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The Reference Collection

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Stephanie Morrissette

Stephanie Morrissette

Stephanie Morrissette is an avid naturalist and is a Library Assistant at the Reference and Local History Department at CDPL.

Did you know that we have an entire Reference collection at CDPL? These books are on a variety of topics, ranging from legal to medical to business and more. Though these items cannot be checked out, they can be read in the library and contain a wealth of information that is only a page away.

If you are interested in the World Almanac (REF 031.02 Wor), Countries of the World (REF 909.827 Cou v.1-v.2), or a Standard Catalog of World Coins (REF 734.4 Sta), we have global reads for you. If you prefer to study religion, we have the Encyclopedia of Christian Education (REF 268.03 Enc v.1-v.3) or The Qur’an (REF 297.122 Kor) for example.

If you are looking for Statistical Abstracts of the United States (REF 317.3 Pro 2022) or researching Immigration and Migration (REF 325.1 Imm v.1-v.2), you can find them in our Reference section. If you are starting a business or need business questions answered in regards to human resources or career advice, we have Encyclopedias of Career and Vocational Guidance (REF 331.7 Enc v.-v.6). If you need direction on social security or Medicare, we have the Social Security and Medicare Facts (REF 344.7302 Tho v.1-v.2). For Indiana law and court rules we have Indiana Family Laws (REF 346.015 Ind) and Rules of the Court (347.772 Ind).

If you are doing medical research, we have books on almost every topic. From the Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (REF 150.3 Cor v.1-v.4) to the Mental Health Resource Guide (362.20973 Com), we have it covered. We also have volumes on addictions and substance abuse (REF 362.29 Add v.1-v.2; REF 362.29 Iss). Other health conditions covered in our reference collection include infectious diseases, genetic (576.03 Gen v.1-v.4) and congenital disorders, cardiovascular health, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, allergies, pregnancy, and cancer. Additionally, nursing books (610.73 Gal v.1-v.7), women’s health, and prescription drug information is readily available.  If essential oils are your area of interest, look into our Essential Oil Safety Guidebook (615.3 Tis).

If you would like to know more about United States Land and Natural Resource Directory (333.1 Uni) or Parks and Recreational Areas of the United States (917.3 Par), these books can give you a detailed look into our nation’s national parks and recreational areas.  If you would rather know more about North American Wildflowers, look at volumes 1-5 (REF 582.13 Wal).

American Literature, authors, even comic books (741.5 Ove), poetry (808.1 Pri), dictionaries and compendiums are available to peruse.  We also have a book on each and every day of the year that celebrates something unique in our Chase’s Calendar of Events (394.26 Cha)!  You can find a day for everything in this treasure trove of interesting inquiries.  

We have all these materials and more located in our Reference Collection near the reference desk on the second floor at CDPL.  If you need assistance locating specific information, or would like to look further in depth on a variety of topics, please see the staff at the reference desk and we will be happy to assist you in your research.   The library is open Monday through Thursday from 9 am-9pm, Saturdays from 9 am-5 pm, and Sundays from 1 pm-5 pm.