Sub sections:
What background information do you need?
The importance of reference materials
Once you have analysed the question, it may be helpful to spend a little time to consult appropriate reference materials. These resources can provide an overview of your topic, definitions of key terms and jargon, summaries of the basic ideas, and even subject-specific lists of references about your topic.
To make effective use of reference materials, you need to know:
- What types of reference materials exist
- Where they can be found.
Types of reference materials
Reference materials include:
Dictionaries can be general or subject-based (Blackwell’s Dictionary of Nursing). Use dictionaries to define unfamiliar terms. The Oxford English Dictionary is often a good place to start.
 | Oxford Reference Online Search Oxford Reference Online which contains english and subject specialist dictionaries. |
A thesaurus is a list of words with similar meanings (synonyms) and words with opposite meanings (antonyms). Thesauri will help you find alternative keywords and phrases for the important words identified during the process of analysing your assignment topic. There are general thesauri (Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases) and subject-oriented ones (Legal Thesaurus).
Encyclopedias can also be general (Encyclopaedia Britannica) or specialised (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology). They generally contain definitions, descriptions, statistics, diagrams, maps, and sometimes detailed essays and comprehensive bibliographies.
| Gale Virtual Reference Library Search Gale Virtual Reference Library which contains encyclopedias and specialised reference sources. |
Directories
These are lists of people, addresses, telephone numbers and other contact details (Directory of Australian Associations). In addition, directories often contain brief descriptions of each organisation.
Such reference works tend to be subject-based and provide factual, practical and instructional information (Handbook for Research Methods in Health Sciences).
Bibliographies are some of the most useful reference tools available. These are research or literature guides for particular subjects. They list many sources or references that you can investigate (The Leisure Literature: A Guide to Sources in Leisure Studies, Fitness, Sports, and Travel).
Other reference materials
The list of other sorts of reference materials is almost endless. It includes biographies, statistical sources, atlases, and yearbooks.
Where to find reference material
The easiest ways to find relevant reference material are to:
- Look through the Reference collection in the Law Library or on the Ground Floor of Dixson Library. Note that you cannot borrow Reference items, although these can be read inside the library.
- Try the UNE library online links in e-books and Research Guides
- Search the UNE Library Catalogue by the title of a reference book to see if it is held on the shelves or electronically.
- Ask at the Information Desk at any of the UNE libraries for information on useful reference sources.
- Make an enquiry using the online Ask a Librarian form.
- Discuss your reference needs with your unit-coordinator or lecturer.
- Search the World Wide Web (more on the Web later).
Summary
This page discussed the following issues:
- the differences between different types of reference materials (dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, directories, handbooks, manuals and bibliographies)
- the location of relevant reference materials and who to ask for help in finding these.
Let's go on to examine some other questions which you need to consider when using reference materials.
 | Self-test Try these quick self-test questions to assess what you have learnt from this module. |
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