Jazz Fiction

Title: Jazz Fiction: A History and Comprehensive Reader's Guide

Call No: Ref. PN3352.J39 R54 2008

Sorry for the long delay in posting new resources. Now that I'm at the desk and looking over the new reference books, I should be better about posting new ones.

I picked Jazz Fiction because it is new and because it is by David Rife. Janet and Marlene get a mention in the Acknowledgements section, as well as the library as a whole. It's a small niche, and the only professor who would probably encourage students into such topics would be Sasha Feinstein.

This book is broken up into four parts:

1. From Music to Story - This "part" contains nine chapters, each one is a narrative overview of a topic with mentions of the jazz fiction stories that fit into each topic. Topics include such stuff as women, science fiction, immigrants, and "sans music."
2. Jazz Fiction by Select Categories - Lists of jazz fiction stories grouped into themes such as young adult, bebop, and stories based on the lives of actual musicians.
3. Jazz Fiction Short-Lists - This part lives up to it's name... short! Only two pages long, this part tells someone where to begin if they are interested in getting into the genre of jazz fiction. There is a short list of short fiction, and a list of novels.
4. Annotated Bibliography of Jazz Fiction - This is the bulk of the book. It starts on page 82 and goes to page 261. It is arranged alphabetically by author and annotations vary from six lines to a half a page.

Who would use this? I'm not sure. Perhaps Sasha's students? Any student who likes jazz music and needs to select a paper topic for an English course? But it's a fun book in a niche market, and many of the library staff were involved in its production!

Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd Ed.)

Title: The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research

Call No: Ref. H 62 .H2455 2005

After a few weeks off, I'm ready to get back into the reference collection and have some fun. I picked this book this week because we have a lot of students doing original or quasi-original research. It is usually their first time doing this, and some do not know where to begin. That's always the time when us librarians whip out the reference books. Also, I was curious about what these research handbooks had to offer.

The preface indicates that this volume is meant to synthesize the subject, be authoritative, impose order yet honor diversity, and discuss the history and future of the subject. It is meant to help people learn how to do qualitative research, and past editions have been used as text books in methodology courses.

It is easy to understand why this could be used as a text book. It is organized like a textbook, going from general to specific and the past to present. Furthermore, its chapter titles are more like textbook titles than encyclopedia entry titles. The chapters are grouped into a number of parts:

• Part I: Locating the Field
• Part II: Paradigms and Perspectives in Convention
• Part III: Strategies of Inquiry
• Part IV: Methods of Collecting and Analyzing Empirical Materials
• Part V: The Art and Practices of Interpretation, Evaluation, and Presentation
• Part VI: The Future of Qualitative Research

Perhaps the easiest way to navigate the volume is to go to the Contents in the front or the Subject Index in the back. I was disappointed to see there were no entries in the index on libraries or library science.

I don't see this as an easy book to skip around in for someone who is not already familiar with qualitative research methodologies. I think a person would have to start out reading the first few introductory chapters, then they may be able to skip to topics they are particularly interested in.

Who would use this? Students in the social sciences who have to do original research projects or need to understand the original research process to understand the articles they need to read. The preface discusses its use by graduate students and faculty, but Lycoming has more original projects among its undergrads than many other schools (at least based on my personal experience).

This may also be of interest to the three instructional services librarians as we get started on publishing library research. Many library assessment and research methods are qualitative in nature.

I recommend showing this or its qualitative equivalents to any of the research methods classes, or any other class or student who must do original research.

Consumer Reports Buying Guide

Title: Consumer Reports 2008 Buying Guide

Call No.: Browsing Collection

I pulled this off the shelf when I saw it to use for personal reasons (looking up refrigerators), and decided it would be a good resource to use for this week's Reference Resource, even if it isn't kept in the reference collection. I also recently introduced a professor to this when they were buying a car, so it is a useful thing to be aware of when helping people.

This guide is intended to be a "handy one-stop source for making intelligent, informed, money-saving purchases." The ratings come from surveys of its subscribers, hence the name "consumer reports." Probably the biggest section is on cars, but it includes lots of information on electronics, cell phone service, vaccuum cleaners, televisions, and of course, appliances.

There is a section at the beginning called "Green Shopping Can Save You Money," which obviously talks about the financial benefits of being environmentally aware when buying.

There is general advice on different products at the front, arranged by type of product (such as "appliances"), then in alphabetical order. The section on refrigerators is about 2.5 pages long. It talks about what types are available, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how much you can expect to pay for each. Who knew that side-by-side refrigerators were less energy efficient and more expensive than top-freezer or bottom-freezer models, or that bottom-freezer models tend to be smaller and more expensive. Options such as adjustable door bins and electronic touch pads are discussed, and it gives advice on how to choose. This section does not mention specific brand names or models yet.

