Reference Sources serve a variety of purposes. They can provide:

• background or introductory information on a topic

• ways of finding materials on a topic

• statistical or tabular data as well as technical instruction.

They are good starting points for any research project or problem.

Be aware that the information in these reference sources may overlap, or the titles may be misleading e.g. dictionaries may be called encyclopedias and vice versa. Click here for further explanation of the confusion of terms.