Yes, references are to "refer back to" - the key part here is that what are they meant to "refer back to"? A set of formulae, symbol manipulation or how to appl

Yes, references are to "refer back to" - the key part here is that what are they meant to "refer back to"? A set of formulae, symbol manipulation or how to apply functions? References should be notes that help you recollect what you'd learn. In this case, the references recollect a set of manipulation of symbols which happen to be Linear Algebra. Do note that I am talking about "Reference Manuals" in general and not this particular CS 229 manual.