reference book

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

• n. A book, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, to which one can refer for authoritative information.
• n. See passbook.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• n. A book providing factual information.
• n. such a book that may not be borrowed.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• n. a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts