Sports, Exercise, and Fitness: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources

(Hardback)

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Description

An easy-to-use guide to nearly 1,000 information sources on sports, exercise, and fitness For reference librarians and researchers seeking information on sports and fitness, this guide is an important first stop. For collection development specialists, it is an invaluable selection guide. Allen describes and evaluates nearly 1,000 information sources on the complete spectrum of sports: from basketball, football, and hockey to figure skating, table tennis, and weight training. Focusing on English-language works published between 1990 and the present, the guide thoroughly covers traditional reference sources, such as encyclopedias and bibliographies, along with instructional sources in print formats, online databases, and Web sites. To enable users in search of information on specific sports or fitness activities, chapters are organized thematically, according to broad type: aquatic sports, nautical sports, precision and accuracy, racket sports, ice and snow sports, ball sports, cycling, and so on, with subcategories for such individual sports as soccer, golf, and yoga. Within these categories, works are further organized by type: reference, instructional, and Web sites.

Reviews

To say that the body of literature in sport and fitness is extensive would be an understatement. Allen has compiled a comprehensive reference of over 1,000 entries for those needing a list of core sources in the area of sport, exercise, and fitness for the last 15 years. Although the majority of sources are North America-based, Allen also includes European English-language sources to give balance to the cultural interpretation of specific sports.Attention is paid to a wide variety of sports, from basketball to fishing and extreme sports to yoga. The table of contents and indexes are extremely well organized.[t]his resource will definitely help librarians and sports and fitness professionals compare and update their collections. An excellent value. Recommended. Academic libraries serving health, physical education, and athletic training programs; lower-division undergraduates and above. * Choice *
[T]his guide is a helpful source for the reference or subject librarian wishing to point the sports student or general enthusiast to further, more specialised information With the popularity of sport in today's society, it is inconceivable that even a small public library should be without this book in its reference section. * Reference Reviews *
The book is well laid out, with 16 clear sections--each with a series of sub-categories--and a comprehensive index where the contents are identified by author, by subject and by title. Each entry is accompanied byfull bibliographic material and a short description of the contents. * Journal of Sports Sciences *
No matter what the sport--from cricket, snooker, or golf to karate, kyudo, and curling--a source is waiting to be discovered by librarians in reference and collection development and students in research and investigation. Recommended for research libraries, large public libraries, library schools, and those libraries with a focus on sports and excercise management. * Booklist *

Author Bio

MARY BETH ALLEN is Applied Life Studies librarian at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.