encyclopedias
Comprehensive reference books
Encyclopedias are reference works containing articles on a wide range of subjects or on many aspects of a single field, typically arranged alphabetically.
Before the internet, a set of encyclopedias—often sold door-to-door—was a household's primary research resource: We looked it up in the encyclopedia.
Wikipedia has largely displaced print encyclopedias for general reference.
Books defining vocabulary
- atlasesBound geographic chart collections
- almanacsYearly reference publications
- compendiumsConcise collected works
- handbooksCompact reference volumes
thesauri · gazetteers · lexicons · manuals · directories · yearbooks · anthologies · volumes
Written works or items
- entriesItems logged or submitted
- subjectsAreas of study
- topicsSubjects of discussion
- scholarshipEducational funding or erudition
research · erudition · comprehension · expertise · literacy · cross-references · citations · bibliographies
dictionaries
Books defining vocabulary
- atlasesBound geographic chart collections
- almanacsYearly reference publications
- compendiumsConcise collected works
handbooks · thesauri · gazetteers · lexicons · manuals · directories · yearbooks · anthologies · volumes · catalogues
articles
Written works or items
scholarship · research · erudition · comprehension · expertise · literacy · cross-references · citations · bibliographies · summaries
- kids booksworkbooks, activity books, primers, readers, young readers
- publishingpublishers, editors, editor, publishing house, books
- dying industriesprint newspapers, landlines, payphones, cassette tapes, VCRs
- obsolete techfloppy disk, VHS, dial-up modem, cassette tape, floppy disks
- reference booksdictionary, dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, atlases
- outdated thingsflip phones, VHS tapes, fax machines, dial-up, typewriters
encyclopediasmonographs
Scholarly single-topic publications
dictionaries · glossaries · lexicons · pamphlets · leaflets
encyclopediasacademic journals
Publications for peer-reviewed research
technical manuals · peer-reviewed papers · dissertations · primary sources
encyclopediasraw data
Unanalyzed collected information
ephemera · miscellany · oral traditions · rumors · hearsay
- encyclopedic knowledgeVast, wide-ranging learning
- online encyclopediaWeb-based reference work
- walking encyclopediaPerson of vast knowledge
- encyclopedia setComprehensive topical book series
- encyclopedia salesmanPeddles multivolume reference works
- encyclopedia entriesInformational articles in compendiums