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Developing Reference
Skills
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What is a reference?
A reference is anything you useto help you nd information.
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Six Common Types of Referenceaterials
Dictionaries
Thesaurus
!ncyclopaedia Atlas
Almanac
"eriodicals
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Dictionariesare #ooks that list all the$ords in a language%
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With a dictionary you can learn&
'o$ to spell a $ord
What a $ord means
'o$ to say a $ord
What part of speech a $ord is
'o$ many sylla#les are in a $ord
Whether or not to capitali(e a $ord
'o$ to a##reviate a $ord )!xample* +SA,
eanings of prexes and su-xes of a $ord
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.our rst key to remem#er $hen usingdictionaries
To makedictionaries easier
to use/ the $ordsare arranged inalpha#etical order%
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.our second key to remem#er $henusing dictionaries
Since there are somany $ords in adictionary/ guide
$ords are used tohelp you locate a$ord 0uickly%
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1uide $ords arefound at the top
of each page%They tell you therstand last
$ord that isfound on thatpage%
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.our third key to remem#er $hen usingdictionaries&
2e careful$hat denitionyou choose%
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'ead$ord* the $ord you are lookingup% 3t is al$ays in boldtype%!ntry* the information on the $ordyou are looking up%"ronunciation* tells you ho$ to saythe $ord%
"art of speech* tells you ho$ the$ord is used in a sentence)n=noun, v=verb, adj=adjective,
adv=adverb).
Vocabulary
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Denition* all possi#le meanings
for the $ord% any $ords havemore than one meaning%!xamples* Sho$s you ho$ the
$ord is used in a sentence%+sually found in italics%!tymology* this tells you the
history of the $ord/ and $hatlanguage it came from%
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Thesaurus
A thesaurus is used to nd $ordsthat mean the same or opposite asanother $ord%
These are called synonymsandantonyms%
They are simple to use* 4ust look up
your $ord and a thesaurus $ill giveyou the list of synonyms andantonyms for that $ord%
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A thesaurus/ ho$ever/ D5!S 65Tusuallyprovide you $ith a denition )you need a
dictionary for that,%
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Retrieving Information
Informationretrieval)IR, is the activityofo#taining information
resources relevantto an informationneed from acollection of
information
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Students are no$a#le to o#taininformation from avariety of sources%
The World WideWe# provides
access to/ forexample academicli#raries/ multi*media data#ases
and discussiongroups from $hichindividuals cano#tain a range ofup to date
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Some ideas to encourage students tomake use of computer #asedinformation retrieval systems might #e&
Students can #e directed to the World
Wide We# as a source of information%Ask the students to recommenduseful +R8s and use these to #uild up a
departmental Resource #ase for futurestudent9s reference%
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