Kister's Atlas Buying Guide: General English-Language World Atlases Available in North America

Summary

The supplied opening and closing material presents the purpose, coverage, and reference structure of Kenneth F. Kister’s Atlas Buying Guide, published in 1984. Intended to help North American consumers purchase or consult suitable English-language world atlases, the guide provides concise descriptions and evaluations of 105 titles, with information current to September 1, 1983. Its coverage serves readers from young children to adults. Most titles appeared in the 1970s or early 1980s and came from North American publishers; the guide also includes British publications distributed in the United States and Canada and selected out-of-print atlases available through secondhand markets or library collections. Kister identifies students, teachers, journalists, office workers, and families as potential users, alongside librarians seeking support for reader advice and collection development. The contents list selection guidance, individual atlas profiles, a comparison chart, a map and atlas bibliography, directories of out-of-print dealers, and publishers and distributors. The closing title-subject index links alternative titles and editions through page references and cross-references and includes topics such as scales, projections, relief, place-names, and thematic atlases. The visible excerpts do not contain the individual atlas evaluations.