Reference books

[Comshaw]

I'm probably (actually I AM) dating myself but right next to my computer, I have a row of books I keep on hand for reference. They range from a thesaurus, a dictionary (it's covered with dust so that should tell you how often I use it anymore), a Webster's Quotationary (which does get used), a "2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions" book, to a repair manual for my tractor, a fluid dynamics pamphlet, a book of plans for concrete projects a pamphlet of steel component sizes and weights and one small well-thumbed reference book that has everything from a list of the density of materials, RF coil winding data to a list of holidays and military ranks. I grant you some I haven't used in a while because I've transitioned to using the net to find things. But some of them, like the technical books and pamphlets, can't be replaced by the net, or can be, but at a cost of more time and searching than the paper equivalent demands.

So, are you a "computer./phone does everything" person, or like some of us dinosaurs, do you still have a bundle of bound paper sitting around you keep and use?

Comshaw

 

[Britva415]

I still have paper stuff but I use it very infrequently anymore.

Sounds like a good collection! I haven't heard of the Webster Quotationary. I have a Bartleby's.

Regarding things like curious word origins, sayings and expressions, a printed source is probably quite a lot more reliable in 2026 than the internet. Although I do have access to the online version of the unabridged OED through my public library. When I do use the (rest of the) web to look up stuff like that, I always look for citation-quality sources rather than just some guy's blog post, Simon Whistler's videos, or the well-ackshully content on random forums.

With this in mind:

It saddens me how much of an agenda there is to discredit Wikipedia on the basis that "any old person can edit it and add whatever they want." That is tEkCniKLy tRuE but it either deliberately or ignorantly disregards the facts that other editors have the power to review and improve the quality of bullshit edits, and they usually do so pretty quickly, and, many statements are backed up by citations that readers can go and check for themselves. The result is not perfect but it mostly tends to be pretty well balanced in terms of editorial tone, propaganda-neutrality, and mostly a pretty good first look at developing a list of credible additional materials to consult.

 

[D_K_Moon]

I have a dictionary, thesaurus, Strunk and White - The Elements of Style, Webster's - Dictionary of Grammar. I also have several books relation to Lakota culture. I have various copies of the Uniform Building Code, National Electrical Code, NFPA 72, repair manuals for Triumph Bonnevilles, VW Beetles, 1995 Dodge trucks, books on photography.

For most of my writing, Wikipedia is a decent source for dates, names etc.

 

[PennyThompson]

I mostly rely on Wikipedia and other online sources for research into things I'm not already familiar with, but specifically for my Dandelion Greene stories, I lean on a lot of old paper

I have a couple of old books about American and Appalachian folklore, superstitions and fearsome critters, Harper Lee and Flannery O'Connor as inspiration for setting and dialect, and after writing the first one and getting a few comments referencing it, I picked up a paperback collection of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories!

Ugh I need to write another Dandelion story, writing in that style is just so much fun...

 

[MrPixel]

I have The Chicago Manual of Style 24" away from my left hand, a generic dictionary... hang on... "Honey? Where did you put my dictionary?" Shelf above me has a couple of typeface references. There are two official service manuals for cars I used to tinker with - one still in the garage, one sold last year - and a foot-tall stack of train magazines at my left elbow. So I guess I'm mostly online with references these days. Wikipedia is my friend.

Dictionary is from my college years, over half a century ago. Maybe a little out of date? If I find it, it's going into the recycling bin.

Oh, speaking of topical references, Joy of Sex is on the bookshelf in the living room, and an illustrated translation of the Kama Sutra is somewhere in the house.

 

[Mastered_again]

When we retired and downsized, a lot of books got donated, my thesaurus and dictionary included - now I use online versions, primarily Merriam-Webster. The Thesaurus is especially handy for finding the right word, particularly for dialog where I know the character wouldn't use a certain word, but an alternative in keeping with the mood/temperament of the moment.
Otherwise, I only use the web to get facts right. Like describing a specific (real) location and its surroundings, so, for example the Empire State Building doesn't end up next to the Chrysler Building. Or, in the case of my current work, looking up bondage furniture and apparatus ( that was eye opening, both in terms of the variety and complexity, but also leaving me wondering who can afford that shit).

