The term sourcebook (or source book) is used about many different kinds of books such as collections of core articles (i.e., anthology), bibliographies, biographies, printed archieval sources, directories and so on. There seems to be no consensus in the application of this term.

Games

In games the term "sourcebook" is a publication intended to supplement the core materials of a gaming product. Sourcebooks are most commonly used to complement role-playing games and some tabletop or wargaming series, and often contain optional rules, scenarios, or other materials that players can use to extend or enhance the central game.

Popular gaming series with many sourcebooks include:

• BattleTech
• Dungeons and Dragons
• Shadowrun

Examples of different kinds of books termed "sourcebook"

• Paul Halsall, editor The Internet History Sourcebooks Project

See also

• Role playing games
• Source literature
• Tabletop games
• Wargaming

External links

Hjørland, Birger (ed.). Core Concepts in Library and Information Science. Source literature