Guide to Reference Books (Guide to Reference Books)

Rating:
Summary: Winchell to Sheehy to Balay
Review: When I was in Library School at UCLA in 1989, one of the first things I did was purchase "Sheehy" (shorthand reference for 10th edition of this work) for what I considered was a bargain at 95 bucks. It singlehandedly paid for itself in the savings in my time - I didn't have to come and use the library copies for research or the extensive bibliographic verification required within the profession. I wondered in 1989, and I still wonder, why there isn't an online version or a CD-ROM version. "Balay" is a unique work so don't bother comparison shopping. Its organized compilation of reference resources is of the utter highest quality. I think of it now as akin to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) - something for which a true bibliophile (or library geek) might pine but would probably purchase only upon receiving a financial windfall. (Yes, I do own a copy of the OED - 1st edition, compact.) At this price "Balay" is pretty much an institutional purchase, rather than a personal one. But, if you're a new library student with 300 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, this would still be a great time saver. Hint, buy it as early in your library career as possible to amortize your savings in time. Then, keep it as an heirloom of a soon to be bygone era - the age of print.