The ratings and reliability scores are later in the book. When the book is closed, these are marked with the black edge. Ratings are strictly alphabetical (not organized by type of product) and discuss specific brand and model names. Rating are grouped among similar models, such as top-freezers, bottom-freezers, etc. The ratings are displayed in a chart, with circles indicating how they rate in important categories such as performance, efficiency, noise, and easy of use. It also includes information such as capacity (broken down into freezer, refrigerator, and total) and energy cost per year, plus special features like water dispensers and stainless steel options. The price for each model is also listed, though this is obviously a general number for comparison. It then lists Quick Picks and Recommendations to help with your final choice.

Who would use this? Anyone buying any large item. If you hear someone is buying a car or new appliance, you may want to ask if they have seen the Buying Guide. I grew up with Consumer Reports being my father's Bible, and have recently been surprised at how many people don't know about it. If anyone wants to know about reliability expectations, this is the place to go!

I hope no one minds that I followed the refrigerator example throughout this post, but it mimics what a patron would be looking at.

Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Group Ratings

Title: Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Group Ratings

Call No.: Ref. JK 1051 .S555 2006

This will be the first resource of what will probably end up being a series on politics in preparation for the presidential election in November. Perhaps we can do a display on information resources about the candidates.

Most of the data in this volume come from the Congressional Quarterly Almanac and Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America. The added value of this resource is the presentation of "longitudinal group rating data." In these other sources, you had to look at multiple volumes for the information presented in convenient tables in this 2-volume resource.

The tables for each Representative or Senator includes name, party, state, district, date of birth, religion, education, occupation, military service, political background, election record, voting scores for all years in office, and group ratings for each year they are available. The scores are just numbers unless you use the explanation of scores at the beginning of the first volume (the explanation starts on page viii) or the abbreviated version on page vii of the second volume.

The voting scores are based on how each person voted in comparison to the Conservative Coalition, Party Unity, Presidential Support, and the Voting Participation (a close approximation of the person's attendance record). These numbers are broken down into year, which allow the reader to see how a person has changed in relation to who is in the president's office and their party. It does not break down how they voted on specific issues, such as the Iraq War. You will need to go to another resource for that.

The interest group ratings list ten major interest groups, each of which have their own rating system. You'll need to understand each system by reading the explanation starting on page viii of volume one. However, it is basically if you know what the interest groups stand for, you'll understand the gist of what these ratings mean. For example, the ACLU is not a big fan of McCain, if that's a big surprise to anyone.

The end of the second volume includes lists of all senators and representatives for each Congress through the 108th (ending in December 2004). This means that Barak Obama does not appear in this book since he wasn't elected to the Senate until November 2004, starting office in 2005. However, McCain has been in office almost as long as I have been alive, so there is lots of information on his voting record.

Who would use it? I hope voters would in addition to political science students. While the data offered in this resource is only in relation to other (changing) bodies and offices, there is still useful information to be obtained from this when making your decision of who to vote for, whether it is for president or re-electing those who are currently in office.

Farmer's Almanac

Title: Farmer's Almanac
Call No: Ref. AY81 .F3 O62 2008

Sue B. recently picked up the most recent copy of the Farmer's Almanac for the reference collection as our other copy was pretty old. This strange member of the reference collection seemed like a fun thing to explore as this week's Reference Resource.

The Farmer's Almanac was originally published in 1818 and has been going strong since. The main feature of the almanac is an extended weather report. It claims to be 80-85% accurate. However, people have actually studied its accuracy and found this to be false. I'm not surprised that its accuracy isn't as strong as claimed, more surprised that people actually bothered to test it (disclaimer: I don't know how credible the linked source is). This questionable accuracy rate is good, since I looked up the date of my outdoor wedding and they predict "heavy rains."

In addition to the weather, there is astrological information, if you know how to read it. There is also information on the moon's phases, times of sunrises and sunsets, tide information, and eclipses. Before the Internet, I can see how this information could be very useful.

Beyond this, the almanac is full of quotes, trivia, and brief articles on a wide variety of topics, like all-metal houses and identity theft. It is also full of ads, and it can be difficult to tell the difference between the ads and the articles. It would be a fun thing to have in your pocket while you wait in a doctor's office.

Interesting piece of trivia: The Farmer's Almanac has appeared in a number of tv shows and movies, including The Office, MASH, Dukes of Hazard, Cold Case, and Father of the Bride.

Who would use this?
This is of general interest with probably little practical value other than what is described above. It is a fun resource that people believed in for a long time and made important decisions based on. It is part of America's history.

A section

After taking a week off, this is going to be a long post about the "A" section in the reference collection. I was weeding last week and came across many resources that I was previously unaware of, and want to share what I found. These are mostly resources for people who simply love facts, as a lot of this information can be found online and many of these tend to lend themselves to browsing more than looking up something in particular.

