Kisters Atlas Buying Guide

Evaluative annotated bibliography of atlases including acquisition guidelines, sources for reviews of maps and atlases, and publishers.

Written for the traveler who needs information beyond what is provided in a general guidebook, Travel Resources: An Annotated Guide introduces the reader to comprehensive and specialized travel literature and resources. In this book, author Stephen Walker offers practical and accessible direction for anyone seeking detailed and valuable information on travel, while also instructing readers in ways to find information that may not be included in this guide. Organized by topic, each topic begins with information that is useful to new travelers so that anyone can begin with any topic without any previous knowledge of it. However, the book also goes further so as to provide information useful to the seasoned traveler. The wide variety of topics related to travel provide many new and possibly overlooked opportunities, even for veteran travelers, and the works included have been selected because of the depth with which each treats its subject matter, in order to ensure that each resource is of the quality that today's traveler demands.

No matter which specific needs you have in a dictionary, every question associated with dictionaries and dictionary purchasing is addressed in Kister's Best Dictionaries for Adults and Young People. The book features the author's authoritative reviews and expert commentary as he evaluates 300 separate publications.

This volume evaluates over 160 general, and over 400 subject-specific, encyclopaedias, including recent electronic packages. This new edition features concise reviews, comparison charts, and a directory of publishers and suppliers.

A perennial favorite. ...invaluable as a learning tool. I highly recommend it. --PREVIEW

Writers know only too well how long it can take—and how awkward it can be—to describe spatial relationships with words alone. And while a map might not always be worth a thousand words, a good one can help writers communicate an argument or explanation clearly, succinctly, and effectively. In his acclaimed How to Lie with Maps, Mark Monmonier showed how maps can distort facts. In Mapping it Out: Expository Cartography for the Humanities and Social Sciences, he shows authors and scholars how they can use expository cartography—the visual, two-dimensional organization of information—to heighten the impact of their books and articles. This concise, practical book is an introduction to the fundamental principles of graphic logic and design, from the basics of scale to the complex mapping of movement or change. Monmonier helps writers and researchers decide when maps are most useful and what formats work best in a wide range of subject areas, from literary criticism to sociology. He demonstrates, for example, various techniques for representing changes and patterns; different typefaces and how they can either clarify or confuse information; and the effectiveness of less traditional map forms, such as visibility base maps, frame-rectangle symbols, and complementary scatterplot designs for conveying complex spatial relationships. There is also a wealth of practical information on map compilation, cartobibliographies, copyright and permissions, facsimile reproduction, and the evaluation of source materials. Appendixes discuss the benefits and limitations of electronic graphics and pen-and-ink drafting, and how to work with a cartographic illustrator. Clearly written, and filled with real-world examples, Mapping it Out demystifies mapmaking for anyone writing in the humanities and social sciences. "A useful guide to a subject most people probably take too much for granted. It shows how map makers translate abstract data into eye-catching cartograms, as they are called. It combats cartographic illiteracy. It fights cartophobia. It may even teach you to find your way."—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

This is a shortened version of the three volume Walford's Guide to Reference Material, 5th edition: Volume 1, Science and Technology (1989), Volume 2, Social and historical sciences, philosophy and religion (1990), and Volume 3, Generalia, language and literature, the arts (1991). There are more than 3,000 entries, forming an updated compilation of what are considered to be the basic items in the main volumes, plus some more recent material up to April 1992.