Unit 2 Types of Information Sources: Structure

UNIT 2 TYPES OF INFORMATION
SOURCES
Structure
2.1 Learning Outcomes
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Periodicals and Their Types
2.3.1 Scholarly Periodicals
2.3.2 Trade and Business Periodicals
2.3.3 Popular Periodicals
2.3.4 Magazines
2.3.5 Newspapers
2.3.6 E-Journals
2.4 Secondary Periodicals

2.4.1 Indexing Periodicals
2.4.2 Abstracting Periodicals
2.5 Bibliographies
2.5.1 National Bibliography
2.5.2 Trade Bibliography
2.5.3 Subject Bibliography
2.6 Reference Sources

2.6.1 Dictionaries
2.6.2 Encyclopaedias
2.6.3 Ready Reference Sources
2.6.4 Geographical Information Sources
2.6.5 Biographical Information Sources
2.6.6 Statistical Information Sources
2.6.7 Current Information Sources
2.7 Secondary Sources: SurveyTypes

2.7.1 Books
2.7.2 Textbooks
2.7.3 Treatises
2.7.4 Reviews
2.7.5 State-of-the-Art Reports
2.8 Tertiary Sources of Information

2.9 Electronic Sources
2.10 Summary
2.11 Answers to Self Check Exercises
2.12 Keywords
2.13 References and Further Reading
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Information Sources and
Their Use 2.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this Unit, you will be able to:
 differentiate between primary and secondary periodicals;
 learn about different types of secondary sources including reference sources,
bibliographies and survey type of publications;
 know the types and utility of tertiary sources of information;
 understand the basic characteristics and uses of each one of these sources;
 identify the standard reference books and other secondary and tertiary sources
available in print and electronic format; and
 know the merits and demerits of various information sources in print and electronic
format.
2.2 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 1 you have been introduced to different types of information sources, and
learnt about their development and how they are categorised by the library professionals
based on their characteristics.
In this Unit you will learn in detail about each one of these sources with examples,
their basic information content and utility. You will also learn how to use them
effectively to provide services to the users who come to your library for assistance.
The Unit will also deal with advantages and limitations of these sources in print as
well as in electronic form.
In this Unit we shall cover primary periodicals, secondary periodicals, reference
sources like dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, yearbooks, almanacs,
directories, geographical sources, biographical sources, statistical information sources
and current information sources. In the category of tertiary sources we shall cover
guides to the literature, bibliography of bibliographies, etc.
2.3 PERIODICALS AND THEIR TYPES

A serial or periodical is any publication that appears at regular intervals (weekly,
monthly, quarterly, or annually) and intended to continue indefinitely. Magazines,
newspapers, journals and annual reports are all serials. A periodical is also referred
to as a journal. In general the information in periodicals is more timely, current and
up-to-date, than information in books. Periodicals are of many types such as scholarly
periodicals, trade and business periodicals, popular periodicals and magazines.
Scientific journals were the first ones to appear on the scene. Scholarly scientific
journals contain articles that disseminate current information on research and
development in particular subject fields. There are thousands of periodicals published
in the world. Ulrich’s periodical directory provides information on 300.000 active
and current serials published in the world by over 90,000 publishers covering 950
subjects and 200 languages. The directory covers academic and scholarly journals,
business and trade magazines, daily and weekly newspapers, open access and free
journals, irregularly published serials and indexing and abstracting periodicals. (http:/
/www.ulrichsweb.com/)
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In this section we shall study five types of periodicals and e-journals with examples Types of Information
Sources
such as
 Scholarly Periodicals;
 Trade and Business Periodicals;
 Popular Periodicals;
 Magazines; and
 Newspapers.
 E-Journals
2.2.1 Scholarly Periodicals

Scholarly periodicals are published by learned societies, R&D organisations, universities
and some reputed commercial publishers. These journals generally publish research
results. To maintain the journal’s standard, each article submitted for publication is
sent to the subject experts (called referees) to scrutinise the article for its standard
as well as the validity of the research results reported. If an article is not up to the
mark, it is either rejected or sent back for revision. The article is accepted for
publication only when it is approved by the referees and fulfils all the criteria laid
down by the publisher of the journal. Because of the rigorous evaluation process,
these publications are also referred to as refereed or peer-reviewed journals. Each
article in such journals becomes permanent record of science.
 The purpose of the scholarly journal is to report original and significant research
in a particular discipline in order to make such information available to the rest
of the scholarly community. These journals are primary sources of information
and also called primary periodicals.
 These periodicals are the best source of information on new or current topics.
The subject may be too narrow for publication in a book. In many disciplines
periodicals are major means of communication for in-depth knowledge of the
subject.
 Articles are written by researchers, professionals or experts in the field. The
articles are mostly technical in nature and cannot be understood by readers who
lack the subject background.
 These journals are meant for scholarly audience and are called scholarly journals.
 These journals generally do not carry any advertisements.
 Each issue is consecutively numbered and all issues in a volume usually have
continuous pagination.
 A scholarly journal article often has an abstract (a descriptive summary of the
article) before the main text of the article.
 Each article has the address of the author/s.
 The article always cites the sources in the form of a bibliography or footnotes.
These bibliographies contain references to other scholarly writings.
3
Information Sources and Example of a scholarly journal:
Their Use
Fig. 2.1: A Scholarly Journal

Source http://niscair.res.in/
NISCAIR ONLINE PERIODICALS REPOSITORY (NOPR) >
NISCAIR PUBLICATIONS >
Research Journals >
Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IJBB) >
IJBB Vol.46 [2009] >
IJBB Vol.46(1) [February 2009] >
Title: Alterations in plasma nitric oxide during aging in humans

Authors: Maurya, Pawan Kumar
Rizvi, Syed Ibrahim
Keywords: Nitric oxide
Aging
Human
Oxidative stress
Issue Date: Feb-2009
Publisher: CSIR
Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is relatively harmless, but along with superoxide radical
becomes precursor of many toxic species, such as peroxy and hydroxyl
radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and peroxynitrite. In the present study, we
determined plasma NO as a function of human age and correlated NO levels
with total antioxidant capacity of the plasma. Results showed significant
increase in NO level as a function of human age and plasma NO level
positively correlated with total antioxidant potential. Increased NO may
contribute to the development of oxidative stress during aging.
Page(s): 130-132
ISSN: 0301-1208
Source: IJBB Vol.46(1) [February 2009]
Files in This Item:
File Description Size Format
4
IJBB 46(1) 130- 130.27 Adobe
View/Open
132.pdf kB PDF
5
The abstract of an article from Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics Types of Information
Sources
Vol 46(1), February 2009 is presented above.
2.2.2 Trade and Business Periodicals

