Turkish Proverb Books as Reference Works: an Evaluation

Turkish proverb dictionaries published in Turkish speaking regions of Iran are evaluated to explore to the extent they meet the criteria of reference works.

The list of books in the subject published in Iran was prepared by searching in the online catalog of the National Library of Iran. Thirty-four titles were identified an examined carefully using a researcher-made checklist based on the criteria proposed in the LIS literature for reference works.

Overall, the titles examined failed to meet the criteria. Problems include the lack of user guides, lack of cross-references, lack of detailed endbook indexes, and lack of unstructured entry contents. 

Preparing a handbook for future authors and greater involments of the academics in preparing such works are proposed.