Learning the RC: More Reader's Advisory Resources

The Reader's Adviser (028 REA 14th ED. v.1-5) covers:

• v1: Best in Reference Works, British Literature & American Literature (different time periods, including up to the mid-20th century genre writers)
• v2: Best in World Literature (General Reference, Hebrew, Yiddish, Middle Eastern, African, Indian Subcontinent, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian (ex. Burma, Lao), Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Netherlandic, Scandinavian, Russian, East European (ex. Czech, Estonian, Polish), Latin American, Canadian, Caribbean, Australian, New Zealand)
• v3: Best in Social Sciences, History and the Arts (Gen Ref, Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Education, History: World, Ancient, European, African, Middle Eastern, Asia and Pacific, US, Canadian, Latin American; Music & Dance, Art & Architecture, Mass Media (Journalism, Radio & TV, Film,), Folklore, Humor, Pop Culture, Travel & Exploration.
• v4: Best in Philosophy and Religion (Gen Ref, Philosophy: Greek/Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern Western, 20th Cen, Asian & African, Contemporary Issues; Religion: Ancient, Eastern, Islam, Judaism, Early & Medieval Christian, Late Christianity (1500-present), Bible & Related, Minority Religions, Contemporary Issues in Religious Thought
• v5: Best in Science, Technology and Medicine [STM] (History of STM, Philosophy of STM, Ethics in STM, S&T and Society, Special Issues in S&T and Society, Engineering & Tech (Design, Inventors, Patents, Flight, etc), Ag and Food Tech, Energy (aka Fuels), Communications Tech, Medicine & Health (Aging, Dentistry, Gynecology, Radiology, etc), Illness & Disease, Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry, Mathematics, Statistics & Probability, Info Science & Computer Science, Astronomy & Space Science, Earth Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Ecology & Environmental Science
• v6: the Indexes (author, title, subject)

This looks like the sort of reference work you'd consult for when you are exploring a subject area, or taking a survey class, and you need to draw up a list of "canon" books that you might be expected to read in that class. Or if someone were writing a research paper and needed some titles to get them started, this would be a good book to consult for ideas. Probably, we wouldn't have most of the titles for subjects not on the US or Europe (and maybe not many of them either), but we could find things via ILL or send the person with their list of titles on to a research library like an academic or major city library. The emphasis is on the West, especially Europe and I don't know how specialized it would be (such as wanting books about women in a particular topic, like Vietnam, or women Asian artists of the Chang dynasty (I made that up)). Unfortunately, this text is from the early 1990s, so many of the titles are old. A quick check online and on WorldCat shows there are no new print editions.

---

We have a huge collection of two volume editions of a series titled Magill's Literary Annual (028.1 MAG YEAR V1,2). I eyed it askance, wondering how this 60 book, gold cover thing could be of use and easily referenced. In a nutshell, 200 books of "interest to general readers, that reflect publishing trends, that add to the careers of authors being taught and researched in literature programs and that will stand the test of time." It's like a yearly, if you can only read 200 books, this is the list!

At first I was very excited. (To be honest, I still am.) A selection of the thousands of books being published and reviewed in BookList and Publisher's Weekly and Book Page and a myriad of other weekly and monthly review columns, a selection of the most literary, thought to stand the test of time. Then I was sad, because by necessity, the list is a year old. Then I returned to suspicious. "Wait a minute! Who is Magill, and why does he get to pick?" And it turns out he's an actual dude who founded Salem Press and, yeah, we just have to take his word for it. But I like the idea of having the selection for when someone comes along and asks if we can recommend anything for their book club. Something literary, but that people will actually want to read. I also like that the description of the book is about four pages long, giving the book club representative (or the librarian) enough information to get a feel for the book. At the back of the 2nd volume of each annual is a subject index and a category index, which allows you to browse for genres and subjects, when you are just open to serendipity. Also, the beginning of each volume has a complete annotated list for quickly browsing (alphabetically) the list of titles for the year. My one beef with this selection is that we are not told how the books are selected in the first place. What is the criteria? Are they only adult books? Are they only books published in the United States? Are there any translated works? With that aside, the collection provides a focused way to browse for something interesting, educating and entertaining to read.

---

We randomly have this booklet called Books Change Lives, Quotes to Treasure. I don't like it. There's no index to search for a quote by a particular author, nor is there an index to search for a quote by subject. Sometimes I like serendipity, but it's not even inspired. Bleh. I'm not even going to include the call number.

Two more genre specific advisory guides:

• Strictly Science Fiction: A guide to Reading Interests (028.9 HER). The chapter titles don't tell me much, but the subject index will start you off looking for those titles specifically about dystopian societies. The edition we have is 2002, so of course the Hunger Games, et al aren't in here, but this would be good for back list titles, the oldies, but goodies for when someone has read everything. Lists of types of Awards and books awarded are included in the resources and appendix.
• The Horror Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses (028.9 SPR). It is slim, but very informative on describing the sub-genres to draw out what people are thinking when they say horror. Is horror for the reader vampires? Or is it mad science gone awry? Every good RA book includes the obligatory lists, for which I'm grateful. I only wish there were one for children, too.