 Trade and business periodicals cover articles, news, trends and issues for specific
business and industry.
 These journals are published by trade organisations and commercial publishers.
 Authors can be professionals in the field or journalists working for the publisher.
 Articles cover industry trends, new products or techniques. The journal also
covers organisational news.
 There are lots of advertisements related to specific industry or trade. Index to
the advertisers is also included.
 The periodical is mostly published on glossy paper and has colourful illustrations.
 Though the language of the articles tend to be related to terms specific to
industry or trade, the articles are written for general educated audience.
Example of a trade and business periodical
Fig. 2.2: A Trade and Business Periodical

Source: www.indianchemicalcouncil.com
Chemical News (Formerly Chemical Industry News) is published monthly. The

journal publishes articles related to chemical industry, highlights the latest developments
in various sectors of chemical industry and disseminates information and statistics
regarding technological progress achieved in India and abroad.
2.2.3 Popular Periodicals

Popular periodicals contain articles in a particular subject area written in simple
language which an educated person can understand.
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Information Sources and  Popular periodicals are meant for general public who do not have specialised
Their Use
knowledge of a particular subject.
 These are published to inform, educate and entertain.
 The purpose of popular periodicals in areas of science and technology is to
popularise science and technology.
 These are published by R&D organisation, government departments and
commercial publishers.
 Articles are not refereed, but are reviewed and approved by periodical’s editor
for publication.
 Articles are mostly short and sometimes do not contain references.
Examples of popular periodicals
Science Reporter (English, Monthly)
Vigyan Pragati (Hindi, Monthly)
Science-ki-Dunya (Urdu, Quarterly)
The three periodicals listed above are popular periodicals (also called popular
magazines) published by NISCAIR. These journals publish popular science articles
on contemporary science topics, cover humour and puzzles, quizzes, crosswords,
information on amazing scientific discoveries, science projects and biographies of
scientists.
Fig. 2.3: Popular Periodical

Source: www.nopr.niscair.res.in
Indian Farming (English, Monthly)
Kheti (Hindi, Monthly)
Phal-Phool (Hindi, Bi-monthly)
The above mentioned three periodicals are popular periodicals published by Indian
7
Council of Agricultural Research. The purpose of these periodicals is to present Types of Information
Sources
scientific information in popular style to the farmers and people interested in the
application of science in day-to-day problems of farming. They cover all aspects of
farming in various agro climatic conditions all over India. The journals cover crops,
poultry, fish, fruits, agricultural technology, agricultural economics and agricultural
policies. Journals contain articles, editorial pages, and book reviews.
2.2.4 Magazines
 The magazines are designed to entertain, sell products, and give practical
information and/or to promote a viewpoint.
 They are published by newspaper and commercial publishers
 The authors are journalists, and freelance writers.
 The content includes popular personalities, news and general interest articles.
 The appearance is marked by glossy covers and contains lots of colour
illustrations and photographs.
 They include a lot of advertisements.
 The language is simple and designed to meet a minimal education level.
 Each issue begins with page number one.
Examples of Magazines
Fig. 2.4: India Today Magazine in English
Source: www.indiatodaygroup.com
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Their Use
Fig. 2.5: India Today Magazine in Hindi
Source: www.ebookee.org
2.2.5 Newspapers
 Newspapers are commercial periodic publications that are issued daily, weekly
or biweekly.
 They includes news, current events, advertisements and topics of general interest.
 The main purpose of the newspaper is to inform, explain, influence and entertain
broad audience.
 The authors are freelance writers or journalists, but can also be scholars.
 Articles are generally short. The language is simple and designed to meet a
minimum education level.
 Articles are generally illustrated with coloured photographs.
 Advertising can be moderate to heavy.
Examples of newspapers:
The Times of India
The Hindustan Times
The Indian Express
Nav Bharat Times
Dainik Jagran
2.2.6 E-Journals
The e-journal can be defined as any serial produced, published and distributed
nationally or internationally via electronic networks. Journals in electronic media are
known as paperless journals, online journals and most popularly known as e-journals.
A e-journal on CD-ROM is like having printed journal in the library. However, it
38
requires computer and requisite software to read. It has many advantages over print
journal. CD-ROM with its storage capacity of over 250,000 pages can provide full Types of Information
Sources
text of individual or collected journals of various subjects. Online journals or e-
journals on the Internet can be accessed remotely at any time and from anywhere.
Points to Remember
* A periodical or a serial is a publication that appears at regular interval and
intended to continue indefinitely.
* Periodicals are also called journals and are of many types.
* Scholarly periodicals are primary periodicals, which publish original research
articles.
* Trade and business periodicals cover articles, news, and issues related to
specific business and industry.
* Popular periodicals cover popular science articles on current areas of science
and technology for the common people.
* Magazines cover stories, poem, serialised fiction articles of general interest,
news, and sketches of popular personalities. Magazines are published to
entertain, sell products, and give practical information and/or promote a
viewpoint.
* Newspapers are commercial periodicals covering news on current events,
advertisements and writing of general interest.
* A e-journal can be defined as any serial produced, published and distributed
nationally or internationally via electronic networks.
Self Check Exercises
Note: i) Write your answers in the space given below.
ii) Check your answers with the answers given at the end of this Unit.
1) Fill in the blanks with suitable word(s) from the list
a) Scholarly periodicals are periodicals. (Popular, referred,
business)
b) Trade and business periodicals are important for people in
. (Colleges and universities, banking sector, industry sector).
c) Popular periodicals aim to science. (Teach, spread,
popularise)
d) Scholarly periodicals convey information. (Popular,
business, research)
2) Define e-journals.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
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Their Use Activity I: Go to a library. Find out where periodicals are displayed. Pick up the
latest issue of a scholarly periodical, a popular periodical and a magazine.
1) Write down the title of each periodical, its year of publication, issue number
and periodicity.
2) Browse the content page of each periodical and note down the content.
3) Check for advertisements in each issue, instructions to the authors and the
pagination.
4) Write down what are the differences in these periodicals with regard to the
type of information covered, instructions to the authors and advertisements.
2.3 SECONDARY PERIODICALS

