Real Story Sale with Free Reader's Advisory Training

The Annual Conference of the American Library Association opens today in San Francisco with pre-conference sessions and a scattering of group meetings. On Friday, after the Opening General Session, the exhibit halls will open.

If you are there and you stop at ABC-CLIO's booth (which always seems much bigger than a booth to me), take a look at the Real Story series of nonfiction reference books (including mine). If you purchase any of them, Sarah Statz Cords offers you free, individualized reader's advisory training via email. Here is how she states it on her blog Citizen Reader:

"I'll offer you a free session of RA training (your choice: general readers' advisory or nonfiction-specific) over email. We can discuss ways to widen your RA services, put together compelling nonfiction booklists, find great title awareness websites, anything!"

Sarah provides the details on her post Conferences, reference books, RA training, oh my! She makes the same offer on online sales through June.

A Practical Illustrated Guide to Attracting and Feeding Backyard Birds: the Complete Book of Bird Feeders, Bird Tables, Bird Baths, Nest Boxes, and Garden Bird-Watching

With the title A Practical Illustrated Guide to Attracting and Feeding Backyard Birds: the Complete Book of Bird Feeders, Bird Tables, Bird Baths, Nest Boxes, and Garden Bird-Watching, there is hardly any need to write a review. The title explains how the book is practical, and the cover hints at how beautifully colorful. Judging books by their covers can lead to disappointment, but not with this book. I renewed it to keep looking at its thematic two-page illustrated articles and its projects. I might use several ideas to enhance our yard's bird-appeal.

The topics in A Practical Illustrated Guide to Attracting and Feeding Backyard Birds are wide ranging. Readers may learn about bird anatomy, physics, and behaviors, as well as how to attract them by offering feeders, fountains, and nesting boxes. Gardeners find recommendations for landscaping, while hobbyists find templates for wood-working projects. There is also an essential guide to birds who frequent yards.

Though the publisher is British, this edition seems to be aimed at the American market. The range maps show North America. A Practical Illustrated Guide to Attracting and Feeding Backyard Birds is a great selection for public or personal libraries. I am now returning it to let others enjoy it.

A Practical Illustrated Guide to Attracting and Feeding Backyard Birds: the Complete Book of Bird Feeders, Bird Tables, Bird Baths, Nest Boxes, and Garden Bird-Watching. Southwater, 2014. 256p. ISBN 9781780192802.

The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation by Mike Unwin

This book review blog has gone to the birds! As any frequent reader must have noticed, I have written many reviews of bird-related books lately. In front of me now is The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation by Mike Unwin, an attractive paperback reference book on birds from Princeton University Press. It is not really meant to be read straight through, but I am finding very few pages to skip.

The author points out in his introduction how by being so omnipresent and visible, birds established themselves as an indicator of the health of specific habitats and the earth as a whole. Today numerous factors are contributing to declines in the populations of many birds, habitat destruction being the leading cause.

There are many observations throughout that fascinate me:

Bird diversity concentrates on tropical and subtropical regions, especially in forests.  Russia, which is over 60 times larger than Ecuador, hosts only 645 bird species while the small tropical South American country hosts a whopping 1,515 species.

About 6,900 species are found in the forests of the earth while about 200 are found in its deserts.

Birds migrate at various altitudes. Bar-headed geese fly at 29,000 feet.

William Shakespeare mentioned doves 60 times in his plays, more than any other bird. Geese were second at 44 and eagles third at 40.

Illegal hunting of songbirds in Southeastern Europe threatens the survival of numerous migrating species. Most of the illegally killed birds are smuggled into Italy for the restaurant trade.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds with over a million members is the world's largest bird conservation organization. With Audubon and other regional groups it forms BirdLife International, which is identifying and securing sanctuaries around the world.

A beginning birder wishing to understand the world of birds and veteran bird advocates can both learn much from The Atlas of Birds.

Unwin, Mike. The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation. Princeton University Press, 2011. 144p. ISBN 9780691149493.

The House of Owls by Tony Angell

The owls of North America have not only been important to the career of artist and naturalist Tony Angell, they have been a great pleasure. In The House of Owls, he recounts his encounters with almost all of the species. The exception that I see upon looking back through his very personal reference guide to owls is the ferruginous pygmy owl. In his introduction to this owl that lives in Central America, Mexico and just the smallest sliver of Arizona, he tells how early twentieth century ornithologist George Sutton's saw his first ferruginous pygmy owl.

