Library

Types of Reference Tools

Acronyms and abbreviations
See Dictionaries

Almanacs and year books

Collections of facts, charts and statistics, news events from that year, famous birthdays, and lists of Presidents / Prime Ministers. There are specialised almanacs, such as the Almanac of Modern Terrorism.

Try a catalogue keyword search - Australia almanacs
Try a catalogue keyword search - Victoria year book

Atlases

See Gazetteers and Atlases

Bibliographies and literature reviews

Lists of books, journal articles, and other materials written or produced on a topic, sometimes quality-controlled and with some conclusions drawn about research in that area.
Eg. Bibliography of Antislavery in America . See also Indexes and Abstracts.

Try a catalogue keyword search - sex discrimination bibliography

Biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias

Provide short sketches about the lives of various important people. Can be all-encompassing, such as Who's Who , or by country, or field of endeavour. Eg. A Biographical Dictionary of Film.

Try a catalogue keyword search - scientists biography

Concordances

Index, or listing of words in a book or text, referring the reader to the section of the book where the word appears. Eg. The Hebrew English Concordance to the Old Testament .

Try a catalogue keyword search - shakespeare concordances

Databases (general and specialized)

Contain information previously published in print which is now available online, particularly journal indexes and abstracts. Eg. MEDLINE (formerly known as Index Medicus ).

For a list of the databases we subscribe to consult the Library's Databases web page.

See also Indexes and Abstracts

Dictionaries

The following are types of dictionaries :

• English dictionaries

  These may contain brief definitions of a word, or very detailed entries which include the etymology of a word (history of the word's origin and development) Eg. Collins English dictionary : an extensive coverage of contemporary international and Australian English

• Acronyms and Abbreviations

  Used to find the full name of abbreviated words or words made up of initials. Eg. AGAAA! : Australian government acronyms and abbreviations.

• Quotations

  
  Famous things people have said, even lines of poetry Eg. Chambers dictionary of modern quotations

• Thesauri

  
  Offer alternative words (synonyms) which can be used in place of the word, because they have a similar meaning. Eg. Roget's thesaurus of English words and phrases.

  A thesaurus is also the term used to describe a list of preferred subject headings assigned to article references in journal databases. Eg. Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.

• Signs and Symbols

  
  Eg. The encyclopedia of signs and symbols

• Language

  
  Eg. Australian Aboriginal words in English : their origin and meaning
  Eg. Dictionary of basic Janpanese grammar

Try a catalogue keyword search - spanish english dictionaries

• Technical /Glossaries

  
  Eg. The A-Z of non-sexist language
  Eg. Australian economic terms

  Try a catalogue keyword search - computers dictionaries

Directories

Names and addresses of persons, organisations, or businesses. Eg. International Directory of business biographies ; and of course telephone directories.

Try a catalogue keyword search - companies directories

Encyclopaedias (general and specialised)

A large collection of paragraphs or essays about one or many subjects, often arranged alphabetically as articles in a book or set of books, or available through a computer. Eg. Encyclopedia of Early cinema.

Try a catalogue keyword search - biology encyclopedias

Field Guides

A manual for identifying objects in the field of interest.

Eg. A field guide to the mammals of Australia

Eg. A field guide to the eyes

Try a catalogue keyword search - birds field guides

Gazetteers and Atlases

Contain a list of names of places, usually with some additional information, such as which country or region they are in. Eg. Archaeology of the British Isles : with a gazetteer of sites in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland

Eg. Oxford dictionary of the world

Eg. Atlas of Australian shipwrecks

Many atlases in the Bundoora campus library which contain maps of countries are too big to be housed with the main Reference Collection. They are kept in specially-sized shelves near the study tables on Level 2.

Glossaries

See Technical dictionaries

Handbooks and manuals

Procedures for doing things, such as activities, or writing references

Eg. Making the most of MYOB business software

Eg. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association

Try a catalogue keyword search - nursing handbooks

Indexes and abstracts

Contain references to sections of works, such as journal articles, conference papers, but also other literature which is difficult to find in library catalogues, such as theses. See also Databases.

Quotations

see Dictionaries

Style manuals

see Handbooks and Manuals

Telephone directories

see Directories

Thesauri

see Dictionaries

Year books

see Almanacs and year books