Reference & Business Information Center Collections
The reference collections for business and economics and general reference sources for the humanites and social sciences are located on the first floor of Regenstein. Developed and maintained by the Reference & Business Information Center, these collections include standard reference works such as bibliographies, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, general newspaper and periodical indexes, major library catalogs, statistical annuals, and some specialized business publications. The Library also subscribes to a number of electronic reference sources.
Current newspapers and periodicals that were in the A Level reading room are now located in the Periodicals Reading Room in east part of the second floor.
More specialized reference collections for the humanites and social sciences are located on the upper floors of Regenstein. The Library's web page for Libraries, Collections, and Subjects provides links to descriptons of these and other subject collections.
The Reference & Business Information Center collections are organized in the following major groupings:
- General Reference
- Ready Reference
- Book Reviews Indexes
- Serials Lists
- Biographical Indexes
- The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and more
- Atlases
- U. S. Census
- Access to Electronic Resources
- Miscellaneous
General Reference
The general reference collection is located in the central portion of the first floor and in the northeast area of the reading room. It is shelved in one A to Z call number sequence, beginning with encyclopedias against the north wall, continuing with indexes on low shelves in the central area, and then moving into the tall shelves in the northeast area of the reading room. The National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints set is shelved out of call number sequence on the bookshelves facing the east windows.The general collection covers many broad subject areas and includes general sources such as English and foreign language encyclopedias, biographical and statistical compendia, English and foreign language dictionaries, some subject encyclopedias, and bibliographies covering broad time-spans and geographical areas. It includes periodical indexes (AI3 call numbers), newspaper indexes (AI21 call numbers), and bibliographies of dissertations (Z5055 call numbers). The Library also provides access to a number of online resources for finding periodical articles, newspaper articles, and dissertations. The general reference collection also includes bibliographies and other print sources useful for identifying and verifying government publications.
A significant portion of the collection consists of national bibliographies, covering the publishing output of countries of the western world since the invention of printing. Published catalogs of the major national libraries of western Europe are included. (National bibliographies for Slavic language countries are located in the Slavic Reference area on the second floor; those for Near and Middle Eastern and South Asian countries are located in fifth-floor reading room; and those for East Asian countries are located in the East Asia Collection.)
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"Ready Reference"
The "Ready Reference" collection, which includes titles frequently consulted by reference staff, shelves in a separate A to Z call number sequence on low shelves to either side of the reference desk. It includes general almanacs, biographical dictionaries, guides to colleges and universities, English and foreign language dictionaries, quotation dictionaries, thesauruses, and titles such as The Chicago Manual of Style, The Foundation Directory, and The World of Learning. The catalog records indicate that these titles are shelved next to the Reference Desk. The Library also subscribes to a number of electronic reference sources.
At the end of the ready reference collection, are Books in Print, including current print editions for the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The U.S. edition is also available electronically.
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Book Review Indexes
Indexes to book reviews are shelved on an index table in the center of the floor. Included here are sources such as the Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974, the Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974, Book Review Digest, and Book Review Index. Many other subject-specific indexes also include book reviews. Reference staff can assist you in identifying the most appropriate resources when you are looking for book reviews.
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Serials Lists
The Union List of Serials and New Serial Titles (1950-) are shelved on an index table located in the central section of the first floor reading room. They list the libraries that own serial titles and usually provide holdings information. There is also an electronic UnionLists
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Biographical Indexes
An index table on the central floor provides a selection of useful indexes to biographical sources. They include Biography and Genealogy Master Index, Biography Index, In Black and White, indexes to obituaries in the New York Times and the Times of London, and name indexes to the New York Times (1851-1999). Index volumes to the biographical archive collections on microfiche for America, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, and Portugal and Iberoamerica are slso shelved here. (The indexes and some full-text to the biographical archive collections are also available online in the World Biographical Information System Online (WBIS Online).) The microfiche for these archive collections, which include the full text of biographical entries, are housed in microfiche cabinets along the south wall in the northeast area of the reading room. A microfiche reader is also located along that wall.
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Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and more
The full set of The Readers'Guide to Periodical Literature is shelved on an index table located in the central area of the first floor reading room. The Readers' Guide Retrospective covers 1890-1982. The Library also provides online access to Academic Search Premier, ArticleFirst, PCI Full Text, Periodical Abstracts, and Wilson Select, databases that index and, in some cases, provide the full text of articles from many of the journals indexed by the Readers' Guide).
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Atlases
Shelved in an atlas case on the north wall in the northeast area of the reading room, are a number of over-sized general world atlases.
The Map Collection, located in the third floor reading room, has many more specialized atlases.
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U.S. Census
Print volumes that have been received for the 2000 Census of Population and Housing (HA201 2000) are shelved in the general reference collection in the northeast area of the reading room. Economic Censuses CD-ROMs are housed in JMedia at the Regenstein Circulation desk. The Census Bureau's web site provides additional resources.
CD-ROMs that provide census data and maps are located in the Map Collection in the third floor reading room.
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Access to Electronic Resources
The Reference & Business Information Center has over fifty computers that provide access to the Library's Catalog, the Reserve Catalog, our web site and to all of the electronic resources to which we subscribe. The Center also houses a number of CD-ROM products. General, government documents, humanities, and social sciences CD-ROM's are available on computers located along the north wall. Business CD-ROMs are available on computers just to the north and east the reference desk.
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Miscellaneous
Other materials held in the Reference & Business Information Center include Library of Congress Subject Headings that are shelved on stands near the reference desk, and a few unabridged dictionaries on stands on various tables in the reading room.
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