For all of the owl profiles, Angell describes range and habitat, food preferences, vocalizations, courtship and nesting, threats and conservation, and vital statistics (length, wing span, and weight). Some details seem to repeat. Owls that use cavities in trees depend on either pileated woodpeckers or northern flickers to excavate them. Most eggs hatch between 21 and 24 days after being laid. Owlets fledge at around three to four weeks and remain with their parents for a couple of months or more. Cooper's hawks prey on many of the owlets and some of the small adult owls.

Angell starts his guide to owls with a chapter recounting his raising a western screech owl. In this chapter and throughout the book he includes his own topical drawing that support the text.

The House of Owls is a delightful book that will interest birders and other amateur naturalists. More libraries should add this new book.

Angell, Tony. The House of Owls. Yale University Press, 2015. 203p. ISBN 9780300203448.

Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds by Kevin T. Karlson and Dale Rosselet

When I attended David Sibley's book signing last year, he said that he looks at shape and listens to songs more than spotting marks and plumage in identifying birds. Sibley and many skilled birders do not have to get long close looks at birds to know what they are. With years of experience, they just know because of bird songs, behaviors, habitats, size, and shape. They often do not even have to see the birds.

New birders may have trouble naming species unless the birds sit still in full view, which they rarely do so. Luckily, novices may learn about expert ID methods by reading the new book Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds by Kevin T. Karlson and Dale Rosselet. In this Peterson Reference Guide, the authors group similar birds and then explain size and shape differences, as well as where to find the birds and important plumage. The new birder then needs much book and field study beyond the book, but a foundation can be laid.

The authors include many illustration, some in quizzes that are fun to take. I scored well on heron-like birds, woodpeckers, jays, and even sparrows. I was weak on shorebirds, flycatchers, and warblers.

Birding by Impression is an excellent choice for public library collections. Birders might like having personal copies, too.

Karlson, Kevin T. and Dale Rosselet. Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 286p. ISBN 9780547195780.

The Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! by Chris Strodder

I have never been to Disneyland in California but I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida several times. After examining The Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! by Chris Strodder, I see that much about the parks is similar. Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, Star Tours, and lots of costumed characters can be found in both states. The difference is that Disneyland, the original Disney theme park, packs what it has into a much smaller space.

Strodder's book falls somewhere between a historical reference and a travel guide. Arranged into thirteen chapters are lists about the park's origins, its attractions, the shops and restaurants, the business, its guests, its cast (people who work at Disneyland), and its impact on popular culture. Some of the lists provide practical advice for visiting, but most lists are offered as entertaining observations by either the author or by Disney fans or employees whom he has interviewed. There are many lists. Strodder has obviously researched his topics energetically.

I most enjoyed lists about the popular culture impact of Disney parks and about the origins of the attractions, most of which were built first in California and them duplicated in Florida. There is, however, a list of attractions that debuted in Florida as well.

Someone going to Disneyland for the first time will probably just get lost in this book, but the frequent guests (there are a lot of them) will find much to like in The Disneyland Book of Lists. Any library that needs to stock a variety of books on Disneyland will benefit by having this title, too.

Strodder, Chris. Disneyland Book of Lists: Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented! Santa Monica Press, 2015. 360p. ISBN 9781595800817.

David Sibley at Anderson's Books in Downers Grove

Thanks to a string of conversations at the Downers Grove Public Library on April 10, Bonnie learned just a few hours before the event that bird guide artist and author David Sibley would speak at Anderson's Books in Downers Grove. Bonnie called to notify me, and I quickly called Anderson's to reserve a seat and a copy of the new The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition. What great luck! My luck continued at Anderson's where the event was intimate and relaxed. Everyone who came sat close and had an opportunity to ask questions.

The author told us about his methods for sketching in the field and painting in the studio, resulting in paintings three times larger than the corresponding pages in his guide book. He kept all the masters from the first edition to help with the second. Half of the paintings were slightly updated and about 10 percent were updated greatly. New pages were also produced as over 100 bird species were added. Range maps have new colors, and most of the text was rewritten. The second edition of The Sibley Guide to Birds looks very fresh next to my well-used first edition.

Sibley's discussion of his artistry led to stories about his life as a birder. He started around age eight helping his father (an ornithologist) band birds. His practice of sketching birds led to making close observations of behavior, and he always encourages all birders to field sketch. He considers himself equally an artist and a scientist. Much of the latter part of his presentation and the questions dealt with bird behavior, population dynamics, and birding practices.

It was a wonderful evening. Now I am looking forward to using my new edition The Sibley Guide to Birds. 

Sibley, David. The Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition. Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. 598p. ISBN 9780307957900.

The Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings

I collect few things. I have compact discs from some of the performers who have appeared at our library's concert series. I sometimes buy small bird guides when I travel to other states or countries. Now I am selectively collecting books from the gift shops of art museums I visit. I recently bought guides to both the Frick Collection and the Cloisters on our trip to New York.

The Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings is a catalog with photographs of every painting in the museum, arranged alphabetically by artists. 131 paintings were left to the museum by its benefactor, industrialist Henry Clay Frick, and 48 were added later by his descendants. He was obviously a very, very rich man of refined tastes, who focused on European paintings from the Renaissance to the 1800s. Collecting at a time before art prices inflated to today's standards, he acquired works from many of the most renowned artists, including Constable, David, Gainsborough, Goya, Monet, Rembrandt, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Vermeer, and Whistler.

Being a 6 X 9 handbook and not an oversize art book, The Frick Collection is not adequate for detailed study of the paintings, but it serves as an attractive reminder and useful reference to the wonderful afternoon we spent at the museum. I have it when I want to verify which Vermeers we saw that day.

Now I look forward to reading about the Cloisters.

The Frick Collection: Handbook of Paintings. Frick Collection, 2012. 168p. ISBN 9780912114095.

42 and The Baseball Encyclopedia, 8th ed.

When Bonnie and I got home from seeing 42, the recent movie about Jackie Robinson's breaking the color line of major league baseball, I went straight to one of our bookcases for The Baseball Encyclopedia. We had questions to answer, and since our 8th edition of the BE has comprehensive statistics and facts through the 1989 season, we could verify details from the movie.

My first question came from the opening sequence of the movie. The 42 moviemakers included Stan Musial as one of the star players who missed playing time due to World War II. I thought that he had played for the Cardinals without interruption through the war, but I was wrong. He missed the 1945 season. BE verifies the gap in his career.

My second burning question was the identity of the pitcher that the Dodgers traded to the Pirates early in the 1947 season after he had led a petition effort to get Robinson off the team. (I had trouble keeping track of character names during 42.) I was able to triangulate the answer by checking three sections - "The Teams and Their Players," "Trades," and "Pitcher Register." I learned that K. Higbe was a starting pitcher for the Dodgers in 1946 and for the Pirates in 1947. "Trades" showed that Kirby Higbe was traded by the Dodgers on May 3, 1947 to the Pirates with four other players. I checked the "Pitcher Register" just to see how many games Higbe played before the 1947 trade. The answer was four. He had been the Dodgers' winningest pitcher in 1946, so the trade sent a strong message to the rest of the team.

Bonnie wanted to know about the Pirate pitcher who beaned Robinson in one of the games between the teams. His name was Fritz Ostermueller. Though he was called "a mad dutchman" or something to that effect, he was born in Quincy, Illinois. Not every objecting player was from the South.

I had read about Dodger manager Leo Durocher being suspended for a year but had not remembered that it was 1947. The "Manager Register" in BE showed that it was and that he was back at the helm in 1948. The 42 writers did not rearrange events for dramatic effect in this regard.

Of course, the manager that we most wanted to verify was Ben Chapman, the Phillies skipper, who heckled Robinson with racial slurs mercilessly each time the Dodger came to bat. During the credits at the end of the film, the filmmakers indicate that Chapman's managing career ended the next season. That was true, as Chapman managed 79 games into 1948 and was fired by his 7th place team. His lack of success, not his racism, probably sealed his fate. Bonnie and I discussed why the umpires did not stop what was obvious racist behavior. The umpires and the league that paid them may not have wanted Robinson in uniform either. Besides, umpires mostly eject players or manager for disputing or insulting umpires.

42 shows Robinson, the 1947 Rookie of the Year, stealing bases almost at will whenever he reached first base. He led the National League in the category that year, but I was surprised to see he did so with only 29 stolen bases. Perhaps, being intentionally spiked by a rival player mid-season took a toll on his speed. Two years later, when he was the National League Most Valuable Player, he would again lead the league with 37 steals. He played 10 years in the major leagues, all with the Dodgers in Brooklyn, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962.

At first, I thought Harrison Ford's portrayal of Branch Rickey oddly comic, especially his low voice, but I got used to it. He has many of the best lines in the movie. However, I was always aware that it was Harrison Ford on the screen. The rest of the cast seemed real to me. The movie was a bit too pretty, as movies often are. Perhaps it should have been in black and white. Still, it achieved its goal of telling the story and I would like to see it again.

The Baseball Encyclopedia. 8th ed. MacMillan Publishing, 1990. 2781p. ISBN 0025790404.

Bird Watch: A Survey of Planet Earth's Changing Ecosystems by Martin Walters

According to Martin Walters in his new atlas Bird Watch: A Survey of Planet Earth's Changing Ecosystems, birds serve as "beacons or barometers" to the health of the environment. Though avian species thrive when conditions are favorable, they are quick to decline when habitats are damaged. People should watch birds not only because they are beautiful but also because their presence in good numbers reflects the state of the environment. By protecting birds, we protect other vulnerable species, ecosystems, and our own future.

