General Dictionaries

R 423 W385             Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language.

R 423 M571w         Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary,  11^th ed. An abridged version of the Third International;
                                    clear, concise information.

R  423 A512h         American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Like other abridged dictionaries, but contains
                                    many maps and illustrations. Also includes information on usage.

English Language Dictionaries

R 423 O98e             Oxford English Dictionary, 2^nd edition. 20 volume historical dictionary of the English language, with                                     quotations to illustrate use. Encyclopedic treatment of individual words. Also available online.

R 423.1 D467a        DeSola, Ralph. Abbreviations Dictionary. Alphabetical list of abbreviations and acronyms with
                                      meaning.

R 424 R732i            Roget's International Thesaurus. Lists words, followed by a group of other words which mean the
                                     same thing.

Foreign Language Dictionaries

R 443.21 C712r         Collins-Robert French-English, English-French Dictionary.

R 463.21 C712s         Collins Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary.

Special Subject Dictionaries

R 503 M147h           McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Defines scientific words in use.

R 510.3 J27               Mathematics Dictionary. Defines words and phrases; gives mathematical formulae and tables.

R 780.3 N532g         New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (10 vol.) Gives information on persons, styles,
                                   works, etc., related to music.

R 910.321 W385n     Webster's New Geographical Dictionary. Brief information about and pronunciation of place names.

R 920 W38                Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Brief biographies of famous people, especially Americans,
                                    living and dead.

R 973.03 D554a         Dictionary of American History. Includes information about people, places, and events in American
                                   history, with biographies.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS contain information about people, places, things, ideas, and events, in alphabetical arrangement. Revised regularly for up-to-date information. Most include an index to help in finding information.

General Encyclopedias

R 031 E56a                 Encyclopedia Americana. Designed for adults. Long articles, with bibliographies. Good illlustrations;
                                    well-indexed. Also available online through the Library Web Page.

Special Encylopedias

R 503 M147             McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. One-volume encyclopedia with
                                  up-to-date articles on major fields of science and technology.

R 503.21 V217n        Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. Two-volume encyclopedia in dictionary format, covering
                                      applied and natural sciences.

R 703 E56                  Encyclopedia of World Art. Encyclopedia set devoted entirely to art, including all periods and
                                      subject areas. Includes bibliographies, illustrations and index.

R 803 B465 3^rd ed.    Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. Brief descriptions of literary characters, terminology, places, titles,
                                      authors in world literature.

INDEXES are lists of subjects, authors, or titles which tell where to find more information on them. They may cover magazines and journals, newspapers, books, or anthologies of works of poetry, essays, etc.

Special Indexes

R 809 A939b           Author Biographies Master Index. Indexes the principal biographical dictionaries devoted to authors
                                   and other literary figures.

R 028 B724              Book Review Digest. Cumulative index to book reviews in periodicals.

R 808.81 G758g       Granger's Index to Poetry. Indexes poetry in anthologies by first lines, titles, authors, and subjects.

R 808.82 P723          Play Index. Indexes plays in anthologies and collections by author, subject, and title.

R 808.83 S559          Short Story Index. Indexes short stories in anthologies by author, subject, and title.

ALMANACS AND STATISTICAL SOURCES are handy one-volume sources of up-to-date facts and
figures, published yearly.

General Almanacs and Yearbooks

R 317.3 T583a       Time Almanac. Annual collection of facts and statistics, including a chronology of the past year.

R 317.3 W927       World Almanac and Book of Facts. Annual collection of facts and statistics, with summary of the past
                               year's events. 

Special Almanacs and Yearbooks

R 310.59 S797       Statesman's Yearbook. Information on social, political, and economic organization of countries.

R 317.3 U58           Statistical Abstract of the U.S. Summary of statistics about many subjects pertaining to the U.S.,
                                  published by the Bureau of the Census. Includes many charts and graphs.

HANDBOOKS are comprehensive one-volume books of information, usually on a single subject. They are usually in dictionary form with good indexes.

General Handbook and Manuals

R 032.02 G964       Guinness Book of World Records. Record-making data.

