work of reference

The accessibility and the miraculous compactness of this set are bound to be its huge selling point; as a handy work of reference, certainly, it's hard to fault.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 17, 2013

The work will stand as a work of reference on physiology.

From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by J. W. H. (John William Henry) Eyre

His marvellous catalogue must have proved a revelation at the time, and to-day it is a work of reference at once instructive and agreeable.

From The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by William Carew Hazlitt

A catalogue of the printed books in the Welsh department, which soon became a standard work of reference, was published in 1898, while a calendar of the Welsh MSS. was issued by the Historical MSS.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various

The extent and variety of information which it presents, with the clearness of its practical directions, and its adaptation to American cultivation, will make it a standard work of reference with intelligent fruit growers.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various