 

[SimonDoom]

I use both online and hard copy reference sources. I write almost exclusively at a desk in my home office, and I have a shelf within arm's length that contains numerous reference sources, like a Webster's dictionary, Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and White, Roget's Thesaurus, and various other writing style guides.

 

[BeechLeaf]

My half-shelf of reference works is still there, but for everyday use I use Wiktionary as my dictionary since I usually want to burrow down the rabbit holes of etymology and find what the French, Greek, or Japanese is. For word forms I often consult the Google Ngram Viewer if I'm undecided whether to hyphenate, fuse, or space. I examine British usage to see if there's any strong trend that should override my intuition.

Most quotations can be found or verified with a quick on-line search rather than consulting my printed book. I still value these books and will always keep them, but they're no longer always my first resort.

 

[Comshaw]

I mostly rely on Wikipedia and other online sources for research into things I'm not already familiar with, but specifically for my Dandelion Greene stories, I lean on a lot of old paper

I have a couple of old books about American and Appalachian folklore, superstitions and fearsome critters, Harper Lee and Flannery O'Connor as inspiration for setting and dialect, and after writing the first one and getting a few comments referencing it, I picked up a paperback collection of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories!

Ugh I need to write another Dandelion story, writing in that style is just so much fun...

Have you ever read the FireFox series of books? The author's aim was to detail some of the lost skills of the mountain people. Like hand making a gun barrel, complete with rifling. Or hog butchering, axe-handle making and installation, making and running a still and recipes for mash. It's a great series of books if you're interested in those lost skills and how they were done. All of the information the author put in his books came directly from the mountian people.

A little story about those books: We started buying them for my father-in-law. His family came from Kentucky. In fact his mother, my wife's grandmother, rode across the country in a covered wagon in the very early 1900's as a little girl. He loved reading about those things.

When my son was in high school, he was a hellion. After talking to my father and my brother, my wife attributed it to heredity, which I have always denied! Anyway, he discovered his grandfather's Foxfire books and started reading them. We thought it was great! He was interested in something and learning history. Fast forward to a year later. We discovered that his interest in the books wasn't just for history's sake. He had talked his buddies into buying the materials to make a still.

I have to give him credit; he learned how to solder and weld and built a still. He also learned how to make a passable mash and run some single-run alcohol. He decided to stop and get rid of the equipment when we filled him in on the fact that it was a federal crime and he could go to prison for it.

They are a fabulous way to get a look at long-lost skills. Here's a link to the website for the books.

https://www.foxfire.org/product/the-foxfire-book-series/


Comshaw

 

[Comshaw]

My half-shelf of reference works is still there, but for everyday use I use Wiktionary as my dictionary since I usually want to burrow down the rabbit holes of etymology and find what the French, Greek, or Japanese is. For word forms I often consult the Google Ngram Viewer if I'm undecided whether to hyphenate, fuse, or space. I examine British usage to see if there's any strong trend that should override my intuition.

Most quotations can be found or verified with a quick on-line search rather than consulting my printed book. I still value these books and will always keep them, but they're no longer always my first resort.

This is one of my problems. I love my books, so it's exceedingly difficult to get rid of any of them. And no matter what it is, the older the book, the less I want to part with it. I have auto manuals from the 30's and 40's, and 60's. I have volumes of wiring diagrams for cars starting in the 50's up to the last of the 60's. I just can't toss them. If I'm going to get rid of them, I want to find someone who appreciates what they are. But being what they are, only a few would want them.

Comshaw

 

[MrPixel]

His family came from Kentucky.

Heh. My father's father's father was a notorious moonshiner in the eastern Kentucky hills. "Notorious" because he was apparently always one step ahead of the revenooers. Met him once, though that was obviously long past his moonshining days. Could barely talk to 'im anyway, he used one of those old ear-horns as a hearing aid.

As far as getting rid of books, I have two boxes of college textbooks, now moved probably a dozen times since, none opened. Another box with 1970's and '80s computer manuals. Just can't bring myself to pitch 'em. FORTRAN with WATFOUR and WATFIVE? Why in God's name am I keeping that? Doorstop?

 

[BeechLeaf]

You give them away to a charity bookshop, thus making the day of that one person desperate for 1970s FORTRAN manuals. And annoying the staff who had other plans for the shelf space.

 

[Writer61]

On my shelf is a copy of the Concise OED that has travelled around the world with me. But it has been years since I opened it. When I am sitting in front of a computer, why would I even stand up and take it down? Logically, I should get rid of it, but that's a line I cannot cross.

