36 REFERENCE SOURCES
usually in alphabetic or classed order, giving address, affiliations, etc., for
individuals, and address, officers, functions, and similar data for organiza-
tions.”^1 Once available only in print, directories are now often also available in
online versions, sometimes exclusively. As with many other kinds of reference
sources, directories are most often dedicated to a certain type of information or
a special subject. In Reference and Information Services: An Introduction, Joseph
E. Straw offers several criteria for consideration when evaluating a directory.
These include the scope of the directory, the currency of the information it
supplies, the accuracy of that information, and its arrangement.^2
As is the case with many other kinds of reference sources, directories can
range from the very general to the very specific: there are simple name and
address listings, for example, telephone directories; there are directories that
supply contact information, for example, directories of corporations or orga-
nizations; and there are directories of specific fields or industries, for example,
publications, libraries, and so on. In order to demonstrate the range of direc-
tories available, I’ve chosen a few of the kinds of directories most commonly
found in general reference collections, specifically directories of libraries,
directories of publications, and directories that focus on a single subject or
field. But first I’d like to discuss two titles that don’t quite fit into these catego-
ries; in fact, you might say that they are beyond categorization, but they are
important parts of a general reference collection. They are Directories in Print
and the Encyclopedia of Associations. Directories in Print (32nd edition, 3 vols.)
includes more than 16,000 directories in its descriptive listings (volume 1) and
indexes and cross-indexes them thoroughly in volume 2. The third volume is
a supplement, periodically adding still more new listings.
The Encyclopedia of Associations (3 vols.) is an essential resource in any
reference collection. This is the source to consult for information on more than
22,000 national membership organizations of all kinds, including those of
social, political, religious, business, ethnic, fraternal, and avocational interest.
Here you will find contact information, membership statistics, dates and loca-
tions of meetings or conventions, and the titles of publications and directories.
Further coverage is available in the Encyclopedia of Associations: International
Organizations and the Encyclopedia of Associations: Regional, State and Local
Organizations. These volumes, and many other Gale directories, are also avail-
able online in the Gale Directory Library (www.gale.com/DirectoryLibrary/).
Libraries are part of the “vast network” mentioned in chapter 1, and in
order to contact them it helps to have some sources on hand that providehttp://www.ebook3000.com