IV. WHAT IS A REFERENCE WORK

A reference work is one that is consulted for useful facts and information.

• It's often arranged in discrete sections in a systematic way, such as alphabetically, chronologically, or thematically.
• It is objective, without a discernible bias.
• It is used to find overview information on a subject, or quick information for consultation, and it may not be read from cover to cover.
• It usually refers readers to other good books and materials, including those available electronically.

The Characteristics of a Good Reference Work

American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association, has listed these characteristics that are indicative of any reference work:

• Broad audience appeal.
• Readable, engaging text.
• Rich scholarship.
• Clearly stated selection criteria and purpose.
• Authoritative, well-documented information.
• Good cross-references.
• Up-to-date information.
• Affiliation and background of contributors.
• Clear and relevant graphics such as photographs and maps.
• Excellent indexing (with indented subheadings).

The same article had a list of characteristics undesirable in a reference work: Incomplete or nonstandard citations, greatly inconsistent lengths of entries, confusing arrangements, and dated statistics.

Audience

Greenwood Press sells its reference materials primarily to

• public libraries and some high school libraries
• college and university libraries
• specialized libraries and other institutions

Knowing your audience is crucial. It will determine reading level, the desired level of detail, and a host of other matters, as you plan and write your work. If you are unsure as to your audience, please discuss this with your acquisitions editor. Certain projects and topics will be more suited to the undergraduate market, while others will be more successful in public and high school libraries. Greenwood tries to sell its reference works into two or more of these library markets, and your acquisitions editor will work with you to determine the best market for your book.

Don't write for your colleagues, and watch out for anthology syndrome

Authors sometimes make the mistake of planning their topics and writing at a level that will be impressive to their colleagues and to the field. This is highly appropriate in scholarly and professional writing, but it may be the wrong approach for meeting the needs of Greenwood's reference work audience, can hurt sales, and might be negatively noted in a review by the library media.

A related problem is not having a clear plan for the work. Sometimes volume editors who are overseeing the assignment of numerous entries to numerous contributors will let them write on their favored or strongest topics. While a judicious use of this approach will yield some wonderful essays, an across-the-board application of it can turn your book into an anthology of collected writing. Instead, you want a planned and useful reference work covering a mix of important background, conceptual, general, and more specific entries.

Organization

Because our customers are primarily reference librarians, who in turn buy for students, the public at large, and specialized audiences, our products need to be organized to provide easy and logical access to the information. That typically means one of these arrangements:

• A traditional A-to-Z arrangement, for encyclopedias or dictionaries;
• A chronological or geographical arrangement.
• A narrative chapter arrangement.

For series projects, your editor will provide you with the preferred organization or table of contents for that series, along with more specific guidelines.

Front Matter, Back Matter, and "Extras"

Reference publications generally have the following features in addition to their main content:

• A table of contents that lists the main elements of your work. See sample.
• Entry or headword lists (for an encyclopedia or dictionary) that show the reader the contents of the work.
• A topical arrangement of the entries (for an encyclopedia), sometimes called a "Guide to Related Topics". Reviewers and librarians have been quite receptive to the topical guide. See sample.
• A preface that discusses the purpose, scope, and benefits of the work. Acknowledgments may stand alone or be incorporated in the preface.
• The introduction, optional, an overview essay relating to subject matter.
• A general bibliography, often called a Resource Guide, including more than books, such as Web sites, videos, and other electronic resources. See References and Bibliographies.
• About the Author or About the Editor and Contributors
• The index, compiled by the author or publisher, depending on the contract, after the work is typeset.

What's the Point of a Preface?

The preface spells out purpose and benefits of the work.

Even though many authors wait until their work is done to write their preface, it's a better idea to at least sketch out a description of and rationale for your scope as you begin your project. You may realize, in writing about your planned coverage of the topic that you are either trying to cover too much, or not enough.

Reviewers often closely scrutinize prefaces (and particularly their "selection criteria" sections), and so we recommend that prefaces be written very carefully and that they dwell on the positive aspects of your book. (This is not the place to reveal its weaknesses to the world!) See the checklist of elements to include in a preface.

What's the difference between a preface and introduction?

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003, section 1.49) a preface tells how the book came to be, what it covers, and how to use it, "reasons for undertaking the work, method of research (if this has some bearing on readers' understanding of the text), and acknowledgements," which may be in separate section.

An introduction discusses the subject matter of the book. It might provide a brief history of scholarship on the encyclopedia's topic, a survey of the current state of study, or (for books aimed more at a general or high school audience) a brief introduction to the topic generally. If it is material that is important for the understanding of the work, however, it belongs "not in the front matter but at the beginning of the text, paged with Arabic numerals." (Chicago Manual of Style, section 153).

Other Features in a Reference Work

These include a chronology, glossary, sidebars, and appendixes. A foreword (note spelling) written by a person well known in the field or to the general public is a desirable marketing tool but not always necessary.

Primary Documents

For certain topics, illustrative primary source documents are useful and informative. Please note that we will need the actual documents in an electronic file, just as the rest of your manuscript, in a standard word-processed format such as Word, Word Perfect, or rtf. We cannot accept PDF files, photocopies, or links to the Internet for downloading. They should come to us as part of your complete manuscript. We will need reprint permissions for those documents that are not in the public domain.

We also need a brief introduction for each document, which explains clearly what the document is, who wrote or created it, when it was created, and its significance to your topic. Student and general users will need to have the document put clearly in context to use it effectively. Documents are generally presented in two ways: (1) in a "Documents" section or appendix after the main text or A-Z section, or (2) as relatively brief "sidebars" within the main text or A-Z section.

In either case, consult with your editor on the formatting, placement, and selection of documents. By the way, the RUSA History Section of the American Library Association has created useful and brief guidelines (with many useful links) on using primary sources in a reference environment: http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/. Finally, it is critical that the documents be accurately copied, since they generally will not be copyedited.

What Is a Sidebar?

This is a sidebar, a boxed, perhaps shaded, or otherwise attractively designed, self-contained section interspersed throughout the main text of a reference work or a lengthy entry in an encyclopedia. It is designed to break up the text and encourage browsing in the same way as a photograph. Sidebars should be located near entries or passages on related topics. They are easiest to work with when they are relatively brief, 100-200 words, although they can run in some cases to 300 words. Do not exceed this amount as it will cause page layout problems.

See "Sidebars" for more information.