photo courtesy of biblioragazzi
Reference sources, like dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and biographies,
- provide background information,
- help you put your topic in context.
Reference books are not intended to be read cover to cover. They're to be consulted for background, context, definition and outline, and they usually include brief but excellent bibliographies that point you to further research on the subject.
They're a great place to get quick info, or to get a basic grounding in something with which you may not be overly familiar.
We have many print reference books, but increasingly we're acquiring reference e-books that you can use from wherever you have internet connections.
NOTE: Most of Bethel's print reference books may be checked out for 2 days.
You can find excellent and accurate background information using two eBook reference collections. Click on the links below OR use the search boxes on this page to find relevant articles on your topic.
Not all "reference" material is actually in the reference stacks. To find handbooks/guides/etc. that could help you learn more quickly about your area of research, search the library online catalog as follows:
In Advanced Search, use dictionaries handbooks guides to retrieve reference-type materials. These words are parts of the subject headings listed for such books. Make sure to designiate "any of these" and "Subject". In this search, "poetry" must appear anywhere in the book's catalog record: title, subject, table of contents, etc.
Below is the result list for "dictionaries handbooksguides" AND communication. Note that "communication" brings in all sorts of material--not necessarily just for comm researchers! Plus, many books are ebooks from ebrary, which you can read from your computer.