Information published in primary sources on a subject is widely scattered and is
available in large number of sources like primary periodicals, technical reports,
dissertations, conference papers, patents, standards and so on. In addition, the
research results are published in different languages. This makes it very difficult for
a researcher to keep track of what is latest in her/his field of interest. To solve this
problem there are other set of publications called secondary periodicals which regularly
scan the literature published in primary sources, select the relevant items, arrange
their citations or abstracts in helpful sequence and bring them to the notice of researchers
at weekly, fortnightly or monthly interval. These publications contain bibliographical
references of each item with or without abstracts. Asecondary periodical with abstract
is an abstracting periodical and without abstract is an indexing periodical. These
publications bring together recently published literature in specific discipline scattered
over wide range of primary sources. There are many types of secondary periodicals
however, we shall cover here the following two types:
 Indexing Periodicals
 Abstracting Periodicals
2.3.1 Indexing Periodicals

In indexing periodicals the relevant items with full bibliographical details are selected
from primary sources and are arranged either under broad subject headings or under
class numbers. This arrangement brings all the items on the same subject together.
The indexing periodical also provides author and subject indexes of the items covered.
Examples of indexing periodical
Index Medicus is a monthly indexing periodical, indexing over 5511 journals in the
field of medicine and allied areas. Published by National Library of Medicine, it is
no longer available in print format. Online version is searchable through MEDLINE.
The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature is an indexing periodical published
every month by H W Wilson Company. Covers recently published articles in 400
scholarly journals and popular magazines in wide range of subjects.
Reader’s Guide Full Text Mega Edition is the online version of the Guide
providing online access to abstracts of the articles as well as full text articles from
215 periodicals.
40
2.3.2 Abstracting Periodicals Types of Information
Sources
In the abstracting periodical the contents of the selected items are condensed or
summarised (called abstracts) along with bibliographical details of the document.
Bibliographical details of the document help the reader to identify and locate the
original document. For instance, if the document is a journal article, bibliographical
details will provide the name(s) of the author(s), title of the article, title of the journal,
its volume number, issue number, year of publication and the page numbers of the
article. The abstract of the article helps the user to decide whether to read the full
document or not. At times, a well-prepared abstract serves as a substitute for the
original document. Abstracting periodicals also provide, author, subject and various
other indexes.
Examples of Abstracting Periodicals
Indian Science Abstracts is a semi-monthly abstracting periodical reporting the
scientific research done in India. Published by NISCAIR, the periodical covers
research and review articles from Indian scientific and technical periodicals, proceedings
of conferences, patents, standards and theses.
Indian Science Abstracts on CD-ROM is a cumulative database of nearly 200,000
abstracts covering the period from Jan. 1990 to Dec. 1999. The database is searchable
by keywords, author, corporate author, ISA issue number and year of publication.
Library and Information Science Abstracts is an international abstracting periodical
covering 440 periodicals in library and information science including related areas
such as publishing, online retrieval and new information technology. Periodicals from
more than 68 countries and in 20 languages are covered. Updated biweekly, the
database has over 337,680 records as on Jan. 2011. The coverage dates back to
year 1969. No print version is available.
A large number of indexing and abstracting periodicals, ranging from a broad subject
area to a very narrow specific subject field is published. At present most of the
national and international indexing and abstracting periodicals are available in three
formats:
 Print
 CD-ROM and
 Online on the Web
2.4 BIBLIOGRAPHIES
A bibliography is a list of documents that share a common factor that may be subject,
a language, a period, an author or something else. The list may be comprehensive
or selective. The list is arranged in some order. Such a bibliography known as
enumerative or systematic bibliography, attempts to record or list. Each entry provides
bibliographical details of the document. An entry for a book contains the following
information:
 Author(s)
 Title of the book
 Publisher
 Place of publication
41
Information Sources and  Date of publication
Their Use
An entry for a journal article contains
 Author(s)
 Article title
 Journal title
 Vol. no, Issue no., year of publication
 Pages
2.4.1 National Bibliography

A national bibliography lists the publications produced from a nation.
Example of a national bibliography
Indian National Bibliography, compiled by Central Reference Library, Kolkata.
2.4.2 Trade Bibliography

Trade bibliographies are brought out by publishers, book sellers, distributors and
printers etc. These bibliographies list books which are meant for sale. Trade
bibliographies are used by the libraries to select books for the library.
Example of a trade bibliography
Indian Books in Print: A select Bibliography of English Books Publisher: Indian
Bureau of Bibliographies.
2.4.3 Subject Bibliography

A subject bibliography lists the documents on a given subject. Literature search and
compilation of a subject bibliography are important services of the library. Sometimes
these bibliographies are compiled on regular basis in anticipation of the users needs.
There are also bibliographies which are compiled on special occasions such as
seminars and workshops to provide the participants with the latest literature on the
subject. University and special libraries offer this service more frequently than the
public library.
Example of a subject bibliography
Subject Bibliography on Computer-Assisted Biblical and Theological
Research/Harry Hane. Tronto: Tyndale Seminary, 1996-99.
Points to Remember
* Secondary periodicals are based on primary sources of information.
* These periodicals index and bring together the recently published literature on
all the subjects or on a specific field from different primary sources.
* A secondary periodical with abstracts is an abstracting periodical and without
abstracts is an indexing periodical.
* A bibliography is a systematic list of books or some other documents that
share a common factor, such as a list of books on a subject, or of a language
or of an author or of a period or something else.
42
Types of Information
* A national bibliography lists the publications produced from a nation. Sources
* A subject bibliography lists books on a subject.