What threatens birds? Early in the text Walters describes the causes of bird population loss according to specific types of habitats. Shorelines are polluted by chemical runoff and spills. Predatory snakes and rats are accidentally introduced to islands eat eggs and fledglings. The clear cutting of forests for lumber or to plant cash crops destroys breeding grounds. Raptors accumulate pesticides used in agricultural areas. It seems any number of human actions that transform habitats harm birds. The main danger can be summed up as habitat loss. Brilliantly colored tropical birds are also captured for the illegal trade in endangered species. Walters goes on to identify specifically what birds are most at risk in each ecosystem.

The largest part of the book is the Endangered Birds profiles and lists, arranged by families in the usual systematic sequence, beginning with flightless kiwis, tinamous, and cassowaries and then advancing past water birds and raptors, and finally ending with songbirds. The lists are international, color coding all 1,227 species on the International Conservation of Nature Red List as "critically endangered," "endangered," or "vulnerable." Students or researchers may use Walters' work to learn the names of birds they should study, but they will have to then use other resources to learn more about the species, such as appearance, location, and habits.

Walters ends Bird Watch with conservation recommendations and a list of birding hotspots for international travelers. Other than students with assignments, this attractively illustrated book will interest very serious birders and conservation professionals.

Walters, Martin. Bird Watch: A Survey of Planet Earth's Changing Ecosystems. University of Chicago Press, 2011. ISBN 9780226872261.

"Ready Reference Collections: A History" by Carol A. Singer

A trend in popular nonfiction books is the microhistory in which authors tell in detail stories about specific products, such as salt or toothpicks. Invariably topics are hooks that intrigues readers who then learn about much more than they are promised by the modest sounding topics. I feel the article "Ready Reference Collections: A History" by Carol A. Singer in the Spring 2010 issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly is in this same spirit. It sounds like a small topic - what reference tools have librarians kept close at hand to answer client questions quickly. But the article does more, bringing in the history of the librarian-client relationships, of database access, of reference books on CD-ROMs, of Internet resources, of search engines in service of reference librarians, and of the demise of the printed reference book.

In any other publication than Reference & User Services Quarterly, I suspect many reader would bypass the article, but luckily it is placed where many reference fanatics will spot it. I read with recognition. The article really sums up my professional career. While I was never at a library that could afford the higher priced resources that Singer mentions, I used many of the mainstream reference titles and services, including the World Almanac, Dialog database searching, and CD-ROM towers. I nodded my head as she told about the super-sizing of ready reference collections in busy libraries. I remember a library around 1994 with a huge desk that had three columns of reference books blocked off from client-access. Reference statistics were kept high just by making the clients ask for the books.

What jumps out at me is that with many online resources and clients helping themselves, the print ready reference collection has now returned to its origins, a few items useful for answering questions quickly. The criteria for selecting these items may have shifted slightly (what is better in print than online), but the small shelf close at hand looks familiar to an old reference librarian.

Singer's article has not yet appeared on the RUSQ website, but watch for it there in the future.

Now Read This III by Nancy Pearl and Sarah Statz Cords

With many libraries spending less on new books due to budget cuts in 2010, it is time for many of us to rely on the books that we already have to satisfy the public urge to read. With fewer items on new book shelves, librarians and readers are going to have to retrieve more books from the stacks, the last place that many readers are ever seen. So, the timing of Now Read This III by our friends Nancy Pearl and Sarah Statz Cords is perfect. Their book which identifies mainstream fiction published between 2002 and 2009 (with a few exceptions), titles that many of us have in abundance, is a key to getting those books off the shelves and into readers' hands.

"Key" is a good word to use at this point because Pearl and Cords present four "doorways" to the finding of books to please readers. These are Setting, Story, Character, and Language. Each of the four chapters of this guidebook to fiction identifies novels or short story collections that have one of these primary appeal factors. With a total of over 500 titles described, the four chapters arranged alphabetically by author are lengthy. Just reading through the chapters will not be the primary way for finding books to read (though that is a good way to learn a lot about fiction). Instead, most users will find a book they already know through the author/title index and turn to its entry. There Pearl and Cords provide a quick book summary, a list of descriptors, and abundant suggestions for further reading. Looking at the "Now Try:" portion of each entry, readers will find other novels by the same author, fiction by other authors, and even nonfiction suggestions. After some entries are special "Now Consider Nonfiction ..." boxes with even further suggestions.

