The ALA Guide to Information Sources in Insurance, Risk Management, and Actuarial Science

This is an excellent and seemingly exhaustive reference work for any libraries that have a need for information in insurance, risk management, and actuarial science. While there are many sources on insurance information, this work offers a unique guide to every possible area of this industry, all in a compact 213-page text. The fact that Lucy Heckman is the head of reference at St. John's University, Queens Campus, New York, adds gravitas to its contents. As Heckman notes in her introduction, “Resources included…are primarily from the St. John's University School of Risk Management's Davis Library” (p. viiii). All fifteen chapters begin with a brief description of what type of sources are found in each chapter; both print and online sources are included. The format of the text is well thought out with something of a natural or logical progression, from chapter 1, “Introductory Guides to Insurance: Consumer Information Sources, Guides, and Popular Works,” which includes sources for children and young adults, all the way to chapter 15, “Miscellaneous Insurance and Related Topics,” with specialized insurance areas and other pertinent topics covered in between. Chapter 2, “Textbooks: Insurance, Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Related Topics,” includes textbooks suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education classes, and chapter 14 covers “Careers in Insurance and Insurance Education.” Chapter 3 is devoted to “The Insurance Industry: Almanacs, Fact Books, and Statistics; Databases; Dictionaries and Encyclopedias; Directories; Handbooks; and Associations.” Chapter 4 offers fascinating information on “The History of Insurance,” including individual company histories. Chapter 5 covers “Insurance Law,” and chapter 6 covers “International Insurance.” Chapter 7 is devoted to “Actuarial Science,” which can be considered “insurance mathematics”; and chapter 8 covers “Risk Management.” Chapter 9's “Health Care Reform and Health Insurance” has one glaring omission: The Medical Library Association Guide to Answering Questions about the Affordable Care Act, edited by Emily Vardell, is not included. The remaining chapters are resources of information on specific types of insurance: Chapter 10, “Annuities and Life Insurance”; chapter 11, “Property/Casualty Insurance, Catastrophe Insurance, and Liability Insurance”; chapter 12, “Employment and Related Insurance: Disability, Employment Benefits, and Workers' Compensation; Social Insurance and Social Security; and Employee Benefits and Retirement Plans”; and chapter 13, “Bank and Financial Insurance: Bank and Credit Insurance and Risk Management; Economics and Insurance; and Finance and Investment Advisory Sources.” There are five appendixes. Appendix A is a twenty-six-page list of “Abbreviations and Acronyms”; Appendix B lists “Insurance, Risk Management, and Actuarial Associations and Agencies”; Appendix C covers “Selected Insurance, Risk Management, and Actuarial Studies Journals”; Appendix D lists “Insurance, Actuarial Science, and Risk Management Schools and University Departments”; and Appendix E covers “Selected Major Business and Insurance Libraries.” The work ends with an eighteen-page index. Each and every one of us is affected by one or more types of insurance in both our personal and professional lives. With the one noted exception, this is an excellent and seemingly exhaustive resource for any libraries that need information in this specialized area.