Photo: austinevanOur resident quote bleggar Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, is back with another request. If you have a bleg of your own — it needn’t have anything to do with quotations — send it along here.
An article by Donald Altschiller in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal named the five reference books essential for every home library:
1. World Almanac
2. Yale Book of Quotations
3. Oxford Atlas of the World
4. Merck Manual of Medical Information
5. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Some might quibble with the placement of the World Almanac ahead of the No. 2 book, but the list is a provocative one.
In a heavily online-oriented world, is there still a place for printed reference volumes that provide information not available on the Web or present information more conveniently than similar online sources? Can readers of this blog suggest other print reference books that are still desirable for home libraries?
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In India, the numero uno reference book would be “Oxford’s Advanved Learners Dictionary”.
Benet’s Readers Encyclopedia is my addition to the list. It’s a wonderful resource.
I will second the Chicago Manual of Style. Also, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia
A good fat thesaurus
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
A surprisingly large amount of stuff is easier and more convenient to find there than on the web (even with using things like chemspider)
I challenge anyone who thinks that books are (or should be) dead to consume the equivalent of 1,000 pages exclusively on a screen, reading for hours straight. I’d be surprised if your eyes didn’t melt down. I read at a fraction of my print speed online, simply because of how my eyes react to the displays. Let’s also not forget how many Web designers seem to favor 8 point grey text on a beige background… no, thank you.
J.Ja
Although there is a strong argument for online resources, many older people still prefer print reference material. There are also many people who do not have easy access to the Internet.
As for additions to your list, ask any reference librarian at your local public library. I’m sure they will have a ready reference answer.