Because I most like novels or collections of short stories that take me to other times and places, Chapter 1: Setting is the portion of the book that most interests me. What separates these books from being categorized as "historical fiction" and sent instead to a genre guide in the Genereflecting Advisory Series is that these titles have proved to be popular with the general reading public. Many of the books are award winners and have been selections for book clubs. Cords says that these titles may, of course, be categorized differently by different guidebook authors; readers' advisory is process to find good reading, not a final categorization of books.

The many descriptors for the titles are arranged in the subject index. While some are traditional LC or Sears type heading, others are terms commonly used by librarians, such as "Gentle Reads" or "Quick Reads." Librarians with a slew of literature students with ethnic studies assignments may use terms like "Chinese Authors," "Mexico," or "Multicultural" to identify titles for these students. Book winning titles can be found in the subject index as well through web links identified in an appendix for awards and prizes.

Many librarians may be reluctant to buy a reference book right now with their dwindling funds, but Now Read This III can be seen as tool to make better use of established collections. Spring for it.

Pearl, Nancy and Sarah Statz Cords. Now Read This III. Libraries Unlimited, 2010. ISBN 9781591585701

Reference Books to Go: The Liberation of Our Reference Books

We are breaking with our past at Thomas Ford. One thing that you could always count on was that the reference books were here on the shelves. As good as that was in the past, the problem now is that the reference books are here on the shelves, but no one is here using them. They are just sitting. So we are liberating them. We're going to let them out to anyone with a card, just like other books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs.

The one precedent here is the liberating of the magazines a couple of decades ago. We used to keep the magazines close for all the students doing reports and term papers. We now have online databases with full texts, and those days are long gone. Finally, it is time to free the reference books as well.

Our Adult Services librarians have spent several weeks preparing to let reference books circulate. With Sandy Frank's assistance (she's the head of the circulation department), we have inventoried the collection, weeded out-of-date and worn-out materials, and changed the circulation system status for each record. The work is done and we are starting a quiet launch while we prepare marketing.

Here are reasons for this new service:

1. Use of reference books in the library has fallen off significantly in the past several years. Librarians with access to online resources are using the print reference items less frequently. Fewer clients are spotted using reference books. We reshelve reference books less often. The reference shelves rarely need straightening.
2. Clients occasionally ask to borrow the reference books so they can use them at home or work.
3. Much of the information in the reference books is available to us though our databases. Reference librarians will still have resources to answer questions.
4. With less money to buy nonfiction books this year, it provides more items to loan students and other clients interested in nonfiction topics.
5. Other libraries have begun to loan their reference books. Meetings at the 2009 ALA Conference in Chicago and posts on the Booklist blog Points of Reference have discussed the new trend.

The primary objection I have heard is "What if a book from a set doesn't return, isn't the set ruined?" This is a possibility, maybe even a probability in time. Still having books sit idle seems a greater sorrow in a public library focused on current utility and not archival conservation. I think the greater good will be served by this service. I look froward to seeing some smiles when I let someone take a volume of Contemporary Literary Criticism or The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

We do not expect a rush of people coming for the reference books right away, but we hope for steady use. Maybe this liberation will even revive the section and make reference books worth buying again.

Women's Nonfiction: A Guide to Reading Interests by Jessica Zellers

I am not sure that women's nonfiction really is a genre, but I do not think it matters. Genre is a concept that may interest librarians more than writers and readers. What matters is that there are books of particular interest to women and a large community of women who read. Jessica Zellers serves both well with her new book Women's Nonfiction: A Guide to Reading Interests.

Women's Nonfiction is the third volume in the new readers' advisory series Real Stories which suggests nonfiction books to librarians and readers. It follows volumes on investigative reporting and biography. The second volume, of course, is my book, so I am particularly interested in Jessica's book. On examination, I find our books complementary. Early in her book Jessica explains that "it is a rare Women's Nonfiction narrative that does not refer, at least in part, to people's life experiences." Appropriately her first chapter is "Chapter 1 - Life Stories: Biography, Autobiography, and Memoirs." I notice that we have even identified a few of the same titles, including Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fast Lane by Doris L. Rich and Boudica: The Life of Britain's Legendary Warrior Queen by Vanessa Collingridge, but our "Now try" recommendations are all quite different, as you might expect.

So, as a guy, what do I like about this book? The chapter that most interests me is "Chapter 5 - Adventure and Travel." Jessica's descriptive reviews suggest a number of books that I'd like to read, including Across the Savage Sea: The First Woman to Row Across the North Atlantic by Maud Fontenoy, The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson, and Travels with a Medieval Queen by Mary Taylor Simeti. I also see promising titles in "Chapter 4 - Women's History," including Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser and Uppity Women of Ancient Times by Vicki Leon.

