Using the Internet as Reference Tool: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians and The Library Internet Trainer's Toolkit

Sauers, Michael P. Using the Internet as Reference Tool: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman, 2001. (A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians; No. 109). 143 p. $45.00. ISBN 1-55570-417-4. Stephens, Michael T. The Library Internet Trainer's Toolkit. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman, 2001. (Neal-Schuman NetGuide series). 223 p. Book and CD-ROM. $149.95. ISBN 1-55570-415-8. Two additions to the Neal-Schuman catalog of professional tools will be valuable for librarians working to make more effective use of the Internet. Both authors are librarians actively involved in library instruction who have developed ready-to-use lessons and examples for use in library settings for a variety of users. While neither book has a health sciences focus, both resources will prove helpful in that setting. Stephens's work, The Library Internet Trainer's Toolkit, will be a valuable resource for librarians involved in basic Internet training. It contains everything needed to present twelve separate Internet workshops on a range of subjects that present an introduction to the Internet and research methods appropriate for use with the Internet. Stephens developed and tested these workshops in his public library position, using them both with library patrons and for staff development. The first five chapters are the most generally useful, covering the basics of using computers, navigating and searching the Internet and the Web, evaluating Websites, and using email. The remaining chapters will be of varying use in the typical health sciences library. Topics such as the need for consumer awareness while Internet shopping or buying and selling on Web auction sites may not be useful for health sciences libraries. However, chapters on selecting and using digital cameras, creating personal Websites, and using Internet audio and video resources will provide useful training material to augment many health sciences library instruction programs. Each chapter of the book contains the script and reduced images of the accompanying Microsoft PowerPoint slides, as well as presentation tips and additional suggestions for Internet resources. The accompanying CD contains more than 400 professional-quality slides in a completely ready-to-go format for either Mac or PC use. Additional files on the CD contain a directory of fliers and handout materials for each class. In libraries where there is a need for workshops on these basic topics, Stephens' book and CD will be valuable resources. Using the Internet as a Reference Tool, by Sauers, aims to assist librarians in effective use of the Internet for answering reference questions. The audience for this book includes both practicing librarians from all types of libraries as well as library science students, and this is reflected in the choice of examples and exercises based on real-life reference situations, Like Stephens, Sauers has field-tested this material in librarian workshops, and he has added useful comments and additional suggestions from participants in those classes to supplement his own views. For individuals, this will be a stand-alone self-study guide, yet it will also be a useful textbook for library science students. Introductory chapters focus on topics such as evaluation of Internet sites for reference use and comparing effective uses of various search engines and directories. Other chapters address the development of effective reference strategies for both ready reference as well as complex reference questions. The chapter on ready reference includes a section on developing, designing, and placing the reference department's own Web pages. The final chapter discusses the changes in service policies brought about by the Internet, especially email-based reference service. Sauers takes an interesting approach in presenting his topics by first comparing print and Internet reference strategies. This approach should appeal to librarians who first honed their reference skills using print resources and who now need to transfer those skills to produce effective results from Internet resources. In the discussion of complex reference strategies, for example, he presents a sample question and then examines librarians' problem-solving approaches, first using print resources and then using Internet sites. Sauer contends that when Internet search strategies are similar to those used with print resources, Internet reference searches will prove equally successful. He argues that the typical keyword search on the Internet is not efficient, and that the first step in Internet reference should be to focus on the choice of an appropriate Internet site. Just as librarians would browse the bookshelves in a particular subject area to find a relevant title, they need to first determine which site to search on the Internet before going to the keyword search for a specific topic. A companion Website (www.neal-schuman.com/sauers/) provides links to resources referenced in the book, although a certain number are already outdated. Transitory links are a problem with any Internet resource, but this problem should not follow a book's publication so soon. The author has stated his intention of keeping the Website current, and the reviewer hope this is the case. In spite of some limited areas where poor editing failed to catch occasional grammatical errors (noun-pronoun agreement and similar word choice errors), the presented material will be useful for students of Internet reference, both those in master's of library science classrooms as well as practicing librarians needing to update their skills. The variety of examples is designed to appeal to librarians in all types of settings. Subjects are as varied as researching the adverse effects of a specific chemical to locating information on a medium-sized U.S. city for someone contemplating a job change. Although it does not focus on health sciences resources, this guide to the Internet and its effective utilization for reference work has much to offer health sciences librarians needing to update their skills.