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Sources 52 Resource Bookshelf

Reviewed by Ulli Diemer

The Canadian Writers' Guide
A great resource for writers who are just starting out in the business, as well as those who want to become more professional in their work. Dozens of writers have contributed their expertise and views to this volume. There are 15 sections, each section consisting of from anywhere from three to fifteen articles. Section titles include "Inspiration," "Look After Business," "Nonfiction Techniques," "Fiction Techniques," "Children & Young Adults," "Newspapers and Periodicals," "Books", "Theatre, Screen & Radio", "Non-Traditional Markets,", and "Writer's Reference." This is a book you'll take off the shelf when you're stuck and looking for advice on becoming unstuck.

The Globe and Mail Style Book
Created for journalists at the Globe and Mail, this is a useful tool for any writer or editor needing a reference to style and Canadian usage. And it's fun to browse through if you're grinding out an article and needing to take a procrastination break.

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
A useful addition to your reference bookshelf. More than 2,500 entries, detailed yet concise, covering countries, individuals, political parties and movements, and events.

The Great Canadian Book of Lists
The kind of book you might flip through on a hot summer day at the cottage. You'll find what the authors deem the ten best Canadian TV series, the top ten radio or television commercials, Canada's top ten agricultural exports in 1901 and 1998, Canada's ten largest islands, the ten worst air crashes in Canadian air space, ten of the most significant political events of the twentieth century, the greatest hockey players of all time in the opinion of the editors - well, you get the idea.

The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses
A directory of hidden treasures. Detailed listings for thousands of small publishers and publications, including addresses, editors, phone numbers, publishing schedules, editorial descriptions. Includes a subject index and a regional index. A worthwhile resource for libraries, for writers looking for places to publish, and for readers seeking voices outside the commercial mainstream.
The design could use some improvement. The column width in the listings section is too wide to be easily readable (why not two columns per page?). The subject index is a good idea poorly executed. It lacks page headers and the actual headings are hard to spot. Open the book at random in the index section, and you can't always even be sure if you're in the regional index or the subject index. Wihtin the subject index, it's hard to know where you are because many of the topics are so general that the entries under them go on page after page.
A bit of redesign could make this book more user-friendly and more saleable.

The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature
An abridged version of the Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. This version is about half the size of the original 1997 volume. What has been omitted are many of the survey articles, especially on regional and genre literature, which appear in the unabridged versions. Entries on francophone writers whose books have not been translated into English have also been omitted. On the other hand, many of the entries on individual writers have been updated to include descriptions of their recent works.

Media Law
A first-rate volume on media law in the United Kingdom. Offers intelligent analysis on the law and important decisions as they pertain to freedom of expression, defamation, obscenity, privacy, copyright, contempt of court, censorship, etc.

The New York Times 2003 Almanac
An almanac covering "the United States and the world" with the emphasis very much on the United States. Includes wide-ranging information on U.S. geography, history, government, politics, population, economy, religion, sports, entertainment, and many other topics.
Competent but standard brief surveys of the "nations of the world" and international organizations.
If you need a U.S. almanac, this is a good one. If you want a world almanac, look elsewhere.

The Essential Desk Reference
Very much an American reference book, with the section on the United States equivalent in size to the section on the Nations and Territories of the World.
The section on the Sciences is a useful reference if you want to know about the Beaufort Wind Scale, common mathematical terms, the phases of the moon, the layers of the earth's atmosphere, the periodic table of elements, or the 10 strongest U.S. earthquakes.
The section on Arts and Leisure is overwhelming U.S.-centric, with lists of the top 20 U.S. newspapers, 125 Significant American Plays and Musicals, Major Regional Theater Companies (in the U.S.), 125 Favorite Television Series, or U.S. National Parks, National Football League Teams, or World Travel Requirements for U.S. Citizens.
The Work and Home section covers topics like U.S. tax laws, and American universities.

The Canadian Writers' Guide
13th Edition
Edited by Paul G. Cormack and Murphy O. Shewchuk
Canadian Authors Association
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2003, 554pp, ISBN 1-55041-740-1, $

The Globe and Mail Style Book
A Guide to Language and Usage
J.A. (Sandy) McFarlane and Warren Clements
McClelland & Stewart, 1998, 452pp, ISBN 0-7710-3337-0, $24.99

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
From 1900 to the Present Day
Edited by Jan Palmowksi
Oxford University Press, 2003, 725pp, ISBN 0-19-860484-X

The Great Canadian Book of Lists
Mark Kearney and Randy Ray
Dundurn, 1999, 326pp, ISBN 0-88882-213-8, $19.99

The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses
Edited by Len Fulton
Dustbooks, 2001, 845pp, ISBN 0-916685-83-7, $35.95 (U.S.)

The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature
Edited by William Toye
Oxford University Press, 2001, 529pp, ISBN 0-19-541523-X, $49.95

Media Law
Fourth Edition
Geoffrey Robertson and Andrew Nicol
Penguin, 2002, 908pp, ISBN 0-14-024769-6, $66

The New York Times 2003 Alamanc
Edited by John W. Wright with Editors and Reporters of The New York Times
Penguin, 2002, 1008pp, ISBN 0-14-200169-4, $17.50

The Essential Desk Reference
Oxford University Press, 2002, 841pp, ISBN 0-19-512873-7

Published in the Summer 2003 edition of Sources, (Issue # 52).