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OUTSTANDING REFERENCE WORKS OF THE YEAR - AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

A fascinating encylopedia of everyday documents; an extensive online Shakespeare bibliography and an entertaining book of quotations on words are the winners of this year’s Library Association / Whitaker Reference Awards.

Bernard Naylor, President of The Library Association will present the Awards at the National Acquisition Group conference, taking place at Loughborough University today. Details of the winners are as follows.

The Besterman / McColvin Medal for an outstanding work of reference

Printed Category - Maurice Rickards / Michael Twyman (Ed.) for The Encyclopedia of Ephemera, published by The British Library.ISBN: 0712346791 Price: £35 (hardback)

This is a comprehensive and interesting encylopedia of documents common to everyday life (Ephemera), such as timetables, tax stamps, carrier bags, blotting paper, parking tickets and newspapers.  The late Maurice Rickards worked on it for more than 20 years.  After his death in 1998 it was continued and completed by Michael Twyman.

" This is a fascinating overview of everyday documents which will interest the general reader and provide an invaluable reference tool for any professional interested in studying ephemera,” said Philip Plumb, Chair of the judging panel.

Electronic category - James L Harner for The World Shakespeare Bibliography Online, published by The Folger Shakespeare Library. www-english.tamu.edu/wsb/  Annual subscription: £125 (institutions) £32 (individuals).

This comprehensive bibliography includes 69,000 publications of all types including: books, articles, theatrical productions and multimedia publications. Searching is comprehensive and the bibliography is updated regularly throughout the year.

 “This is an invaluable, attractively designed and intuitive site. It is an impressive production which is a great pleasure to use,” said Anthony Hugh Thompson, Chair of the judging panel.

The Wheatley Medal for an outstanding index, awarded with the Society of Indexers

David and Hilary Crystal for Words on Words published by Penguin Books. ISBN: 0140291342 Price: £18.99 (hardback) £8.99 (paperback)

This wide ranging book of quotations on words is very entertaining in its browsability.   It is arranged by 65 thematic subject headings - such as body language, words as weapons and swearing. There are three indexes taking up about half the 580 pages, including a key word index designed to allow access to the quotation whatever part is remembered or half-remembered. 

 “The range of reading required to make this book is startling, and the indexing is painstaking, comprehensive and extremely competent,”  said David Lee, Chair of the judging panel.

The Walford Award

Professor John McIlwaine

John McIlwaine is Professor of the Bibliography of Asia and Africa at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, University College London. He has taught there since 1965 and has published five books, including three on the bibliography of Africa, as well as many scholarly articles. He is Editor of Africa Research and Documentation and is currently working on Writings on Asian Archives and a guide to oriental manuscript collections in Europe and North America.

The Reference Awards are judged by a panel of expert librarians, and have been rewarding excellence, promoting awareness of outstanding reference products and encouraging quality since 1970. They have been sponsored by Whitaker, market leader in the provision of information and e-commerce services for the book industry worldwide, since 1995.

For further information contact:

Louisa Myatt or Eileen Simpson, The Library Association Marketing Department
Tel: 020 7255 0650; Fax: 020 7255 0501
E-mail: louisa.myatt@la-hq.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• The winners of the Besterman / McColvin and Wheatley Medals will receive a golden medal, certificate and £500.  The winner of the Walford Award will receive a certificate and £500.
• The Library Association is the leading professional body for librarians and information managers. It has over 25,000 members who work in all sectors, including business and industry, further and higher education, schools, local and central government departments and agencies, the health service, the voluntary sector and national public libraries.
• Whitaker has recently developed three new services specifically designed for libraries: Whitaker   LibWeb – BookBank OnLine for Libraries, Whitaker SourceData UKMARC andWhitaker   BookTrack Library Reports. For more information about Whitaker products and services, see the  Whitaker’s Web site.
• The Society of Indexers, the only professional body for indexers in the UK and Ireland, exists to promote indexing, the quality of indexes and the profession of indexing.