[LM_NET]

["Debra W. Waugh" <debwaugh.lm_net@FRONTIERNET.NET>]

Hi,

 

Here is a much delayed HIT on my TARGET for a distinction between Reference
and Nonfiction. Thanks to all who sent me answers.

 

reference is often multi-volume - and VERY expensive

 

REFERENCE 

is a no-check out (or limited check out) book.

 

limited or no check out so that it is always 

available.

 

a reference book is any book that contains factual information that 

you can refer to

 

Cost is as much a factor as 

content, but especially when the required info may be on a few pages (a 

manageable number for the copy machine) it doesn't inconvenience students to


have them in reference.

 

Also, if the content will be needed by  many people 

within a short time,  tha's another reason to restrict circulation, or put 

in reference.

 

You would NOT read these books in their entirety.  Reference books are meant
to help you find information quickly and easily.

 

reference is a special kind of nonfiction which is usually consulted to find
the answer to a specifc question and not usually read cover to cover,

 

Reference books are a subsection of nonfiction that have been set aside 

because of the way they are circulated. They are nonfiction books with 

short or no circulation. They are usually factual, but may include 

comprehensive anthologies of poetry at REF 808.81, for example.

 

1) Nonfiction is to be read, while reference to be consulted.

2)  when the reference book in question is a book that could be an ordinary
nonfiction book, and often is on the shelf as such, the reference book is
the library's non-circulating copy, always available for being referred to.

 

Typically reference books do not circulate so they are always available.
Non-fiction circulates so may not be available when someone wants it. Yes
many of us in schools allow reference to circulate but that is overnight
when it would not be in use and it is to be back when the library is open.
Another factor sometimes that get into the decision is cost of the item and
size (can it stand up to ware and tear of circulation).
Major concept is "ready reference" items that can be used to answer
immediate questions; i,e, encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, atlases
etc.

 

A reference book could be any book in the library.  I choose to put books in
the reference section and not on the regular shelves for the following
reasons:  

1.  It's an autographed copy

2.  It costs more than $50 to replace and your parents would mop the floor
with me if I let you take it home without warning you what it would cost if
you lost or damaged it

3.  It's not meant to be read from cover-to-cover.  It's used mainly for
research. (Thank you to Sue St. Ann who asked that I include her name in my
hit.)

 

Reference is the MOST UP TO DATE MATERIAL in the library, most expensive and
DOES NOT CIRCULATE.  Literary Criticism and material is part of a set (TCLC
etc comes to mind here)  I am an Elementary librarian and I have really
expensive pop up books in Reference, they do not circulate.

 

the reference section is where they go for 'quick answers'.

 

a book that you mainly use "to look things up in. In other words, a book
whose intended purpose, and general use, is not to be read through to gain a
solid overview of a topic, but which is designed to be scanned by the user
for specific isolated pieces of information, unconnected to the other pieces
of information contained therein.

 

Reference books are set up so the researcher does not need to read the whole
book to find the information that s/he is looking for.

 

a reference book is a type of non-fiction book that someone would be
unlikely to read from beginning to end, whereas a non-fiction book, while it
can be used for reference work, was created to be read as a single unit. In
simpler terms, "reference books" give quick answers; non-fiction books tend
to show a larger view.

 

a reference book was one that people would never read cover to cover

 

Finally, more than one person said that they now interfile reference with
nonfiction to increase its and improve circulation. On-line references serve
as the always available source in the library.

 

Deb Waugh

Librarian/Instructional Technologist

The Emmett G. Shufflebarger Library

at Graham High School

Bluefield, Virginia

debwaugh.lm_net@frontiernet.net 

 


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