The range of sources used by PResS is vast. As well as having access to a well-stocked academic library, we also utilise a collection of specialist reference material on the publishing industry, a wide selection of electronic resources, and contacts with external libraries and information centres. We have also been known to pick the brains of the university's professional teaching staff. It is the quality of the information available to PResS, combined with trained specialist staff, that makes the business successful. Information available to everybody via the Internet may seem like a great idea, but you have to question the authenticity of it.
Evaluation is a key part of an information professional's work.
I often have editors contacting me with queries on information they have found themselves on the Internet, wanting me to check that it is correct. PResS also provides training courses on searching the Web successfully, directing editors to sources they can trust. You may think we're in danger of doing ourselves out of a job, handing research over to the end-user, but we're in the business of helping the publisher produce books that are accurate . There is still plenty of information that they cannot find themselves on the Web, so they come back to us for that. In addition a lot of the information of value on the Web is only available at a cost.