A Guide to Field Guides: Identifying the Natural History of North America (Reference Sources in Science and Technology)

Field guides are often difficult to identify, since there is no specific subject heading for them and titles can be unreliable indicators of format. Yet these popular scientific tools (designed to assist amateurs in identifying plants, animals, and objects) are also widely used by scientists, naturalists, foresters, wildlife managers, and other professionals and most libraries contain numerous field guides in their collections. Focusing on the North American continent, this book, the first of its kind, identifies and describes major field guides in all scientific subject areas (from plants, animals, and insects to astronomy and weather, geology and fossils, and man-made objects). Organized by topic, it offers complete bibliographic information and descriptions of more than 1,300 field guides. This permits users to quickly and easily discover whether a guide is available for a particular subject and determine its scope and format. Invaluable as a ready reference and collection development tool, this