A Textbook for Researchers. Review of the Textbook “Information Resources and Tools in the Researcher’s Work” by V. N. Gureyev and N. A. Mazov

Abstract

The author reviews a textbook written by Vadim N.Gureyev and Nikolay A.Mazov (Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics of the SB RAS). The review notes the scale of content coverage, good organization of the material, high relevance and novelty of the information presented in the textbook. From the perspective of a researcher and university lecturer, the reviewer examines certain aspects of five chapters of the textbook, which provide characteristics of modern publishers of academic literature, databases of scientific publications and journals, identifiers for research works and authors, classification systems of scientific knowledge and bibliometric indicators. The review emphasizes the uniqueness of the publication as a kind of professional reference book for researchers, from young authors to established scholars. The methodological part of the textbook and its auxiliary apparatus are characterized positively. The presentation of the material shows a combination of logic and conciseness, which illustrates the principle of necessity and sufficiency when selecting content to achieve the stated purpose of the educational publication and provides readers with quick access to necessary information. The reviewer gives reasons of the wide readership of the publication, including its undoubted value for library workers and expresses a wish to present materials that deal with researcher’s information retrieval tools in the form of a separate structural part of the textbook. The work is assessed as a relevant authors’ contribution to the series of, so far, few educational publications in the field of research communications. The review is accompanied by a bibliographic list of the most significant works co-authored by V.N.Gureyev and N.A.Mazov.