* Atrade bibliography lists books of a publisher, printer, book seller or distributor
to inform people about recently published books available for sale.
Self Check Exercise
3) Fill in the blanks with suitable words
a) Indexing and abstracting periodicals are periodicals.
b) A secondary periodical without abstracts is an periodical.
c) A bibliography lists the publications produced in a country.
d) A trade bibliography lists books of _ , _,
, and .
2.5 REFERENCE SOURCES

Reference books, as the name indicates are referred to or consulted only, as and
when the need arises, and is not meant for continuous reading. Reference books
include among others dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, yearbooks, almanacs,
directories, biographical sources, geographical sources, statistical information sources
and current information sources. You must be familiar with dictionaries and
encyclopaedias, as you might have used any one of them during your class assignments,
or you might be having one at home. Librarians usually provide reference services
on the basis of the collection of reference books, which are placed separately in the
library. A reference book is different from other books as it is used for consultation
only and is not meant for continuous reading. For instance, you normally use a
dictionary to find the meaning of a word, you do not read it page-by-page as you
do with textbooks and story books. Reference books in a library are used to provide
ready reference service to the library users. This service is concerned with providing
answers to fact finding questions, such as what, where, who, when and how type.
Given below are some of the typical reference queries:
 What is the height of Mount Everest?
 What is the population of Delhi?
 Where is ‘Mansarovar’ lake located?
 Who discovered America?
 How many newspapers are published in India?
 When will the next total solar eclipse occur?
The required information is located in reference books like dictionaries, encyclopaedias,
yearbooks, almanacs, gazetteers and biographical sources to provide the service.
Most of the reference books are specifically designed to provide required information
quickly and in most convenient form. Let’s start with a dictionary.
43
Information Sources and 2.5.1 Dictionaries
Their Use
The word ‘dictionary’ comes from the Medieval Latin word dictionarium (meaning
collection of words or phrases), which in turn came from Latin term dictio meaning
“word”. The ancient Greeks and Romans were the first to produce dictionaries. But
most Greek and Latin dictionaries were either lists of rare and difficult words or
specialised list of words.
A modern dictionary is a book containing words of a language arranged alphabetically
with their meanings. Most dictionaries tell us much more than the meaning of the
words. Many list pronunciations, grammatical labels, illustrative quotations, synonyms,
antonyms, usage notes, etymology and other information. Some dictionaries give
derivation and history of the words too.
Types of Dictionaries
Dictionaries give meanings of many kinds of words. Dictionaries include ordinary
words of everyday life, technical words, words used in scholarly writing, idioms,
words and phrases from other languages, new words emerging from scientific and
technical discoveries, important proper names and geographical names etc. In fact
no dictionary can record all the words of a language, as no language is static, new
words are coined in everyday speech, writing as well as due to the ongoing research
in science and technology.
Based on the number of words, scope and coverage of other items of information,
the dictionaries can be categorised into following groups:
 General language dictionaries;
 Subject dictionaries;
 Special purpose dictionaries; and
 Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries
i) General Language Dictionaries
General language dictionaries cover the words of a language and give meanings,
definition, explanation, etc. of the words in the same language. The language may be
English, French, Hindi, German or Russian. For instance, English language dictionaries
will include English words and give their meanings in English language. These
dictionaries are also called monolingual dictionaries. These dictionaries include
information on commonly used words of a language as well as scientific, technical,
and other subject terms. General language dictionaries can further be divided according
to size, volume and the target user group. Comprehensive/Unabridged general
dictionaries contain a very large number of words and attempts comprehensive
coverage including obsolete words. These dictionaries try to cover all the words of
a language, including past as well as currently used words. Abridged/college
dictionaries usually contain less number of entries. Desk and children’s dictionaries
contain much less number of words.
Abridged/college dictionaries cover most common and currently used words. Children
dictionaries cover words related to the course curriculum. The meanings and definitions
are written in simple language which children can comprehend. Children dictionaries
also include more illustrations to make children understand the concept.
Most of the reputed publishers of unabridged standard general language dictionaries
44
bring out abridged, desk, college, and children edition of their dictionaries. Publishers Types of Information
Sources
of these dictionaries try to do continuous revision with each new edition they add or
delete a given number of words. This is particularly true for desk dictionaries which
are used by young people and must reflect current usage and new words introduced
into the language via radio, television, music, technology and the like. Following are
some examples of standard general language dictionaries:
Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English
Language. The print edition of the dictionary is in 3 volumes. It was published in
1961 by G&C Merriam. Latest revision came in 2002.
The Dictionary has over 450,000 entries. At the end of the third volume there are
474 pages of Britannica World Language Dictionary in 7 languages. It contains
6000 most commonly used words in English language and its equivalent words in
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Yiddish. Its second part includes the
foreign language word with its English equivalent.
Online version of this dictionary is Merriam–Webster Unabridged–Online
Dictionary. This dictionary is subscription-based with
 450,000+ words and definitions,
 143,000 etymologies,
 100,000 quotations,
 107,000 verbal illustrations, and
 3,100 pictorial illustrations.
In addition the dictionary provides access to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and
Thesaurus and Medical Spanish-English & French-English Dictionary. (http://
unabridged.merriam-webster.com)
Fig. 2.6: Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (General Dictionary)
Source: www.writeanswer.com
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Their Use
Fig. 2.7: Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary (General Dictionary)
Source: www.amazon.com
Fig. 2.8: Merriam Webster’s School Dictionary (General Dictionary)
Source: www.tower.com
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: The 11th Edition, published in 2003

includes 165,000 entries and over 225,000 definitions.
Merriam-Webster’s School Dictionary includes more than 100,000 words, nearly
1,000 illustrations and about 1500 usage examples
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED): The 2nd edition, published in 2003 by
Oxford University Press is in 20 volumes. The print edition includes 291,500 entries
in 21,730 pages. This dictionary is not a dictionary for ready reference. It is
encyclopaedic in nature in treatment of words. Under each word anything that can
be found about the historical development of the word is traced in chronological
order. Meaning, origin, relation to similar other words, various dialects, fashions in
speaking, pronunciation, compounds, derivatives are traced and every change is
illustrated with an example and each quotation is dated and source is indicated. The
4
466 history of the word and of the language is traced through three million quotations.
Sources
Fig. 2.9: The Oxford English Dictionary
Source: www.socialtimes.com
Oxford English Dictionary- Online: This version is authoritative guide to the

meaning, history, and pronunciation of over 600,000 words -past and present- from
across the English-speaking world. The online version is updated every three months.
The last update was on March, 2012. The next update will be added to the dictionary
in June, 2012.
Fig. 2.10: A Page from Oxford English Dictionary
Source: http://www.oed.com
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Information Sources and Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition has 240,000 entries. It covers
Their Use
all words, phrases and meanings that form central vocabulary of the English language
in the modern world. Special attention has been given to scientific and technical
vocabulary. The dictionary is also available in CD-ROM.
Fig. 2.11: Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Source: www.imagetime.info
Fig. 2.12: Oxford First Maths Dictionary