I would not want you to think all of Jessica's books are biography, adventure, or history. In her introduction, she states that she includes nonfiction books that women read for pleasure. Most are narrative nonfiction but not all. Many of the titles included deal with personal growth, women's health, beauty, feminism, activism, women at work, and women in society.

When I was visiting the Elmhurst Public Library a few weeks ago, I noticed a "help yourself" readers' advisory display, including fiction and nonfiction readers' advisory guides. Women's Nonfiction: A Guide to Reading Interests would serve well on such displays everywhere, especially as a circulating book that readers could take home.

Zellers, Jessica. Women's Nonfiction: A Guide to Reading Interests. Libraries Unlimited, 2009. 442p. ISBN 9781591586586

Free Medical Journals and Free Books 4 Doctors!

In the summer, I saw a note about Free Medical Journals. This website provides readers access to the text of articles in 1392 medical journals (as of October 28, 2009). In many cases, the latest issues are not free. Both JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine offer their articles after six months, while BMJ (British Medical Journal) holds the texts for three years. The Canadian Medical Association Journal is free immediately. Readers may be somewhat frustrated by not being to get many of the articles as they are reported in the news, but at least, libraries who have had to drop medical periodicals for balancing budgets do have some recourse if fulltext is not in their subscription databases.

Organization and searching seems to be just by topic of journal as a whole. Users need to know medical terms to get good results, though searching "blood" does get "hematology."

What I did not know before is that there is also Free Books 4 Doctors! Despite the page title, it appears that anyone (not just doctors) can read from 365 medical texts. 38 of the titles are in Spanish. Other languages are also included, even Mongolian. Strangely, one of the books is a novel, Murder in Casteddu by Mary Miller.

Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series by Janet G. Husband and Jonathan F. Husband

Since 1982, librarians Janet G. Husband and Jonathan F. Husband have been helping librarians and readers everywhere identify fiction books in series with their reference books. Now in 2009, the couple have finished the 4th edition of their Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series, published by the American Library Association. Of course, the guide has grown much in the ensuing years. The first edition was 361 pages; the latest is 782 bigger pages.

Contemporary readers might think that mystery fiction would dominate the guide, as crime solving series are exceedingly popular now, and the authors have included many mystery series, from Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy Sayers to Nevada Barr, Janet Evanovich, and Alexander McCall Smith (alphabetized as Smith). There is, however, much more than mystery series. William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County stories, Doris Lessing's Children of Violence quintet, Anne McCaffrey's many dragon tales, Paul Scott's novels of India, Janette Oke's Christian fiction series, and Mary Stewart's Arthurian novels are just a few of the literary, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and historical fiction series included.

The book is especially helpful for sorting out the confusing mix of comic novels by P. G. Wodehouse. Many readers know his famous characters Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves, but finding a good list of the books in the series is not easy. The Husbands identify fifteen titles. They also identify many of the recurring characters, including Stiffy Byng, Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bingo Little, Madeleine Bassett, and the always feared Aunt Agatha. Wodehouse wrote four other comic series that fans might also want to read. Sequels, of course, provides the titles and brief plot statements.

The entry for J. R. R. Tolkien will interest newcomers to The Lord of the Rings literature. The authors not only describe the trilogy and explain that it follows The Hobbit, but they identify books edited by Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien subsequent to the author's death. It falls a little short by not identifying Narn i Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin, which was published in 2007. Perhaps content collecting ended sometime in late 2007 or early 2008, for I see only a few 2008 and no 2009 titles in this edition. I suppose with a print work as huge as Sequels, some lag time has to be expected.*

I used Sequels once while I was examining it at the reference desk. A reader asked me about the Discworld books by English author Terry Pratchett. Sequels explains the series and identifies thirty-two titles - just what the reader needed. We're going to keep the book with our other most used readers' advisory titles. I imagine it will be helping us for a long time.

Husband, Janet G. and Husband, Jonathan F. Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series, 4th ed. American Library Association, 2009. ISBN 9780838909676


*For up-to-date series information, also try the Kent District Library's What's Next Books in Series website.

The Reference Equation: What I Really Want

I had a dream a few nights ago that a decorating committee from the board of trustees got rid of the reference collection without consulting me. The reason given was they did not "look so good anymore." All the bookshelves were taken away. Big potted plants were put around the open room, and a few plasma screens were mounted on the walls. The screens were touch activated and had no "unsightly" keyboards. To get to them, clients had to get around the plants. The dream still haunts me.

In reality, I am the one who has gotten rid of bunches of reference books that are no longer being used. Not wanting what remains to follow quickly, I have been urging the other reference librarians and public to remember and use them.

