Named by Library Journal as one of the "50 Sources for the Millennium," Guide to Reference Books has evolved from its debut in 1902 with only a few hundred entries to the comprehensive, all-encompassing reference it is today with nearly 16,000 entries of research/reference works. With the appointment of Kieft, the development of Guide to Reference Books, Twelfth Edition officially begins.

Robert Kieft will serve as the general editor of the Guide, shepherding the project and its many contributors through the process of developing the twelfth edition. Among Kieft's responsibilities will be the recruitment of section editors for the Guide, creation of the criteria for citation inclusions and leadership of the editorial board through manuscript development and editing. He will also work closely with the production and editorial teams at ALA Editions, the imprint of the American Library Association and publisher of the Guide, to bring this new project to fruition.

Announcing the appointment, ALA Editions Senior Acquisitions Editor Marlene R. Chamberlain said: "Bob Kieft has an excellent combination of in-depth reference experience, skills in electronic reference sources and knowledge of common database use and web site development. He is known as a skilled writer and editor and has solid experience as both a collection developer and reference librarian at Stanford and as coordinator for reference services at Haverford College. He is an experienced reference generalist, and also expert in literature and literary theory. Given all of this, we are confident that the combination of Bob Kieft's skills, experience and character will lead us to the best edition yet of this premier title."

Kieft's experience includes positions in the general reference department of Stanford University's Green Library from 1974-1981 and in Stanford's Meyer Library from 1981-1988 as acting chief librarian, humanities bibliographer and coordinator for collection development, head of circulation and head of technical operations. In 1988, he went to the Magill Library at Haverford College in Pennsylvania as coordinator for reference services and collection development. He was appointed Haverford's librarian of the college last year. Kieft has taught library research skills segments in English and drama courses at Stanford and has published extensively in journals such as Choice and Reference Services Review. He received his bachelor's degree in English at Hope College, his doctorate in drama at Stanford and his master's of library and information science at the University of California-Berkeley.

With roots that go back more than a century, ALA Editions is the publishing imprint of the American Library Association, serving the library and information services community. Each year, over a hundred thousand copies of ALA Editions titles, ranging in subject from collection development and cataloging to technology and young adult services, are sold. The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world with about 60,000 members in academic, public, school, government and special libraries. ALA's mission includes promoting the highest quality library and information services and protecting public access to information.