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How to Choose a Good Reference Book
HOW TO 
Tags: Reference Books, Books, Choosing Books
A good reference book is a necessity on the desk of any office. Here is a great way to choose just the right one.
| | Walk into a bookstore or library with a specific ideal in mind. This ideal should be based around exactly how detailed you want the book to be. Do you want it general and simple ("blah" for Dummies, Idiot's Guide to "whatever", etc.)? Or are you searching for a more verbose manuscript (The Encyclopedia of Internal Medicine, Complete History of China, etc.)? Once you've decided on the level of detail you are looking for, you may move on to the next step. |
| | Begin from the end. Go directly to the index of a book that looks sufficient along the lines of the topic you're interested in -- ignore the fancy cover and how many pretty pictures it might have. What truly defines a good reference book is its rear. |
| | Think up a few questions that you know the answer to. Ask the book these questions. (Not literally or you'll get some strange looks from other customers and possibly be asked to leave when you get angry because the book won't answer you directly.) Scan the index for the answers and follow it through the book. |
| | Read the passages and decide for yourself whether it seems knowledgeable or if it's too vague on the topic(s). Ideally, chances are if it couldn't answer something you already knew, it wont be able to answer any of the other questions you will eventually have. |
| | Don't believe everything you read. The nature of a good student is derived from skepticism and ultimately this is what reference books are for, distilling fact from filler and expressing knowledge where there was little to begin with. |
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