At the same time, I am very excited about our joining a consortium of libraries to acquire dozens of databases in a big group purchase. To make this really good deal really good, I am urging all the reference librarians to remember them and use them. Click here to see what we now have. It is an impressive list.

It occurred to me that there is some an unstated desire behind my urgings, which might be seen as contradictory. How can you use both the books and the databases more. It becomes clearer when I put it in an equation.

More use of reference books + more use of database = more reference questions answered.

The problem with this equation is that "more reference questions" is stated as the result. This is actually backwards.

More reference questions asked = more use of reference books + more use of databases.

That's what I really want. I want the whole community to rise up because they know how good we are at what we do and ask us more questions. I want us to be in place, at the desk and around the collections and on the phone and on the web, available and eager to answer the many questions coming our way. And I want us to enjoy the pleasures of opening those great reference books and searching those powerful databases.

Oh, am I still dreaming? Maybe. Don't wake me.

Just One Reference Book from Gale

I was just reading the new Points of Reference blog from Booklist in which Mary Ellen Quinn tells about the upcoming Fall Reference Preview. Her piece is a preview of the preview. In the first paragraph she states that Gale Publishing submitted information on only one reference title for the preview.

I am now trying to remember ten days ago in Chicago. Were there any books at all at the Gale exhibit at the American Library Association Annual Conference? I remember lots of monitors and keyboards and Gale staff ready to sell databases. I don't remember seeing any bookshelves. Had I forgotten that even Gale sells books? Were they around some corner I did not turn?

At the Booklist program Rethinking Reference Collections, panelists mused that the days of mostly digital reference sources are coming. Maybe they are already here. Our reference dollars will all go to big companies that can afford to build towers above the exhibit floor.

Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

As a reference librarian, I like reference books, even ones that seem fairly plain, such as a simple subject dictionary. So, I am inclined to like Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary. It may indicate my bookishness, but I find fun browsing the brief entries about the names of rivers, lakes, towns, cities, counties, and other populated places. Most tell when names were first used, origins, the names replaced, and when post offices were established.

What have I learned from the book?

Africa was a settlement of freed slaves. Alhambra was named by Washington Irving readers. There was a grain elevator in Cereal. Custer was probably named for General George Armstrong Custer. Maud was named for a county judge's daughter. Minooka means "good land" in Algonquin. Roaches was formerly Roach Town and Roachville. There are two Vermilion Rivers. Zif might be named for the eighth month of the Hebrew calendar.

Some of my favorite names:

• Burden Creek
• Dog Hollow
• Drowning Fork
• Henpeck
• Illiopolis
• Joy
• Jubilee
• Limerick
• Little America
• Paradise
• Pharaohs Garden
• Polecat Creek
• Wonder Lake
• Young America

Place Names of Illinois does the job it sets out to do and should be in most Illinois libraries. We have put our copy into circulation so anyone can take it home and enjoy browsing through the curious names.

Callary, Edward. Place Names of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, 2009. ISBN 9780252033568

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Reference Librarian Looks at Consumer Health Reference Sources

This is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month. EDS is a group of connective tissue disorders which may, depending on the type and severity, make a person super flexible, reduce mobility, cause constant pain, or even threaten life. Basic to all is that a person's collagen is defective, resulting in stretched skin and dislocated joints. The Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation website is a good starting point for learning about the condition.

A good website from which to learn about the life of a person with EDS is LibrarianInBlack. Last week Sarah Houghton-Jan wrote about her life with EDS. As a dedicated librarian intent on educating readers, she embedded two videos about other EDS cases and photos showing hyperelastic skin and joints. She also included a link to the Ehlers-Danlos Support Group. You can also look through the recent posts and archives of LibrarianInBlack to see what an active person Sarah is despite her condition.

The following is a collection of EDS resources available in public libraries (many at the Downers Grove Public Library). Readers will notice that there is disagreement in the EDS literature as to how many types of the syndrome exist. No one source tells the whole story. Persons with EDS will, of course, seek many sources to help them understand their prognosis. Friends and family are urged to take time to also explore many resources.

Missing from the list are book-length EDS memoirs. I found none through our local library system catalog, Worldcat, or Amazon.


Reference Books

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 31st ed., 2007 - A user has to look at two entries to see all that the dictionary says about about EDS. On page 603 is an entry "Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome" which provides a pronunciation and the names of the two dermatologists for whom the syndrome is named, Edvard Ehler of Denmark, 1863-1937 and Henri Alexandre Danlos of France, 1844-1912. For more information, readers have to turn to page 1854 and look under "syndromes." Dorland's describes six types of EDS (down from ten) and includes a photo of hyperextensible skin.

