subject: Tips On Accessing Educational Reference Books [print this page] Reference books are an essential part of educational life - but they are also a very important part of everyday life too. In this article we'll examine this importance and indeed what are the best ways of getting hold of such books, depending on your needs and budget.
If you walk into any library in the UK, there will be a section where you'll find a whole range of reference books available. These books are treated differently from the rest of the books in the library - in that they cannot be removed. These reference books often form volumes covering an almost infinite range of subject matters. Some of the more famous reference books include the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but there are many other ones too. They tend to be rich with information.
People use these types of books for a variety of reasons. They might be writing an essay or a thesis , for example, or they may be writing a report for their company. Hey may also be writing a book themselves, and need high quality, reliable sources on which to base their writing - be it fiction or non fiction. Reference books are normally kept in certain parts of the library that are extra-quiet - a quiet that is required in order to read and take down notes.
It is common practice to give credit to any source of information you use for anything that will be read by the public or a large number of people. In an essay, you would put this information in something called the bibliography - a list of book titles, authors, publishers and date of publish. In a test situation, you might lose marks if you don't include this.
But going to a library is often a little inconvenient - sometimes you need to get your hands of the books for a longer period, so you can really absorb the information at your leisure. Luckily, there are a number of different companies that can offer reference books to you - and you will find that many of these are online. While these books are not be any means cheap, you might be able to get hold of copies of them for a lower price if you buy online - as opposed to the high street.
Reference books remain, despite advances in delivering information through IT, a very important and valuable way to deliver information - helping in the creation of essays, books and many other works.
