I'd venture to say that many readers of ricoblog have decent libraries, and that those libraries have reference volumes, many of which are likely geared toward Biblical studies or language study. Stuff like dictionaries, encyclopedias and lexicons.
But have you ever stopped to read the front matter? So often with reference volumes, we expect to use them simply for that: reference. We'll pick 'em up off of the shelf if/when we need 'em.
That's a shame. Really.
Even if it is a reference book that you will only sporadically use, you need to familiarize yourself with it. You need to open it up and look at the title page. Who wrote it? Where was it printed?
You need to look at the table of contents. Many times these books have introductory essays or articles in an appendix. These sorts of articles are necessary to read to understand how to best use the reference work. Or they may have information you'll never come across anywhere else.
You also need to look at the abbreviations. Are they familiar to you, or not?
And the indexes. Are there indexes? What about appendixes? You'd be surprised where appendixes show up. Contrary to popular opinion, the appendix is not a needless piece of flesh stuck in the body because there was space left. In books, they mean something, and they should at least be evaluated before they are discounted.
Here's an example: TDNT. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. It is 10 volumes of hefty print. Did you know that in addition to the index in volume 10, there is a lengthy article called "Pre-History of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament"? The article is nearly 50 pages, written by Gerhard Friedrich, and it sets the scene for the development of the text it is appended to. It gives you all sorts of insight on the development of the text. And that will help you know when (and when not) to consult TDNT. Has it been years since you've read it? Read it again.
Here's another example: BDAG. Have you ever stopped to read the foreword? You should. It explains the typography of the book. It talks about stuff that has been expanded. It as well gives a short history of development of the work, from Preuschen (and before) to Bauer to Danker. Fun stuff.
Last example: If you use a Greek New Testament such as the NA27 or UBS4, and you haven't read the introductions or front matter -- your study is deprived. Especially with the NA27. You need to read these, and not just to understand the apparatus. The marginal reference systems (for the NA27 this includes cross-references, Eusebian Canons, and other cool stuff) are explained there as well.
Anyway, if you're one who has never worried about reading prefaces, forewords or introductions to such things, you should stop right now and do it. Get familiar with these parts of the books you use so often. Your proficiency with these tools (yes, they're tools) will be better for it.
Note: This is true for electronic editions of these resources too.