detailed information on the legal and ethical guidelines librariansshould be following when conducting research. The concludingchapter spends some time guiding librarians toward incorporatingresearch into their day-to-day job responsibilities. The authorsargue that having a broad view of job responsibilities and a broadview of “research” will yield ideas for studies that can be con-ducted during the course of everyday job duties.

Included in every chapter are annotated citations to existingpublished research. Beck and Manuel use these examples toillustrate and to elaborate upon points made in the text, and toprovide readers with examples of successful research projectsusing the methodologies described. Interested in seeing pub-lished studies that used a content analysis methodology? Turnto Table 3-1 on page 40. Want to conduct an action researchproject? Review the studies listed in Table 8-3 (p. 201) for somepossibilities. The extensive inclusion of these relevant andappropriate citations saves the reader's time and is one of thekey strengths of the book.

Practical Research Methods will be useful for both novicesand experts alike. The entire book could be useful as a textbookin a library school research methods class or excerpts (Chapters1, 2, and 11) could be used as the basis for an ongoing staffdiscussion about the benefits of conducting research and aboutways to “discover” research projects hidden within day-to-dayjob duties. For the expert accustomed to using one type ofresearch methodology, reading this book offers the opportunityto explore other methodologies that may be of use in exploring adifferent aspect of a research question. Beck and Manuel havecrafted a superb resource for beginning and veteran researchersalike. – Lee Andrew Hilyer, Program Director for Research& Reference Services, University of Houston Libraries,Houston, TX 77204-2000 <lahilyer@uh.edu>.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2008.03.020

The Best of History Web Sites, by Thomas Daccord. NewYork: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2007. 465p. $89.95.ISBN 978-1-55570-611-1.

We are now, and have been for some time, living in thedigital age. What does that mean? Most of what we used to domanually or in person has now become electronic. Fromcorresponding via e-mail to taking online classes to viewingvirtual museum collections and researching topics via electronicdatabases, the digital environment has become a necessarymainstay. In this regard, Thomas Daccord offers the historystudent, educator, and enthusiast a resource that they will findmost useful. The Best of History Web Sites is a print adaptationof the “Best of History Web Sites” portal (www.besthistorysites.net) and provides its readers with an exhaustive list of historyWeb sites covering prehistoric and ancient times to recentevents sure to become part of future history lessons. This workannotates sites that capture national and international eventsfundamental to the study of history.

The book's two introductory chapters include valuableinsight into actively evaluating history Web sites which iscrucial for those readers, especially students needing to chooseauthoritative and pertinent information. The subsequent intro-ductory chapter is written for the educator and gives practicalideas for integrating these sites into the classroom. The re-maining ten chapters are organized by broad historic eras such

as a list of those Web sites dedicated to the span of time fromEuropean discovery (ca. 1492) to the end of slavery. Otherchapters include general American history Web sites and stillothers end with twenty-first century terrorism. The resource alsoincludes teaching ideas, activities, and lesson plans (identifiedby resource type and grade level—elementary school throughcollege) for educators so that they can incorporate the use ofthese suggested Web sites into the learning environment.

Although Daccord suggests most of the Web sites for a K-12audience, this resource is also valuable to the college studentand the general history buff. With a foreword written by Dr.Steven Mintz, a recognized leader in the application ofinnovative technologies to history research and teaching, “TheBest of History Web Sites offers a highly accessible introductionto engaging educational content and stimulating multimediatechnologies” (p. x). It takes readers on a voyage through timeexposing them to both primary and secondary resources viainvaluable gateways to historical information. This text en-courages active learning, exposes readers to a wealth of Webresources, and demonstrates the collaborative effort put forthby educational entities to contribute their knowledge to theacademic community. –Andrea Malone, Assistant Librarian,University of Houston Libraries, Houston, TX 77204-2000<armalone@uh.edu>.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2008.03.021

Managing Stress and Conflict in Libraries, by Sheila Pantry.London, England: Facet Publishing, 2007. 140p. £29.95.ISBN 978-1-85604-613-8.

The title refers to stress and conflict coming from patrons'interaction with library staff, more so, than among coworkers inthe work place. The content in the book heavily refers to theUnited Kingdom (UK from now on) libraries' situation, but thereare some aspects that any library staff in the United States willbe familiar. For instance, budget cutbacks, shortage of staff,increase of productivity, demanding patrons, and so on. More-over, the approach, the settings, and related information pro-vided by the author are very British. For example, in the chapter,“Dealing with aggression and violence,” the phone numbergiven to dial in case of an emergency is not 911, but the UK'snumber 999. The suggested procedures on how to handleemergencies or how to deal with unexpected situations are to actaccording to policies stated in the “Health and Safety Executive”Web site, published by the UK Government. Sheila Pantry refersto a report written by Hoel, Sparks, and Cooper in 2005, whichwas submitted to the International Labour Office in Geneva. Thetitle of the report is “The Cost of Violence/Stress at Work and theBenefits of a Violence/Stress-Free Working Environment,” andshe makes comments on the results found in this report.According to Pantry, “In many countries it is the service sector,including libraries and information services, that is increasingmost rapidly, with growing demands and pressure from clientsand customers affecting the well-being of the staff.” (p. 3)

The book is well written and presents many cases andexamples taken from UK libraries. The author constantly refersto CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and InformationProfessionals), based in the UK, for policies, guidelines,standards, and definitions. In fact, the definitions of stress,violence, and harassment at work that Pantry offers are based on

272 The Journal of Academic Librarianship