Reference Handout

Dictionary

            A dictionary is a book of words and their meanings.  It contains many thousands of words—all the common words in our language.

          To make them easy to find, the words (called entry words) are listed in alphabetical order.  This means that each entry word will be listed to according to how it is spelled and where it comes in the alphabet.

          The purpose of the dictionary is to give you the correct spelling and definition or each entry word.  If the word has more than one meaning, the dictionary will list them all, beginning with the most common.

          In addition to the meaning and spelling, the dictionary will tell you many other things about each entry word, such as how to pronounce it, how to use it in a sentence, how to make it plural, and what part of speech it is.  The entry word, plus all the information that follows it, is called an entry.

Thesaurus

          A thesaurus is like a dictionary.  It is a book of entry words arranged in alphabetical order.  But, unlike a dictionary, a thesaurus lists synonyms instead of definitions for most of its entry words.  A synonym is a word that means the same or nearly the same as another word.

          Usually a thesaurus is arranged in “dictionary form.”  It means that each entry word is followed by information about that word. 

          The purpose of a thesaurus is to help you to express yourself clearly without using the same words over and over.  With a little practice you can learn to find just the right word whenever you want it.

Almanac

          An almanac is a book of information.  It is published each year, so much of the information is very up to date.  For example, a 2006 almanac would have information about the important events that took place in the year 2005.

          In addition to events of the previous year, the almanac contains data about many different subjects.  It lists records, dates and awards in man areas.  Sports, religion, science, and people in the news are just a few of these areas.

          Because the almanac includes information about so many different subjects, it is very useful as a quick reference book.  It is arranged in subject order and has an index in the front of the book.  When you just want a few facts about something, or when you need a starting place for learning about a subject, you can turn to the almanac.  Then if you want more information about your subject, you can look in other reference books for additional help. 

Encyclopedia

          An encyclopedia is a set of books filled with information about a wide variety of subjects.  The information is contained in articles, which are arranged in alphabetical order according to their title.

          Articles in the encyclopedia may be as short as one paragraph or as long as several pages.  Because of this, an encyclopedia set will usually require many books to contain all of the information. 

          Each book in the set is called a volume.  Some encyclopedia sets have more than 20 volumes.  Usually, each volume contains information that begins with one letter of the alphabet, but sometimes a volume will cover more than one letter (X, Y, and Z, for example, will often fit into one volume).

          In addition, the encyclopedia set includes an index volume.  This volume lists, in alphabetical order, all of the subjects covered in the encyclopedia, and tells you where to find information about each one.

Atlas

          An atlas is a book of maps.  It is also a book that contains information about places in the world.  If you know how to use an atlas, you can locate or find information about almost any place on earth.  It is arranged in subject order.  An index in the back of the atlas will help you locate the information you nee. 

          Cities, towns, countries, and continents appear on the maps f an atlas, along with important land formations (such as islands and mountains) and bodies of water (such as rivers and oceans).  Some atlases also include information about roads and routes for traveling. 

          In addition to telling you where a place is, the atlas usually contains information about the size, population, climate, and economy of a place.  Some of this information appears in separate sections of the atlas, and some of it appears on the maps themselves.