Encyclopaedias

General 

Covers all the topics

Ex: Encyclopaedia Britannica 

Specific 

Covers a specific topic in depth

Ex: Encyclopedia of African-American civil rights from emancipation to the present

Dictionaries

Encyclopaedic Dictionary

It is a combination of dictionary and encyclopaedia. It contains all the words of a language. For each word, there is a definition and a short explanation. It also contains proper names, chronologies, maps and illustrations. There isn’t an analysis as deepened as in an encyclopaedia.    

Ex: Le Petit Larousse illustre

Language Dictionaries

Defines all the words of a language and gives linguistic definition. It’s useful to check the orthograph, to find a synonym or antonym and to obtain a translation.

General dictionary

Ex: Oxford Dictionary

Bilingual dictionary

Ex: Le Robert and Collins

Thesaurus

Ex: Thesaurus of English words and phrases

Special Dictionaries

Dictionary of the proper names

Presents personal names, locations, and historical events. 

Ex: Dictionary of American Family names

Biographical dictionary

Presents the life and works of people having notoriety.

Ex: Who’s Who in Canada

Thematic dictionary

Covers a specific topic

Ex: Economic Terminology: English-French

Yearbook and Almanac

Atlas

Documents published annually which give variable information from one year to the next. They are annual censuses of specific data. The almanac usually contains more general information.

Ex: State of the World; Almanac 2005; E-Stat

Collection of maps, boards, graphs, often accompanied by a short text.  It specializes in a very precise discipline or topic.

Ex: Atlas of Canada; Atlas of the 20^th century

Directory

Bibliography

List of organisms, publications, products, persons, locations or services by country, discipline or activity.

Ex: Canada 411; Quebec manufactured and wholesale Products (CRIQ)

Alphabetical list of documents on a same subject or by a same author.

Ex: The list of books; Bibliography of Canadian bibliographies   

Index

Manual and Handbook

Work which strip periodicals, newspapers or theses.  The index is presented more and more in electronic forms (CD-ROMs or databases), sometimes with complete texts.  It offers a faster location than the printed paper form.

Ex: EbscoHost; Arts & Humanities Citation Index

Didactic work which presents the essential concepts of an art, a science or technology.

Ex: Handbook for English language and composition; Manual for travel counsellors

Official Publications

These documents are published by governments or international organizations.  They are presented in various forms: official documents of the ministries and public organizations, statistical reports/ratios, annual reports, management reports, parliamentary debates, etc.

Ex: Canada Gazette; OECD direct