For Your Information: Information for Better Living
and Quick and Easy Guides

The FYI series is a collection of short books which “seeks to provide useful information about a variety of topics. These topics all have something in common - they all affect people’s lives in major ways.” (Preface)

The FYI series includes many books, some of which are listed above. Another book in the series, Eating Right, was reviewed in Bulletin 15. Since then, the other books have proven themselves useful and popular. Also, three more books in a new series, Quick and Easy Guides, are now available. (see page 13). These are identical in layout and format to the FYI series, also proving to be popular with our readers.

These series are written in mostly lay terms. The writers have done a good job of making technical information available to adults with limited reading ability. The students and instructors liked the layout and print size and report that there is not too much information on a single page. The diagrams are simple line drawings with few labels. Each book has a glossary of terms; words in the text are in bold to indicate a glossary entry for that word.

The books contain from eight to twelve short chapters that may define the topic, examine risks, address how to get help, look at prevention issues, help the reader set goals, and/or discuss the role and concerns of society.

Most of the books also have “Life Stories.” These are stories about ordinary people who are facing the problem defined in the book. The characters are introduced early in the book. At the end of the book, readers will find the conclusion of each life story and will be able to see how the information and knowledge gained in the book affected the lives of these people.

One caution about these series is that they are written in the United States; the hotline numbers and contact addresses given in the books are often not available in Canada. One instructor suggested pasting in the appropriate Canadian information before distributing the books. Short reviews follow of five of the books.