Source: www.amazon.co.uk
Oxford University Press has wide range of dictionaries for college students and
school children. There are learner’s dictionaries too for non-English speaking people.
Words included in students and children’s dictionaries are related to what they are
learning at school, the books they read at various levels from primary to high school
and above. Children’s dictionaries have more illustrations to explain the concept.
Some examples of these dictionaries from Oxford University Press are as follows:
48
Oxford Primary Dictionary for Age group 7-10 years has over 30,000 words and Types of Information
Sources
phrases.
Oxford Illustrated Children’s Dictionary for Age group 8-10 years has over
50,000 words and definition, with special focus on school subject vocabulary including
English, Mathematics and Science to help home work.
Oxford English Dictionary for Schools for Age group 11-16 years has over
50,000 words and phrases with examples from best children’s books to see usage,
as well as word families, synonyms and spelling notes.
Oxford Students Dictionary for intermediate to advance level includes over 52,000
words and phrases and their meanings in British and American English with curricula
words highlighted. It has 40 reference pages to support academic writing and improve
study skill. It has over 200 diagrams and illustrations to help students understand
scientific and technical aspects.
Oxford Essential Dictionary for learners of the English language. The dictionary
helps learners to learn the words they need to know and how to use them. It covers
19,000 British and American headwords with 13,000 examples. The Dictionary has
16 study pages to cover skills such as telephoning, letter writing and everyday
conversation. The CD-ROM version of the dictionary has speaking dictionary with
record and playback facility. It has picture dictionary with illustrations and 66 video
clips. One can view a free online demonstration of CD-ROM version of the dictionary.
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com).
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th Edition for students and adult learners
of English. The dictionary has 184,000 words, phrases and meanings. The most
important meaning of about 3000 words is marked with key symbol. It has 32 page
writing tutor on CD-ROM with tips and guidance on tackling different types of
writing. The dictionary has 64-page colour visual vocabulary builder.
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the leading publisher of English language teaching
(ELT) materials for Indian schools. Specifically designed to meet needs of English
learners, OUP India (http://www.oup.co.in) has also provided electronic teaching
support in the form of CDs and through Web. The website, “Learning to
Communicate” (http://www.oupnltc.com) is recently launched website for school
education.
Fig. 2.13: Oxford Website for School Education

Source: www.oupnltc.com 49
Information Sources and World Book Dictionary: Published by World Book Inc., it is a two-volume English
Their Use
dictionary, bought out as a supplement to World Book Encyclopaedia. The dictionary
includes 225,000 terms and provides information about meaning, spelling, and
pronunciation of most important and frequently used words. It has over 3000
illustrations. Since, the dictionary is especially designed for use with World Book
Encyclopaedia, biographical and geographical information is not included. The
dictionary includes 124 pages of educational material on vocabulary development
and information on how to write effectively.
World Book Student Dictionary meant for grade 2 to grade 8 children covers
curriculum- related words and helpful illustrations to clarify the meaning. Words are
defined in simple manner for better comprehension.
Wiktionary is an online dictionary. It uses simpler words so it is easier to understand.
Wiktionary in English has 2,490,834 entries with definitions (as on 2 June 2011). It
is being updated every day. To find a word in it, we have to type it into the “search”
box given on the homepage. Wiktionary (from the words wiki and dictionary) is
a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158
languages. Unlike standard dictionaries, it is complied collaboratively by volunteers,
dubbed as “Wiktionarians”, using wiki software, allowing articles to be changed by
almost anyone with access to the website. Like its sister project Wikipedia, Wiktionary
is run by the Wikimedia Foundation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary
Fig. 2.14: Wiktionary an Online Dictionary
Source: www.en.wikitionary.org
ii) Subject Dictionaries

General language dictionaries, even comprehensive ones, find it difficult to cover all
words of specialised nature and more and more such words are being coined every
day. Subject dictionaries concentrate on the definition of the words in a given subject.
These dictionaries are becoming increasingly common, due to increase in study and
research in different subject areas ranging from arts, humanities, social sciences to
science and technology. Some of the examples of subject dictionaries are as follows:
50
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th edition, is a Types of Information
Sources
comprehensive dictionary of scientific and technical terms covering over 115,000
terms and 125,000 definitions in 104 areas of science and technology. Each term
is defined in clear and simple language, understandable to general reader. Pronunciation
key and the subject category of each term are given. There are over 3000 black and
white illustrations. The dictionary also contains 35-page table of elements, important
biographical listings and 12 more sections of scientific information.
Oxford University Press also brings out a wide range of subject dictionaries for
students such as Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy, Oxford Dictionary of
Chemistry, Oxford Dictionary of Biology, etc.
iii) Special Dictionaries
The dictionaries which are compiled for special purpose or which deal with linguistic
aspect of the words (such as pronunciation, synonym and antonyms etc.) or literary
aspect of the words (such as quotations, idioms, proverbs, etc.) or with special type
or class of words (such as obsolete words, abbreviations and acronyms, etc.) are
called special dictionaries. Though most of these aspects of the words are covered
by general language dictionaries as well, but special dictionaries cover these aspects
much more comprehensively. Special dictionaries supplement general language
dictionaries. Examples of special dictionaries are as follows:
Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary 17th edition. Published by
Cambridge University Press on CD-ROM. The dictionary provides spoken British
and American pronunciation for every word. Cambridge dictionary is also available
for mobile phones.
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary 2nd edition from Cambridge University Press. The
dictionary explains the meaning and use of over 7000 idioms in British, American and
Australian English.
Cambridge Phrasal Verb Dictionary is available online along with many other
titles from Cambridge dictionaries. Using Cambridge Dictionary Application, one can
download any Cambridge dictionary on mobile phone as well.
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. 7th edition 2009. Lists short quotations
that are common in English language and culture.
iv) Bilingual and Multilingual Dictionaries
The bilingual dictionaries give meaning of a word from one language to another
language. For example, an English-Hindi dictionary, will list words in English and give
their equivalent words in Hindi. This type of dictionaries is called bilingual dictionaries.
A multilingual dictionary gives meaning of a word in more than two or more languages.
These dictionaries, also called translating dictionaries, normally do not define the
words, but translate the words from one language to another . Many of them are
limited in scope to certain fields such as astronomy, biology and electronics. Bilingual
dictionaries can be unidirectional, meaning that they list the meanings of the words
of one language to another. They can be bidirectional, providing translation to and
from both the languages. Bidirectional bilingual dictionaries usually consist of two
sections, each listing words and phrases of one language alphabetically along with
their translation. These dictionaries are used by translators, linguistics, language students
and all those interested in foreign languages.
51
Information Sources and Examples of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries
Their Use
Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary, 4th edition published in 2009. It is a
comprehensive English-Spanish and Spanish-English dictionary with 175,000 words
and phrases and over 200,000 translations. The dictionary has online edition as well.
Oxford Russian Dictionary, 4th edition in 2007. It has over 500,000 words and
phrases and translations. The dictionary is also available online.
Multilingual Biomedical Technical Dictionary: (in English, Spanish, Portuguese,
French, German, Swedish and Dutch). The dictionary covers over 40,000 entries
with about 40,000 synonyms and details each in English, French, Swedish, Portuguese,
Spanish, Dutch and German.
Shabdkosh- English-Hindi Dictionary (http://www.shabdkosh.com) the site
provides English to Hindi as well as Hindi to English translation. The site was
conceptualised and designed by Maneesh Soni, a graduate from Indian Institute of
Technology, New Delhi in 2003 with about 15,000 words from public domain
dictionary compiled by Ram Narain Lal. The dictionary has over tens of thousands
of words.
Fig. 2.15: Shabdkosh website for Hindi and English Translation

