Know It All, Find It Fast: An A‐Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk

Citation

Turner, R. (2003), "Know It All, Find It Fast: An A‐Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk", New Library World, Vol. 104 No. 1/2, pp. 68-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800310458313

The title of this new publication from Facet Publishing (formerly Library Association Publishing) is certainly ambitious and attention‐grabbing. This book aims to be a guide for reference desk staff to find out answers quickly to users’ enquiries.

The introduction certainly demonstrates an understanding of the limitations that training courses have on general enquiry desk work. Despite courses on question answering techniques and on specific resources, the authors argue that the majority of staff on enquiry desks do not have formal information qualifications and have not been on courses. Staff are often under pressure from competing demands and stress levels are high, as most of us who have worked on a busy enquiry desk will know only too well!

This book is aimed at general library staff and assumes no prior knowledge. The authors clearly state that this is not a book for the subject specialist. A general, non‐specialist service is assumed.

Know It All, Find It Fast differs from many other guides to reference materials, such as Walford’s Guide to Reference Materials, in that it is not organised by the type of resource. Instead it is arranged by subject in alphabetical order, from “Abbreviations and acronyms” to “Writers and writing”. There are about 150 main subject headings with many other see cross‐references. These subjects are usually very broad, e.g. “Gardening” or “Transport”, so do not expect a reference resource for every specific question to be outlined.

Each of these main subjects lists the most important information sources and where to locate them. This includes printed and electronic resources, including relevant Web sites. As well as listing specific resources, this work stresses the type of resources worth looking at, such as recent newspapers. Commendably, the book also emphasises that many enquiries can be answered by using quick reference that are often at hand, such as telephone directories or Whitaker’s Almanack. Most information professionals will know how true it is that the Guinness Book of Records or Whitaker’s can provide many answers and often much quicker than carrying out major search.

Each subject entry begins with several typical questions on that topic. So, for the “Abbreviations and acronyms” section, typical questions might be “What do the letters NACRO stand for?” or “What does ibid mean?”.

The obviously very experienced authors give their considerations on each section, explaining the reason why users ask questions on that subject. This will help staff clarify the nature of the enquiry.

Finally, some of the sections have a “Tips and pitfalls” paragraph. This includes things such as asking the enquirer for the context of their question to help narrow the search. The importance of currency of information, contradictory sources or whether a more specific agency might be more appropriate, are clearly stated. It might have been advisable to have a “Tip and pitfalls” section for every subject, even if it meant repetition as it is unlikely that anyone will read this from cover to cover. For example, “Environment and green issues” has no “Tips and pitfalls”, but there are obviously such issues as bias, currency, referral to other agencies, etc., to be considered.

This is certainly a comforting and very useful guide for the information worker, particularly inexperienced or unqualified, staffing a general enquiry desk. The 150 subjects will cover the majority of enquiries that occur in day‐to‐day experience. It is certainly not for the subject specialist, although it would be useful if the authors took the same approach to produce more detailed guides for specific areas.