Collections in the Reference Area

The Reference Department includes the following collections:

• Reference Books
• Indexes and Abstracts
• Government Documents
• Patents and Trademarks

Reference Books

Reference books are consulted briefly. They are not usually the type of books you would read cover to cover. Often these are high use books which may be used by many people each day. Ready Reference books are used so frequently that they are kept behind the Reference Desk.

Some types of information you might find in Reference books are:

• definitions (in dictionaries)
• addresses (in directories)
• statistics (e.g., demographics)
• short articles on a topic (in encyclopedias)
• bibliographies (e.g., lists of books and journal articles about a country)
• explanations of how to do library research in a specific field (guides to the literature)
• formulas (e.g., in mathematics or finance)
• data summaries (e.g., toxicity information for a drug)
• short biographical essays (e.g., a few pages on an author's life and work)

Reference Books are non-circulating which means that they cannot be checked out. You are welcome to use them in the library.

Indexes and Abstracts

Indexes are generally used to find journal or newspaper articles on a particular topic, although some indexes cover other types of publications such as government documents or dissertations. Some indexes are in paper while others are available online. See the Electronic Resources pages for more information. Abstracting publications are indexes which include short descriptions of the articles.

The Indexes and Abstracts Collection is located on the 2nd (entry) floor of the Library near the Reference Desk. These indexes often concentrate on specific disciplines. For help in deciding which index is appropriate for your topic, ask at the Reference Desk.