New Volumes in H.W. Wilson's Acclaimed Reference Shelf Series:
New Media and Global Climate Change

New York, New York, April 24, 2006
Two new volumes in the popular H.W. Wilson Reference Shelf Series—New Media and Global Climate Change—now offer library users informed discussion of major issues that will affect their future.

New Media explores the societal transformations engendered by wireless and Internet communications: the worldwide emergence of new media; the democratic potential of weblogs and their impact on the news; how new media competes with traditional entertainment for the public's leisure time and dollars; new forms of social interaction that have developed online; the impact on education; communally produced publishing; the dangers of the Web, and much more. Thirty-one articles from such respected sources as The Nation, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Academe, and others explore new media's evolution and future. An appendix features an essay by Thomas Pynchon, examining the question "Is It Okay to Be a Luddite?", and a bibliography of books, Web sites, and abstracts of articles for further reading completes the volume.

Global Climate Change looks at one of the most daunting challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, and the acrimonious debate surrounding it. Thirty articles examine the science behind global warming, the arguments of naysayers and apologists, the current toll of global warming, its likely future, and what humankind can do about it. Sources include Science, National Geographic, UN Chronicle, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (London), Scientific American, and many others. An appendix lays out the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and a bibliography lists books, Web sites, and abstracts of select articles for further reading.
 

New Media and Global Climate Change are the first titles of six to be published in The Reference Shelf 2006 (Volume 78). Each book in the Reference Shelf series offers extensive exploration of a current topic of importance in modern society, in a compilation of notable articles from respected publications, plus abstracts of 20 to 30 additional articles and a bibliography of other sources. Reference Shelf volumes provide a well-rounded, unbiased overview for researchers and general readers. Volume 78 will also include U.S. National Debate Topic 2006-2007: National Service; Jobs in America; Evolution; and Representative American Speeches 2005-2006. Libraries that order the complete 6-volume set receive a substantial discount.

Review copies of Reference Shelf volumes are available for members of the press.

Global Climate Change
March 2006 l 192 pages l ISBN 0-8242-1059-X l $50 ($55 outside the U.S. & Canada)

New Media
April 2006 l 200 pages l ISBN 0-8242-1060-3 l $50 ($55 outside the U.S. & Canada)