Know It All, Find It Fast: An A‐Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk, 2nd ed.

Citation

Marcella, R. (2005), "Know It All, Find It Fast: An A‐Z Source Guide for the Enquiry Desk, 2nd ed.", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 61 No. 2, pp. 316-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410510585287

Know It All, Find It Fast is a practical and down to earth guide for inexperienced (and potentially unqualified) staff, working at the coal face in libraries, i.e. dealing with the range of unanticipated and challenging enquiries likely to be lobbed at them by the general public. In a single, alphabetical subject keyword sequence, supported by a fuller index, the reader is introduced to typical questions that might be posed on the widest range of possible topics, from calligraphy and childcare to medals and poetry.

For each topic the most significant reference sources are noted, so that in the section on “photographs”, for example, the user is directed to buying guides, collections of images, picture agencies, technical sources and other resources for exploration throughout a mix of printed and electronic materials are included. Entries also contain discussions of particular considerations specific to the topic, such as charges made for access to images and the complexities of copyright.

Although an enormously useful volume and one that I personally would have found useful as a young practitioner taking my turn on the enquiry desk, the work suffers the inevitable problems associated with seeking to encompass all subjects in a handy and comprehensible desktop tone. As a result there are many things missing: having approached the work with a particular query in mind – how do I book a driving test? – I found it impossible to locate a specific entry that helped me, either in the main sequence or the supplementary index. Equally, entries are necessarily somewhat superficial with, for example, three and a half pages dedicated to the hugely complex area of European information. However, despite such carping, this book does what it claims to do and would be a highly valuable tool at the reference desk in most libraries.