agriculture

A bibliographic guide to 2,459 titles in the four disciplines, covering those sources that are considered to be the most important, including some classics. The first part of the guide, Introduction to Science Reference Sources (4 chapters), is designed specifically for information science students. Part 2, Reference Sources (5 chapters multidisciplinary sources, science, engineering/technology, medicine, agriculture), is bibliographic, and is the core of the volume. Each entry in this part is briefly annotated but not formally reviewed. Part 3 contains the title, author, and subject indexes. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Malinowsky is principal bibliographer for science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He has written extensively on collection development in scientific and technical fields. The intended audience for this annotated guide to the literature are collection development and reference librarians, library science students, and students and researchers in these disciplines.

The book is in nine chapters. The first four are short essays (two contributed by other experts) regarding serial prices, scientific communication, sources of scientific and technical information, and types of reference works. Chapter 5 is a guide to multidisciplinary materials; the remaining four chapters cover science, engineering and technology, medicine, and agriculture. Within each chapter are four to ten subchapters (e.g., chapter 8, "Medicine," has "General Medicine," "Nursing," "Pharmacy/Pharmacology," and "Special Areas").

Each subchapter is subdivided into as many as 16 categories by type of work (e.g., abstracts, atlases, handbooks, standards). Each entry has full bibliographic information, including distributor, price, and ISBN or ISSN. Most titles listed are in English, but important foreign-language materials are also included. Annotations mention whether a source is available online or on CD-ROM. It would have been helpful to note when the title of the electronic version is different from the print version (e.g., that Metadex is the online version of Metals Abstracts and Index). Frequently, an annotation refers to alternative works that are not listed separately. At the end of each subchapter is an unannotated list of periodicals. Almost one-third of the book is composed of detailed author, title, and subject indexes. The subject index is especially useful for locating cross-disciplinary materials.

Another good guide to the literature of science and technology is Information Sources in Science and Technology [RBB O 1 94] by Hurt. It has 2,068 numbered entries compared with Malinowsky's 2,459. However, Hurt lists a substantial number of unnumbered Internet sources; Malinowsky doesn't mention the Internet. Malinowsky covers agriculture and has a separate section on nursing; Hurt does not. Malinowsky lists more 1992 and 1993 titles. A random comparison shows that there is a fair amount of duplication between the two guides. However, sometimes there are differences of emphasis or preferences for titles that would be of interest to collection-development librarians. Libraries on a tight budget may wish to purchase only one of these books. Reference Sources is an excellent guide and will be useful in academic, public, and high-school libraries.

This thoughtfully compiled, current, and reasonably priced guide is unusual in its coverage of so many scientific disciplines. What it achieves in breadth, it understandably sacrifices in depth and degree of specialization. However, this does not detract from its usefulness as a good general sci-tech reference and bibliographic tool for librarians, researchers, and students. Over 2400 entries are arranged in broad sections (multidisciplinary sources, science, engineering and technology, medicine, and agriculture), which are divided by subject into subsections. For example, earth science is broken down into geochemistry, geodesy, geophysics, mineralogy, etc. Within these subsections, entries are arranged by type of source, such as abstracts and indexes, dictionaries, directories, handbooks and manuals, periodicals, and biographical sources. Entries themselves consist of full bibliographic and title change information and succinct descriptions that sometimes include comparisons with similar sources. An introduction to each specific discipline and an examination of the unique characteristics of its literature precedes each major section. This provides a much-welcomed conceptual framework, particularly for those who lack a science or engineering background. The separate subject, title, and author indexes seem less facile and thorough than the integrated index in C.D. Hurt's Information Sources in Science and Technology (LJ 3/15/89), but the scope of Malinowsky's work is broader. Recommended as an ideal "one-stop-shopping" source for small libraries with limited budgets or as a companion to specialized bibliographic tools in academic, research, and public libraries.
Leacy Pryor, NYPL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.