A scholarly reference book is written by researchers and scholars for an academic audience. Here are some features of scholarly books you should be looking for when researching (1):
1. Joan M. Reitz, "Scholarly book," in Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science, (ABC - Clio, 2013), accessed November 4, 2013, http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/searchODLIS.aspx .
Here is an example of a catalogue record for a scholarly book. You will see that the title describes a very specific topic of inquiry, and the book is published by the reputable university-affiliated publisher called Columbia University Press:
Here are some online sources in linguistic anthropology you may find helpful:
As you work through your readings, fieldwork assignments and your final paper, feel free to consult these scholarly reference sources recommended by Prof. Hillewaert.