Source: http://www.shabdkosh.com
Many sites offer free translation facility on the Web. Listed below are some of these
sites:
http://www.bablfish.yahoo.co/
http://www.freetranslation.com/
http://www.systran.com/
http://www.babylon.com/
http://translate.google.co.in/
http://www.google.com/dictionary
52
2.5.2 Encyclopaedias Types of Information
Sources
The word encyclopaedia comes from Greek words ‘enkyklios paideia’, meaning
general or well-rounded education. An encyclopaedia contains information about
people, places, events, and things. It may deal with all areas of knowledge or may
be limited to just one subject area. A general encyclopaedia includes information on
topics in every field of knowledge. Specialised encyclopaedias provide more detailed
and technical information on specific area of knowledge such as arts, science and
technology or social sciences.
A well-planned general encyclopaedia presents facts about humanity, human beliefs,
ideas, and achievements; about the world people live in; and about the universe of
which they belong to. It presents these facts using language that is easy to understand.
An encyclopaedia is concerned with who, what, where, when, how, and why of
things. For example, an article on television tells what television is and who invented
it, as well as when and where. It also describes how television works and why it is
important for people.
Different articles in an encyclopaedia vary in length ranging from a paragraph to over
hundred pages depending upon the topic covered; target audience and type of
encyclopaedia (whether single volume or multivolume encyclopaedia). Articles in a
standard encyclopaedia are written by the subject specialists and then edited by the
encyclopaedia staff editors to conform to policies of the encyclopaedia in terms of
content, style and punctuation. The editorial staff ensures that each article in the
encyclopaedia has similar writing style, headings and sub-headings. Pictures and
diagrams are included wherever necessary to clarify the concepts and enhance learning
process. Most encyclopaedias are arranged alphabetically from A to Z. Some are
topically arranged, such as one volume may be devoted to animals, another to plants,
earth and universe, or some other subjects.
Types of Encyclopaedias
Encyclopaedias can be broadly divided into two types
 General encyclopaedia; and
 Subject encyclopaedia
i) General Encyclopaedias
A general encyclopaedia covers all fields of knowledge, while a subject encyclopaedia
is devoted to a single subject such as Encyclopaedia of Physics or group of subjects
such as Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology.
General encyclopaedias can be further categorised according to size (single volume-
set or multivolume-set) and target users (for adults, students or children).
Most of the publishers of general language encyclopaedias bring out different sets of
encyclopaedias for adults, students and children of various age groups. Articles in
children’s encyclopaedias are written in simple language and large numbers of
illustrations are included to make the topic clear and understandable.
Examples of encyclopaedias
Encyclopaedia Britannica is a general English language encyclopaedia, published
by Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. The set contains 73,645 articles. The articles are
53
Information Sources and aimed at educated adults and are written by about 100 full time editors and more
Their Use
than 4000 expert contributors. It is regarded as the most authoritative and scholarly
encyclopaedia. The 2010 Edition of the encyclopaedia in print consists of following
32 volumes
 12- volume Micropedia with short articles (generally fewer than 750 words)
for ready reference;
 17-volume Macropedia with long articles (ranging from two to 300 pages) for
in-depth study of a topic.
 One-volume Propaedia giving outline of knowledge; and
 2-volume Index.
Fig. 2.16: Encyclopaedia Britannica 32-Volume Set
Source: www.notquiteamerican.worldpress.com
Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia in single volume has 28,000 short articles

condensing the larger 32-volume Britannica.
Fig. 2.17: Single volume Britannica Concise encyclopedia
Source: www.britannicaindia.com
544
5
Compton’s by Britannica first published in 2007, incorporating Compton’s Types of Information
Sources
Encyclopaedia. It is for students aged 10-17 years and consists of 26 volumes and
11,000 pages.
Fig. 2.18: Compton’s by Britannica

Source: www.britannicaindia.com
Britannica Student Encyclopaedia: The encyclopaedia in 16-volume Britannica

Student Encyclopaedia has more than 2,300 articles with 3,300 photos, illustrations,
charts and tables to make students understand the concept and subjects. It has
1,000 maps and flags of various countries of the world.
Fig. 2.19: Britannica Student Encyclopaedia

Source: www.ebooks3000.com
Recent advances in information technology and rise of electronic encyclopaedias

such as Microsoft Encarta and Wikipedia has reduced the demand for print
encyclopaedias. The publisher of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has developed
electronic version of the encyclopaedia on CD-ROM, DVD and World Wide Web.
The Britannica.com Inc. has developed digital versions.
Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2006 DVD contains
100,000 articles. This covers 73,645 regular Britannica articles and rest is drawn
from Britannica Student Encyclopaedia, Britannia Elementary Encyclopaedia and
‘Book of the Year (1993-2004)’. In addition the DVD provides additional information
in the form of maps, videos, sound clips, animations and web links. The DVD also
offers study tools and thesaurus entries from Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 55
Their Use
Fig. 2.20: Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite

