LibGuides: English: Reference Works

Library Reference Resources

Reference books, which include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and other collections of data, are a great source for general information about a topic. Physical items in the Reference Collection can only be used in the library and may not be checked out.

Electronic reference materials can be found in the following databases:

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
CREDO contains all kinds of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, quotations, and subject-specific titles from some of the top university presses in the United States. It also includes over 200,000 images and audio files and over 1200 videos.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
The accepted authority on the English language, providing an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of more than 280,000 entries – past and present – from across the English-speaking world.A great choice for investigating the history of words and their meaning.
Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window
A reference resource that provides both sides of a current issue in a point and counterpoint format. The articles help you to develop arguments to support your position. Includes essays, charts and graphs, images, and more.

Reference Websites

Dictionary of American Regional English
DARE does not include words that are commonly used throughout the United States, but rather focuses on the regional aspects of our language, documenting words, phrases, and pronunciations that vary from one place to another.
Lexico
Lexico.com is a new collaboration between Dictionary.com and Oxford University Press (OUP) to help users worldwide with everyday language challenges. Lexico is powered by Oxford’s free English and Spanish dictionaries and features multi-language dictionary, thesaurus, and translation content.
Thesaurus
Thesaurus.com provides users with over 550,000 synonyms and a suite of tools that simplify the writing process. Thesaurus.com’s proprietary relevance, complexity, and length filters, introduced in the first update to any thesaurus in over 160 years, help anyone quickly find the perfect word.
Visual Dictionary
Contains 20,000 terms with contextual definitions, along with 6,000 full-color images that illustrate all aspects of life. In addition to searching, you can browse the dictionary starting with any of 15 "themes."
Vocabulary
Vocabulary.com combines an adaptive learning system (The Challenge) with the world's fastest dictionary (The Dictionary) so that users can learn words in the English language quicker and more efficiently than traditional methods.