Of course we all know that we have general encyclopedias such as WorldBook in the A section. We also have encyclopedias of varying lengths in French, German, and Spanish. I was surprised that these do not appear with the dictionaries, so if you're ever working with a modern language class, keep this in mind.

There are many resources in this section that have fascinating information, though I'm currently having a hard time of imagining when you would jump up and get one of them for a student. Such resources include The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind (2004), The Essential Desk Reference (2002), The Book of Lists, and What's What.

The NYT Guide to Essential Knowledge is like an encyclopedia, but with a strange organization. It breaks down "knowledge" into large categories such as the arts, business (which somehow includes geography, history, literature, medicine, mythology, religion...), and science (which somehow includes psychology and sports), then into smaller categories like dance, finance, biology, etc. This organization makes the table of contents and index very important. There are time lines, glossaries, formulas, histories, charts, diagrams, tables of statistics, and special articles such as "The Man Who Made Jazz Hot."

The Essential Desk Reference is a similar resource, and "is intended to be the quickest way to find facts on a wide variety of subjects," according to the introduction. It's broad categories include World, United States, Sciences, Arts & Leisure, Prizes & Awards, and Work and Home. The Prizes & Awards section has neat lists of who won which major awards in which year. The introduction suggests using the index for fast facts, and the table of contents if you're interested in the big picture. The Work & Home section includes useful grammar information, something we all need from time to time! Other examples of the type of information you will find in this book include:

• UN member countries
• geographic statistics
• 125 pages of information on each country of the world
• chronologies
• lists of rulers
• major religious holidays
• Roman Catholic saints
• characters from classical mythology
• parts of the US government
• list of U.S. embassies
• historical election results
• the Declaration of Independence and Constitution
• glossary of major legal terms
• landmark Supreme Court cases
• table of U.S. states
• instructions on how to give CPR
• standard height & weight charts for men and women
• food pyramid
• contact information for state poison control centers
• time zone maps
• perpetual calendar
• endangered animals
• weather information
• anatomical diagrams
• lists of inventors & artists
• top operas, films & tv shows
• lists of travel requirements for U.S. citizens (this is very useful!)
• distances between major cities
• contact information for visitors bureaus around the world
• many sports lists
• award winners
• household budgeting
• American sign language
• international telephone codes
• alphabets, Morse code, Braille
• grammar

There are many fun books like Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. This is where you find out why we break wishbones, knock on wood, exchange wedding rings, observe Groundhog Day, plus the origins of everyday objects such as a blender, toilet paper, shampoo, bras, Teddy bears, and much more. My parents had a copy of this when I was little and I could flip through it for hours.

The Book of Lists is another I could browse through for hours. That is really all it is, a book of interesting lists. Some of the more interesting lists I found include:

• Estimated IQs of Famous People
• Famous Left-Handed People
• 20 [famous] Children of Unmarried Parents
• 10 Men Who Were Supported by Their Wives
• 21 of the Most Married People in History
• 15 Famous Events that Happened in the Bathtub
• 7 Famous Men Who Were Full-Time or Part-Time Virgins

What's What (1982) is pretty old. However, I found some useful diagrams that could still be useful. Have you ever wondered what something was called? This book is filled with pictures and diagrams, then covered with useful labels. Have you ever wanted to know all the parts of a ski or snowshoe? Then look at pages 320-321. See page 456 for the parts of a crossbow.

So with such a wide variety of types and formats of information, I'm not sure how these could be useful at the reference desk, but take a look at them and post comments of how you think these could be used.

DSM-IV

Title: DSM-IV or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Call No.: Ref. RC 455.2 .C4 D54 1994

This is another resource with an obvious use, but I have been wanting to explore in greater detail. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, it has been a standard reference resource for psychology students, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and many other professionals since its original publication in 1952. The fourth edition (that's where the "IV" comes in) is the most recent one available, even though it is 14 years old now. The fifth one is expected to be released around 2011, according to Wikipedia.

The main purpose of this resource is to categorize and indicate how to diagnose disorders. The focus is on clinical, research, and educational purposes and the content is based on "extensive empirical foundation" according tot he introduction.

The list of disorders begins on page 13 and is arranged in major groups such as "Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence," then sub-groups such as "Learning Disorders."

Each entry is about four pages long. It includes the numeric code of the disorder (used for record-keeping), features of the disorder, brief information on age and prevalence, information on other disorders with similar symptoms, and the diagnostic criteria for the disorder, which is set off by a border.

This resource is only good for mental disorders. If a student is interested in personality, perception, or anything else that is not a "disorder," this book won't be of any use.

Who would use this? Psychology students and anyone studying a mental disorder.