This document defines and provides examples of different types of reference sources including almanacs, atlases, bibliographies, biographical sources, chronologies, concordances, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, guidebooks, handbooks, indexes, manuals, yearbooks, and directories. It also distinguishes between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, with primary sources being closest to the original information and tertiary sources being a distillation of primary and secondary sources.

2. An information source is a source
of information for somebody, anything
that might inform a person about
something or provide knowledge to
somebody. Information sources may
be observations, people, speeches,
documents, pictures, organizations.

3. Types of Reference Sources
 Almanac usually a one-volume work with
statistics and a compilation of specific facts
(e.g. World Almanac and Book of Facts,
and Information Please Almanac)
 Atlasa book of maps and geographical
information (e.g. Atlas of American History)

4.  Bibliography a compilation of sources of
information, provides literature on a specific
subject or by a specific author (e.g. Books in
Print and Bibliography of African Literatures)
 Biographical sources of information about the
lives of people; short entries (e.g. Dictionary
Current Biography and Who’s Who in
America)
 Chronology lists the events described in order
of the date on which they occurred

5.  Concordance an alphabetical listing of
keywords or phrases found the in work of
an author or work in a collection of writings
(e.g. Topical Bible Concordance)
 Dictionary defines words and terms;
confirms spelling, definition, and
pronunciation; used to find out how words
are used; helps to locate synonyms and
(e.g. Webster’s Dictionary)

6.  Encyclopedia covers knowledge or branches of
knowledge in a comprehensive, but summary
fashion; useful for providing facts and giving a
broad survey of a topic; written by specialists
(e.g. World Book Encyclopedia)
 Gazetteer a dictionary of geographical places
(no maps) (e.g. Webster’s New Geographical
Dictionary)
 Guidebook provides detailed descriptions of
places; intended primarily for the traveler;
geographical facts plus maps (e.g. Great Lakes
Guidebook)

7.  Handbook treats one broad subject in
brief, or gives a brief survey of a subject
(e.g.and book of American Popular
Culture)
 Index lists citations to periodical articles,
book, and proceedings, and tells wheret
hey can be found (e.g. Readers’ Guide to
Periodical Literature and New York Times
Index)

8.  Manuala specific work that tells how to do
something, such as how something
operates; descriptions of the inner
workings of an organization (e.g. MLA
Handbook, and Broadcast News Manual of
Style)
 Yearbook covers the trends and events of
the previous year; may be general in
coverage, limited to one subject, or
restricted to one geographical area (e.g.
State of America’s Children Yearbook)

9.  Directory lists names and addresses of
individuals, companies, organizations, and
institutions (e.g. Encyclopedia of
Associations)

10. Primary source is a term used in a
number of disciplines to describe
source material that is closest to the
person, information, period, or idea
being studied.

11. Secondary Sources
A secondary source is information about
primary, or original, information, which
usually has been modified, selected, or
rearranged for a specific purpose or
audience.
 Examples include biographies, histories,
monographs, review articles, textbooks,
and any index or bibliography used to
locate primary sources.

12. Tertiary Sources
 These consist of information, which is a
distillation and collection of primary and
secondary sources. Twice removed from
the original, they include
encyclopedias, fact books and
almanacs, guides and handbooks. Some
secondary sources such as indexing and
abstracting tools can also be considered
tertiary sources.