Reference Collection

1. Scope and Purpose

The Reference Collection at the Bennett Library is located on the 3rd floor, east of the Ask Us Desk. Other SFU Library branches maintain their own Reference Collections.

Reference works are defined as those which are meant to be consulted or referred to for some definite piece of information. They are characterized by being seldom, if ever, read in their entirety and are non-narrative in structure. A reference collection centralizes these materials and facilitates their use.

Works selected for the Reference Collection at the Bennett Library are those for which there is expected to be a reasonable incidence of use by patrons and reference staff, and those which are consulted in reference interviews. In general, they provide background information, definitions, statistical and factual information.

It is a working collection which reflects the curricula and the research interests of faculty and students. An active acquisitions and weeding program keeps the collection current and responsive to changes in curricula and research needs. All decisions regarding the retaining and weeding of the Reference Collection items are left to the discretion of the subject librarian.

Where there are online versions of reference materials available, the print version(s) will normally be shelved in the stacks for circulation. Materials in microform and CD-ROM format are usually not collected for the Reference Collection. Reference Indexes are shelved in the separate location.

2. Reference Collection

Types of materials in the Bennett Library Reference Collection may include:

Almanacs and yearbooks	The decision is left to the discretion of liaison librarians.
Atlases, geographical	Only the latest edition of a few core, comprehensive Canadian, American and world atlases. A larger reference collection of this material is shelved in the Map Room on the 7th floor.
Atlases, subject/topical	Essential atlases, when needed in the specific subject areas.
Bibles and other holy texts	One of each of the major standard editions.
Concordances	Major concordances to the Bible and Shakespeare only.
Dictionaries, language	English: A most recent core collection, which includes etymological, idiomatic and slang dictionaries.  Unilingual (other than English) and bilingual: A representative selection for major languages and languages taught at SFU. Polyglot: shelved in the stacks.
Dictionaries, subject/topical	Essential subject and/or topical dictionaries supporting the curricula. In English or French only. Polyglot dictionaries are shelved in the stacks.
Dictionaries, biographical	A selection of essential biographical dictionaries covering specific subject or topical areas. Latest edition only.
Directories, subject/topical	Local, national and international for specific subject fields related to the curricula, both current and retrospective.
Encyclopedias, general	Major general encyclopedias in English or French. Latest edition only. Encyclopedias in other languages are shelved in the general collection.
Encyclopedias, subject/topical	A selection of essential encyclopedias covering specific subject, topical or geographic areas. Latest edition only.
Legal Materials	House of Commons Bills (loose-leaf)

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