R 032.02 K16        Famous First Facts. Information on who invented what, alphabetical by subject and indexed
                                geographically, chronologically, and by personal name.

Subject Handbooks and Manuals

R 320.05 P769h       Political Handbook of the World.  Gives political information for world countries.

R  331.702 O15       Occupational Outlook Handbook. A government publication with information on many jobs. Also
                                   available online at http://www.bls.gov/oco/

R 540.2 H236           Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. An up-to-date, authoritative collection of tables, formulae, and
                                    definitions.

R 780.3 S368o         Oxford Companion to Music. Comprehensive dictionary of information on music and musicians.

R 792.03 H333         Oxford Companion to the Theatre. World theatre and drama, including terminology, and persons and
                                    works.

R 809 C295o           Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. Information about children's authors, illustrators, and works.

R 810.3 H26            Oxford Companion to American Literature. Information about American authors, literature, and literary
                                 terms.

R 820.3 H342           Oxford Companion to English Literature. Information about British authors and their works.

DIRECTORIES are lists of persons or organizations, systematically arranged by alphabet or classification, giving addresses and/or phone numbers.

R 650.2573 H433u    Headquarters USA: the National Directory of Addresses and Telephone Numbers.   Lists the most
                                   important corporations and organizations in the U.S. by alphabet, geographical area, and subject. Also
                                   includes area code and zip code information and travel profiles of top U.S. cities. Updated annually.

ATLASES are books of maps, which include information on population, climate, religion, and resources. They may be general or on a specific subject, such as history or climate.

R 911 S548s            Sheperd's Historical Atlas. A collection of political maps from periods in world history.  

R 912 H226a           Hammond Ambassador World Atlas. Includes world topical maps, as well as individual country and
                                  state political and topical maps.   Located on the Atlas shelves.

R 912 R187m           Rand McNally Road Atlas. A road atlas of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Located on the Atlas
                                   Shelves.

R 912 T583a           The Times Atlas of the World. A comprehensive atlas, containing world topical maps on areas such as
                                   population, geography, food resources, and climate.  Individual country maps also include topical
                                  maps. Located on the Atlas Table.

BOOKS OF QUOTATIONS contain quotations on a variety of subjects from a variety of works.

R 808.88 S847h         Stevenson. The Home Book of Quotations. Arranged alphabetically and indexed by subject, author
                                   and keywords. Includes brief biographical data on the author.

R 808.882 B289f       Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations. Arranged chronologically by author and indexed by subject, auhor,
                                   and keyword of quotation. Includes historical footnotes.

BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES contain histories of lives of individuals. They may contain brief information and vital statistics or more substantial essays or articles. See also DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, and INDEXES for sources of biographies.

R 920 C93                Current Biography. Current essay-length biographies of people in the news.  Monthly, with annual
                                  cumulation since 1940. Well-indexed; includes a photograph of the individual.

R 920.07 D554         Dictionary of American Biography. Extensive coverage in essay format of important Americans or
                                  persons who lived in America and died before 1940, with supplements to 1970. Separate index.

R 920 W62              Who's Who. Dictionary format, brief information British men and women and prominent foreigners.  

R 920 W628            Who's Who in America. Dictionary format, brief information on living Americans of note.

R 920 W628w         Who Was Who in America. A supplement to Who's Who in America, giving information about
                                 prominent Americans who have died.

R 920.03 C761        Contemporary Authors. A multi-volume collection of information about contemporary world authors.
                                 Entries are about 300 words and give personal facts, career data, etc. Well-indexed. Includes
                                 little-known authors not covered in other sources.

R 920.03 K96n        Kunitz. British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. Dictionary of authors, listing works and a
                                 bibliography.   (There are also books in this series for British authors before 1800 and European authors
                                 1000-1900.)

R 920.03 K96t         Kunitz. Twentieth Century Authors. Dictionary of authors, listing their works and a bibliography,
                                 compiled to 1942, with supplement to 1955. (There is also a book in this series for American authors
                                 1600-1900.)