American Medical Association Family Medical Guide, 4th ed., 2004. - This AMA guide has about a page of information about EDS under the heading of "Autosomal Dominant Disorders." Across pages 969-70 are paragraphs about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Near the end is a stern warning to parents to reduce injuries by preventing their children from "showing off" their unusual flexibility.

Dictionary of Syndromes and Inherited Disorders by Patricia Gilbert, 3rd ed., 2000 - Gilbert says that an alternate name for the syndrome is "joint laxity." On pages 102-5, she describes population incidence of EDS, genetic causation, syndrome characteristics, and case management. She emphasizes the need for good dental care.

Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment by Stephen J. McPhee and Maxine A. Papadakis, 2009 ed. - CMDT does not have a separate entry for EDS, but it is mentioned in entries for mitral valve prolapse (p. 301), cardiac involvement in miscellaneous systemic disease (p. 373), cardiac patient and pregnancy (p. 374), and thoracic aortic aneurysms (p. 414).

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 17th ed., 2008 - Harrison's includes about two large pages of professional level content about EDS, pages 2465-67. A chart explains eight types of EDS. The syndrome is also mentioned in entries about skin manifestations of internal disease (p. 335), bleeding (p. 366), valvular heart disease (p. 1472), cardiac manifestations of systemic diseases (p. 1499), aortic aneurysms (p. 1563), stroke (p. 2519), and osteoporosis (p. 2400).

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed., 2006 - Like other resources, the encyclopedia describes many types of EDS and explains family genetic patterns. Friends and family may appreciate the prognosis section, which describes the challenges of living with EDS. A total of five pages is included in the encyclopedia. Entries in two other Gale titles, Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health and Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, 2nd ed., resemble this entry. The latter, however, also mentions EDS in entries for other syndromes.

Genetic Disorders Sourcebook, 3rd ed., 2004 - Only two brief pages about EDS. A bit disappointing.

Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects by James Wynbrandt and Mark D. Ludman, 3rd ed., 2008 - The authors note that EDS experts have proposed that the official number of types of EDS be reduced to six, but they then describe ten types anyway. Two full pages of data.

Encyclopedia of Skin and Skin Disorders by Carol Turkington and Jeffrey S. Dover 3rd ed., 2007 - The authors focus on skin in their entry about EDS but also describe the overall condition of the EDS patient on pages 125-26.

Rudolph's Pediatrics, 21st ed., 2003 - This pediatrics medical guide describes the clinical features of six types of EDS and emphasizes injury prevention (shin guards, knee pads, braces). Surgical correction is also discussed.


Newspaper and Magazine Articles

"Kids' Illnesses Spark Battle with State: A California Mom Spent Years Trying to Figure Out What Made Her Children Sick, Then Almost Lost Them," Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2008, p. 4 - A story about how a pattern of bruises and injuries in her children nearly led to abuse charges against a mother whose children have EDS.

"A Life with Purpose," Swimming World, May 2005, pp. 29-30 - A profile of Nancy Burpee, a champion swimmer who has had EDS for 40 years.

"Coping with Livelong Pain," Toronto Star, April 30, 2009, p. U10 - A story about how a pain clinic is helping a mother and her two daughter, all of whom have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

"A Mother's Burden," Santa Fe New Mexican, August 8, 2007, p. D1 - A story about a mother and three daughters with EDS. Tells how use of braces reduced pain and injuries in the children.

"After a Multitude of Tests, an Answer from Grandmother's Memory," New York Times, August 24, 2004, p. E5 - A story about the difficulty of diagnosing EDS in infants and toddlers.


Websites

Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation - Sarah says that this is the website with the most useful information.

Ehlers-Danlos Support Group - This British site has a message board and a section with advice for living with EDS.

Mayo Clinic - The Mayo Clinic website includes a basic definition, symptoms, causes, complications, treatment, and advice for coping with the syndrome.

Medline Plus - This site from the National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health tells us that EDS is also called "cutis elastica." The EDS page includes links to articles from nonprofit organizations and medical journals.

National Organization for Rare Disorders - Basic information on EDS, identifying eight types. The site has a list of recommended websites.

NLM Gateway - Search this website to find basic information, medical journal articles, and clinical trials that may be recruiting participants.


Final Note

My abbreviated notes about these resources, of course, oversimplify what they contain, but together they suggest the vast amount of information on the topic. Ironically, there is still much that is not known or understood, and being a rare condition, as Sarah explains, EDS is not a priority in medical research. I hope that you spend a bit of time with these resources to comprehend the uncertainty of the EDS experience and the hand dealt to people with the syndrome.