Ready Reference

A ready reference collection is a collection of materials (books, notes, maps, etc.) that is used most often by reference librarians, and kept in a central area for quick access. As a reference librarian there will be certain questions you get asked often. If you find yourself pulling a certain resource many times in a day (or week), this might be something you want to have in your ready reference.

Types of ready reference questions:

• Who - sources: telephone books, directories, almanacs
• What - sources: consumer, citizen, and college guides
• Which - (interchangeable with what) 
• When - sources: calendars, history books
• Where - sources: maps, almanacs, etc.
• How - 2 types
• many: sources: census, statistics,etc. 
• to: sources: how-to sites and books

Relevant readings:

• East, John W.  “The Rolls Royce of the Library Reference Collection: The Subject Encyclopedia in the Age of Wikipedia.”  Reference & User Services Quarterly  50.2  (2010): 162-169.
• Sweeney, M. (2013). Fugitive filing: ready reference technologies as cultural artifacts. Reference Services Review, 41(2), 351–365.
• Giles, J. (2005). Internet encyclopaedias go head to head. Nature, 438(7070), 900–901.
• http://news.cnet.com/Belatedly,-Britannica-lambastes-Wikipedia-findings/2100-1025_3-6053754.html
• http://www.nature.com/nature/britannica/index.html
• http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/06/ency/