Source: www.filepan.com
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online contains the text of 32-volume Encyclopaedia
Britannica plus additional articles and images not available in the print set. It has
more than 120,000 articles. The site offers natural language searching and A-Z
browsing facility. It is continually updated to provide most current information. It has
daily features, updates and links to news reports from The New York Times and the
BBC. Subscriptions are available on yearly, monthly or weekly basis. Special
subscription plans are offered to schools, colleges and libraries.
Fig. 2.21: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Screen

Source: http://www.britannica.com/
Encyclopaedia Britannica Children’s Encyclopaedia on CD-ROM: Designed

for children in the age group 7-14 years it covers topics for students in grades
56
1-9. It contains a total of 18,555 articles, from Britannica Elementary Types of Information
Sources
Encyclopaedia (2,699 articles) and Britannica Student Encyclopaedia (15,856
articles). In addition, the disc contains The Merriam-Webster Student Dictionary
and Thesaurus and a complete World Atlas. The CD provides multimedia facility,
with video clips, audio clips and virtual tours.
Encyclopedia Americana is another general English language encyclopedia available
in 30 volume print set. The encyclopedia has more than 45,000 articles and most of
them are more than 500 words in length and many run into considerable length (US
article is more than 300,000 words). The articles are written by 6,500 expert
contributors. The coverage of American and Canadian geography and history is
more comprehensive.
The set is now marketed as online encyclopaedia by Scholastic as Grolier Online.
(http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/products/grolier/
Grolier Online provides online access to eight curriculum-based databases and
over 500,000 links to academically relevant articles, websites and periodicals. Three
of the eight databases cover the following encyclopaedias
Encyclopedia Americana, New Book of Knowledge and Grolier Multimedia
Encyclopaedia.
Fig. 2.22: Encyclopedia Americana Online
Source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/grolier/program_EA.htm
The New Book of Knowledge is an online resource for elementary school children
and beyond and also good for English learners.
57
Their Use
Fig. 2.23: The New Book of Knowledge Online
Source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/grolier/program_TNBON.htm
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia for middle school children and beyond. The
online encyclopaedia provides quick access to reference articles and media resources.
Fig. 2.24: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia online
Source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/grolier/program_GME.htm
World Book Encyclopaedia 2011: Published by World Book Inc., the encyclopaedia
is in 22 volumes and has 14,000 pages and 27,000 photographs and illustrations.
The encyclopaedia is updated annually. Expert contributors, advisers, editors and
researchers collaborate to ensure that articles are accurate, understandable and reflect
current scholarship. Sold as a family set, the articles are meant for wide range of
readers. Each article begins with the most basic information, including definition and
pronunciations and proceeds to explain most complex topics with clear text and
useful images. Online versions of the World Book Encyclopaedia are World Book
Advanced, World Book Students and World Book Kids.
58
World Book Advanced is an online encyclopaedia and reference site tailored to Types of Information
Sources
the needs of secondary and college students. The site includes World Book
Encyclopaedia content, e-books, multimedia, dictionaries, atlas and local and country
research guide to help students to find and compile data they need. The site offers
students to create and save their research results within the site.
World Book Student The site includes all the articles of the World Book Encyclopaedia
print set plus 8000 more articles, 9500 more pictures and maps, 115 videos, and
animations, 9300 sounds including pronunciation and links to 100 simulated websites.
Fig. 2.25: World Book Student website

Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com/training/student/index.htm
World Book Kids is an online product based on World Book Students Discovery
Encyclopaedia. The site is designed for younger users from grade 1 through 5. The
site provides simple-to-read articles with illustrations and embedded multimedia. The
site provides tools for exploring places, over 200 educational games and activities
and useful teaching tools for teachers.
(http://www.worldbookonline.com/)
Fig. 2.26: World Book Kids Website

Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com/training/kids/index.htm 59
Information Sources and Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free content encyclopaedia project. The
Their Use
name Wikipedia derives from the words wiki and encyclopaedia. Wikipedia’s articles
provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information. Wikipedia
is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. Since its creation
in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites,
attracting at least 684 million visitors yearly by April 2012. There are more than
1,00,000 active contributing articles to the encyclopaedia in more than 284 languages.
As of today, there are 3.9 million articles in English. Every day hundreds of thousands
of visitors from around the world make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands
of new articles to enhance the knowledge held Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Wikipedia:About
Fig. 2.27: Main Page of Wikipedia
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
ii) Subject Encyclopaedias

