How to use general references and what are the various types?
USING GENERAL REFERENCES – We are surrounded with different reference materials and here are some with some tips on how to use them.
What are the general references? They are materials that serve significant purposes such as providing readers with factual information, overview of a topic, and guides for in-depth research on a certain topic. They are broadly multi-disciplinary and are not subject-specific.
- Dictionary – This material provides a list of words in alphabetical list with their definitions. It defines, states the etymology, pronunciation, and usages for all words. However, there are several variations of this such as:
- Thesauri – contains synonyms and antonyms
- Dialect and slang dictionaries
- Dictionaries of abbreviations and acronyms
- Dictionaries of quotations
- Picture dictionaries
- Historical dictionaries – gives the history of a word
- Etymological dictionaries – provides the analysis of components of words and their cognates in other languages
- Period or Scholarly Specialized dictionaries – it focuses on a specific place or time
- Glossary – This is found at the end of a book that has the list of language and phrases with meaning ordered in alphabetical manner. It provides technical or specialized meaning of words that are just within the context of the document.
- Thesaurus – This is a book or an electronic source that contains words or phrases that mean the same thing or almost the same thing. This is essential for writers to find the most appropriate word they want for their content.
- Encyclopedia – This provides general background information and usually a good start when you are researching for a topic that you know little about.
- General Encyclopedia – arranged articles in alphabetical order by topic
- Subject Encyclopedia – they provide more in-depth information compared to general encyclopedias
- Almanac – This contains current statistical data and basic information about a topic. They are published annually with up-to-date facts about the world, current events, countries, sports records, business and the economy, astronomy, education, awards, space, and many more. It includes statistics, maps, charts, and color plates of flags. You use this when you want an updated information, a list of things, and to compare things.
- Directories – This provides names, addresses, affiliations, and other information of people, organizations, or institutions. It could be general or focused on a particular topic.
- Handbooks and Manuals – Handbooks contain facts, terms, concepts, movements, and other details of a topic while manuals are the detailed instructions of a particular subject such as how to do something or how to make something work.