ENGL U101 - Composition I - Colyard: Reference Collection

• Almanac - usually a single volume compilation of facts and statistics on a topic.
• Atlas - book of maps and geographical information.
  • Historical Atlas - maps about changes and developments in a place over time
  • Subject Atlas - contains maps relating to a specific topic
• Bibliography - list of sources (books, articles, and other information sources) about a specific subject or author
• Chronology - presents information organized by dates
• Concordance - gives an alphabetical list of the principal keywords or phrases contained in a book with citations of the passages
• Dictionary - A Collection of words listed alphabetically with usage information, pronunciation and other information.  There are several types of dictionaries:
  • Abridged dictionary - defines selected words and terms, confirms spelling, definition and pronunciation, gives how words are used, helps to locate synonyms and antonyms
  • Bilingual dictionary - define words and terms used in foreign language(s)
  • Biographical dictionary - short summary of the lives of people
  • Etymological dictionary - gives the history of words and how their meanings change
  • Subject dictionary - focuses on the vocabulary of a subject or discipline
  • Unabridged dictionary - defines every word and term, confirms spelling, definition and pronunciation, gives how words are used, helps to locate synonyms and antonyms
• Digest - compilation: something that is compiled: a short account
• Directory - gives contact information such as names, addresses, telephone numbers
• Encyclopedia - covers knowledge or branches of knowledge in a comprehensive, but summary fashion; useful for providing facts and giving a broad survey of a topic
• Gazetteer - geographical index or dictionary that contains no maps
• Guidebook - provides detailed descriptions of places that is intended primarily for the guidance of strangers or visitors, giving a description of the roads, places, or objects of interest to be found there, geographical facts and possibly maps
• Handbook - gives a brief survey of a topic
• Index - lists citations to periodical articles, books, and proceedings, and tells where they can be found
• Manual - tells how to do something, such as how something operates or the inner workings of an organization
• Subject Encyclopedia - includes articles/information only on topics in a specific subject area
• Yearbook - covers the trends and events of a specific year; may be general in coverage, limited to one subject, or restricted to one geographical area

The above definitions were compiled September 2007 from library websites and one book.
http://library.uncfsu.edu, http://lib.nmsu.edu & Bolner, Myrtle & Gayle Poirier. The Research Process Books and Beyond. page 125 Kendall Hunt Pub, 1997.
K. Swetland Sept 2007