 

[StillStunned]

Here's one that I doubt anybody here has, or has even heard of: the Benson, Benson & Ibsen Dictionary of Word Combinations (generally called the "BBI"). It lists what prepositions go with what verbs and nouns, what adjectives are commonly associated with what nouns, and so on.

I don't use mine as much as I did back in the day, but in the early-2000s it was one of my most treasured resources.

 

[Comshaw]

Heh. My father's father's father was a notorious moonshiner in the eastern Kentucky hills. "Notorious" because he was apparently always one step ahead of the revenooers. Met him once, though that was obviously long past his moonshining days. Could barely talk to 'im anyway, he used one of those old ear-horns as a hearing aid.

As far as getting rid of books, I have two boxes of college textbooks, now moved probably a dozen times since, none opened. Another box with 1970's and '80s computer manuals. Just can't bring myself to pitch 'em. FORTRAN with WATFOUR and WATFIVE? Why in God's name am I keeping that? Doorstop?

Yeah I hear you. My grandfather was a moonshiner in Oklahoma during Prohibition. He never said much about it but my grandmother would tell us tales of him coming home with $1,000.00 in his pocket, which in those days was a fortune. But she also told us he loved his cards, drinking what he made and partying so those dollars all didn't make it home.

Comshaw

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I'm both, but some of my digital support doesn't rely on the Internet. I have like ten dictionaries nearby, of all types and different languages, and one book about Spanish grammar, but more interestingly, I have three different translations of the Bible (one of them is the one used by JW), a Gideon's pocket New Testament, and a copy of the Book of Mormon. I also have a few sexology books laying around, as well as a hardcover copy of Brotherhood of Evil: The Mafia, and two criminology textbooks that walk me through the process of car hijacking and murder investigations. I still have a pedagogy encyclopedia, and some photography books, and I was even gifted a tourist guide for my entire country from 2009. There's also some political essays exploring the history of my country from all points of view, and there's also the scrapbook I've been doing since I was a kid that has the entire history of my country.

I also have a couple of anatomy and medical books, and currently I'm studying through five TCM books I borrowed, and I'm actually applying my TCM knowledge in my erotica, and my writing as a whole. Even in my one-on-one interactions.

Digitally I have a copy of Richard Wilhelm's I Ching, and the Tao Te King as reference books, as far as I can remember. I know I have some psychology books around as well...

The rest I just Google. Especially when dealing with myth and wanting to put an English translation (such as a Bible quote, but I have to source a translation that said Christian sect would use because everyone reads something different). No non-fiction book that I own physically is in English, but I do have a few fiction books in English; one of them being Romeo & Juliet, out of all surprising things...

 

[Britva415]

and currently I'm studying through five TCM books I borrowed, and I'm actually applying my TCM knowledge in my erotica

Rad. Any particular stories to recommend?

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Rad. Any particular stories to recommend?

Not explicit, but in Nightcall's second sex scene I went over a vessel I can't recall right now... I think it was CV.

But in my incoming Borrowed Plumes entry I did reference the master of the heart (pericardium) out loud.

It's very subtle though, I'm not naming precise points. It's just my way of memorizing their locations.

 

[ClintonBrooks]

I walk using two canes so carrying around a book is a no-go for me. Plus, I write on a laptop, so no handy desk to store physical books.

So its all electronic for me.

That being said, one of my favorite reference sites is https://www.wordhippo.com/

 

[TheRedChamber]

FWIW the general advice for Wikipedia in an academic context is...

By all means read the article as a start. If a fact is useful and is cited, check and use the citation. If a fact is not cited, be wary and dig further.

It is good for most things that arent too controversial. Another issue is just that it has the capacity to change quickly and completely, which makes it not great as a reference.

In daily life, I guess the question is usually 'how definitely correct do I need this to be?'

 

[NotWise]

My office at work had a wall of books and journals within reach when I sat at the computer. My employer had four such walls in his Santa Fe office. I had a four-foot, floor-to-ceiling section that was for frequently used references. The most useful to me were the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, a calculus text (I had four), a C programming text, a notebook with EPA water quality standards, and Groundwater and Wells (aka the Johnson well manual).

Time passed, publications changed, and internet sources became more useful. Now at home, I don't keep any reference books near me.