General encyclopedias cover a wide range of topics, but none in great depth. They are useful for overviews but are often unsuitable for scholarly research.

Subject specific encyclopedias cover particular disciplines or topics such as history or terrorism and usually provide more information about a topic than a general encyclopedia would. Articles are usually written by scholars and often include bibliographies.

Almanacs provide quick access to large amounts of factual and statistical information in a more concise format than an encyclopedia. Many almanacs are updated annually to provide current information, so recent editions can be used for current information while older editions can be used for older information.

Biographical information is pivotal to projects that require information about someone's life. It's also a speedy way identify topics for further research. Many biographical tools are specific to a particular group or field of study, and these resources are likely to provide more detail than general biographical sources.

Monographs often provide broad overviews of topics. These overviews are frequently much more comprehensive than anything you can find in an encyclopedia and will often save you time by providing a great deal of information in one place.

Subject specific dictionaries clarify the meanings of technical terms that are particular to a specific discipline, author or subject. As even seemingly common or simple words often have complex and surpristing meanings in scholarly works, these dictionaries can be extremely useful.

Handbooks and manuals are intended to provide quick one-stop access to information that is critical to the student or practitioner in action. Depending on the field, this information may consist primarily of statistics, facts or procedures.

Chronologies use the sequence of events to organize and present facts in a manner that allows users to quickly gain a sense of something's history and context. Subjects of chronologies are often places, disciplines or important historical events.