Sudden Selector’s Guide to Geography and GIS. By Carl Olson and Kim M. Ricker. Chicago: ALA, 2020. 93p. $30.50 softcover (ISBN: 978-0-8389-4771-5).

As stated in the foreword, “The ongoing purpose of the sudden selector’s series is to provide current information on selection in specific subject areas in order to assist selectors in creating a manageable process in unfamiliar subject territories” (vii). This new entry in the series does just that; it provides new geography and geographic information systems (GIS) selectors with a baseline knowledge of the field. It accomplishes this by introducing the subject and a broad review of valuable tools and resources.

This book can be viewed as a blueprint for a new selector’s beginner “toolbox” with three shelves of tools. The top shelf contains tools for general collection development. The middle shelf holds tools in the form of information on the subject and field of discipline. The bottom shelf includes tools for selecting materials, including advice on what software and hardware a library would need to support this discipline.

Basic collection development tools are in the top layer. Although the authors state that their goal is not to teach collection development, many resources are shared on the subject. The reader will find recommendations for books on general collection development, including six different titles and accompanying summaries. Additionally, five different review sources and their specialties are discussed, including Choice and Booklist. This layer is rounded out with descriptions and links to three electronic discussion lists and websites. This is the thinnest layer in the toolbox, but a helpful one for any new selector.

The middle layer of the toolbox contains material explaining the subject: from the basic question, “What is geography?” to the more complex question, “How do I build expertise?” The author likens geography to astronomy to explain the concepts, but this analogy falls flat. Later in the text, the authors provide a more illustrative description, stating, “geography finds its ancestry in legendary voyages and travelers’ tales” (2). This leads into a review of the field with “Three Core Concepts, Two Branches, and Four Traditions” (4). The “methods and workflow of geography” are grouped into “books, boots, and benches” (7), showing how the field emphasizes learning the literature, conducting field work, and doing lab work to analyze findings. Next, the author provides examples of recent research that serve as great starting points for discussions with patrons and touchstone examples for future reference. The authors discuss examples of what GIS can do, including how “it allows us . . . to find, understand, interpret, and perhaps even question relationships and patterns that are shown based on geographic location” (21). Later in the book, readers learn how to build expertise in the field through published literature and are given further information for formal and online study. Finally, the importance of networking to stay current and to obtain assistance when needed is emphasized, accompanied by a helpful list of conferences and societies.

The bottom layer of the toolbox helps new selectors determine what is needed to support the discipline, including hardware and software, plus explanations of different types of data. The selection advice is split across several chapters, with recommendations for selecting reference materials, such as maps, journals, databases, and software. Multiple examples of each type and explanatory notes are provided. For example, the section on maps discusses cartography and usages for different types of maps. Major publishers and call numbers are listed. The section on software and vendors is invaluable. It describes the audience, price, functionality, user interface, and hardware compatibility of each title, followed by information on open-source content and how to acquire the data at the core of GIS. These chapters provide useful advice regarding how to use LibGuides and collection development policies effectively.

The material in this book is dense and wide-ranging, making it a handy reference book for selectors, and a great introduction to the subject and field. This reviewer strongly recommends this book as a starting point for selectors new to geography or GIS. Geography is a complex field, but this book gives selectors a quick foundation to jump into their new role and provides a clear structure for continued learning.—Tamara Bozich (tbozich@ucsd.edu), University of California, San Diego