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. However, these books are often much more useful as specialized volumes devoted to limited information on subjects such as world history, physical science and music. Yearbooks are usually supplements that update existing editions of books or series of books such as encyclopedias. One example of a very useful specialized encyclopedia for finding expert sources at the national level for an article is the Encyclopedia of Associations. Simply look up the specialty and find the organization or organizations representing that interest. Call the organization's media relations office and you will probably be given names and telephone numbers of individuals who are willing to be interviewed.Abstracts are valuable because these books take sets of statistics and other data and condense the data into useful form for the user. Abstracts can also list bibliographic information and offer annotations or summaries of books, articles, theses, or dissertations such as Dissertation Abstracts or Psychological Abstracts.Chronologies are reference books that list events in chronological order over a period of time. Many of these are limited to certain periods of time, such as a decade or century, or are limited to the duration of an historic event, such as the 1996 presidential campaign, the 1997 death and funeral of Princess Diana, or the Great Depression.Dictionaries are critical to research and writing. Many general dictionaries are available, of course, some within very low price ranges. Yet there are many more expensive dictionaries within particular disciplines, such as law, medicine, or the physical sciences, that can help you when working with technical subjects that require explanation for your readers. If you want to specialize in a subject as a feature writer, consider obtaining a dictionary for that specialty if one exists, even if it is a considerable investment. It may help you through interviews and, even more importantly, prevent errors. For legal sources, a good source is Black's Law Dictionary.Biographical dictionaries are extremely helpful in researching wellknown persons. There are different types of biographical dictionaries and many are focused on specific disciplines, so you need to know where to go to find information that concerns the person you are researching. Good examples are Current Biography, Contemporary Authors, or Who's Who. There are biographical master indexes to Page 67these reference books that are kept in most major libraries. Many of these books are updated regularly.Books of quotations are another category of reference books that are a valued source to writers. When you need an authoritative quote or a familiar quote to make your point, these books are the source to use. The leading example is Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.Useful Government PublicationsTens of thousands of federal, state, and local government publications are created each year and these can help you during research for an article. As has been often said about Washington, DC, most of the time the information you need is there, but you just have to know how and where to find it. This applies to government publications. All branches of government produce publications. These are mostly public documents, although some are classified and unavailable to the public. To help find the information you want, there are indexes especially at the federal level. General indexes, such as the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, can help. This contains a subject index of new materials that are issued.Congressional sources provide us with hearings documents on specialized topics such as pending legislation or ongoing concern about medical care, agriculture, and even the routine daily activities of Congress. These documents are available at local libraries that are designated U.S. Government document depository libraries or from the bookstores of the U.S. Government Printing Office (USGPO). USGPO materials are sold, of course, but often at prices lower than what a commercial publisher might charge.Executive branch sources cover subjects as broad as the various departments that help the White House carry out the laws of the land. The Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations are both good sources for orders, proclamations, and regulations that are announced by the White House. A writer interested in the words of the president may check the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.Want to know how U.S. population trends are changing or how many appliances are in a state or county? Use current census data provided by the federal government's Bureau of the Census in the Department of Commerce. There are both lengthy census reports and shorter, more accessible abstracts of census data. The most popular Page 68one is the Statistical Abstract of the United States, which is published annually
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