A subject encyclopaedia provides detailed information on specific area of knowledge
such as arts and humanities, science and technology, social sciences, etc. There are
thousands of subject encyclopaedias ranging from broad subject area to a very
narrow subject field. For example there is an encyclopaedia of science and technology
(a broad subject area) and an encyclopaedia on pigeon breeds (a narrow subject
field). There are multivolume as well as single volume subject encyclopaedias. Some
subject encyclopaedias are meant for subject specialists and some are for students
and general readers interested in that subject.
Examples of subject encyclopaedias
McGraw-Hill Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology, 10th edition, is an
English language 20-volume encyclopaedia specifically focused on scientific and
technical subjects. The encyclopaedia covers life sciences, physical sciences as well
as engineering and technology topics.
The McGraw-Hill’s ‘Access Science’ website provides online access to this
encyclopaedia.
McGraw Hill Concise Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology is one-volume
set based on the full set. The latest edition i.e. 6th edition was published in 2009.
60 (http://www.mhprofessional.com)
Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science published by Marcel Dekker, Types of Information
Sources
is a 35-volume cyclopedia (33-volume comprise the main encyclopaedia and 2-
volumes index) providing librarians, information/computer scientists, documentalists
and students of library and information science convenient access to tools and
techniques of both library and information science. The articles are written by over
1300 subject experts. The encyclopaedia is regularly bringing out supplements (each
supplement contains A-Z coverage). The supplements highlight new trends, describe
the latest advances and give information about people making crucial contributions
to this rapidly growing field. So far 26 supplement volumes have been published
(Volume- 36 to Volume- 61).
Points to Remember
* Reference books are meant for consultation and not for continuous reading.
* Reference books collection in the library is used for providing reference service
to the users.
* Reference books comprise dictionaries, encyclopaedias, ready reference
sources, geographical, biographical information sources, statistical information
sources, current information sources etc.
* Dictionaries define the words and encyclopaedias provide background
information about the topics.
* General unabridged dictionaries cover all the words of a language. Abridged,
collegiate, desk and pocket dictionaries cover words of a language currently
in use.
* In children dictionaries, the definitions are written in simple language, there are
more illustrations and words used are confined to course curriculums.
* Subject dictionaries provide definitions of the words in a given subject area.
* Special dictionaries deal with linguistic or literary aspect of the words or with
special types of words.
* Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries are translating dictionaries. A bilingual
dictionary gives meaning of a word in another language. Multilingual dictionaries
give meaning of the words in more than one language.
* Encyclopaedias are of two types viz. general encyclopaedias and subject
encyclopaedias.
* An encyclopaedia may be a multi-volume or single-volume, set.
* There are different encyclopaedias for adults, college students, school children,
and kids.
Self Check Exercise
4) Mark the following statements as ‘True’ or ‘False’.
a) Reference books are meant for continuous reading. (T/F)
b) A general unabridged dictionary covers only selected words of a language 61
Information Sources and those are currently in use. (T/F)
Their Use
c) Children’s dictionaries have more illustrations. (T/F)
d) Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries are not translating dictionaries. (T/F)
e) There are different encyclopaedias for adults, college students and school
children. (T/F)
Activity II: Go to a library and pick up a dictionary. Write down its title, name
of the publisher, date of publication. Read the instructions by the publisher given
in the beginning of the book on how to use the dictionary. See how words are
arranged in the dictionary. Find out the meaning of the word ‘Adolescent’.
Then pick up an encyclopaedia. Write down its title. If it is a multivolume
encyclopaedia, write how many volumes are there. Write down how words are
arranged in the encyclopaedia. Look up for the word ‘Adolescent’ in it. State
how the treatment of word is different in this encyclopaedia than that in the
dictionary.
2.5.3 Ready Reference Sources

Under this category come yearbooks, almanacs, handbooks, manuals and directories.
Though most of the reference books are specifically designed for ready reference
purposes, reference librarians categorise the above sources as ready reference sources,
as these are used for providing answers to fact-finding questions. These sources
come very handy for providing answers to fact-finding questions like when will the
next total solar eclipse occur? Who was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in the year
2009? Who is the Vice-Chancellor of Jodhpur University? What is the address of
Bureau of Indian Standards? How many newspapers are published in India? and
many more.
i) Yearbooks
A yearbook, as the name indicates, is a book of information that is updated and
published annually i.e. every year. The basic purpose of a yearbook is to record
events and developments of the previous year in a country or in the world. Based
on their scope and type of information covered yearbooks can be categorised as:
 International Yearbook
 National Yearbook
 Subject Yearbook
An international yearbook provides reliable and handy statistical information about
each country of the world. For example The Statesman’s Yearbook 2011 published
by Macmillan, provides political, economic and social account of every country (193
countries) of the world together with facts and analysis. It also provides biographical
profiles of current leaders, key political events of the previous year (April 2009 to
March 2010), and detailed maps and flags of all the countries. The Yearbook is in
two parts. Part-I deals with international organisations and Part-II deals with countries
of the world in alphabetical order. (http://www.us.mcmillan.com).
62
Sources
Fig. 2.28: The Stateman’s Yearbook
Source: (http://www.us.mcmillan.com)
National yearbook
It provides up-to-date political, economic and social account of an individual country.
National yearbooks are mostly compiled by the respective government of that country
and are considered reliable and authoritative. For example, India 2010: A Reference
Annual, 54th edition, is a national yearbook published by Publications Division,
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. The yearbook
provides information on various subjects related to India like economy, rural and
urban development, industry and infrastructure, arts and culture, health, defence,
mass communication etc. It incorporates sections on science and technology, education,
current affairs, youth affairs and sports, transport, water resources, and events of the
previous year (October 2008 to September 2009). Digital copy of the yearbook
(comprising 1286 pages) is available on the website. (http://
www.publicationsdivision.nic.in)
Subject yearbooks are devoted to a specific subject or group of subjects. For
example Family Welfare Programme in India Yearbook 2001 is a subject
yearbook. Published by Ministry of Health and family Welfare, Government of
India, the yearbook provides detailed family welfare programme statistics for
1997-98 to 2000-1. In addition, the yearbook provides a wide range of demographic,
social, economic and related statistics according to Population Census 2001.
ii) Almanacs
An almanac is a reference book usually published once a year and contains many
kinds of information. Almanacs originally provided a calendar of the months with
eclipses, the movement of planets and the rising and setting of the sun, the moon and
stars. Currently almanacs have expanded their scope and contents beyond that of
their historical counterparts. Modern almanacs include a comprehensive presentation
of statistical and descriptive data covering the entire world. Major topics covered are
geography, government, demographic data, agriculture economics and business, health
and medicine, S&T, transport, sports, awards and prizes. Contents also include
articles focusing on events of the previous year as well as summary of recent events.
63
Information Sources and Present-day almanacs are more like yearbooks. Both depend on government sources
Their Use
for statistical data. The only difference is that almanacs present astronomical data,
which is absent in the yearbooks.
Examples of almanacs
Whitaker’s Almanack 2010, published annually in U.K. by A&C Black Publishers
Ltd.
Fig. 2.29: Whitaker’s Almanack
Source: www.ebooks.com
The World Almanac and Book of Facts is published from USA and provides
information about subjects such as world changes, tragedies, sports, and various
other information.
Fig. 2.30: World Almanac and Book of Facts

Source: www.kaboodle.com
The World Almanacs for Kids has also been publishing since 1995
64 (http://www.worldalmanc.com/world-almanac-kid)
Sources
Fig. 2.31: The World Almanacs for Kids
Source: www.flipkart.com
iii) Handbooks and Manuals

The word handbook is derived from German word ‘Handbuch’ meaning a small
book giving useful facts. The literal meaning of the term ‘handbook’ is the book
which is ‘handy’ to use as it contains useful facts and handy to carry it conveniently
in hand. The term ‘manual’ is derived from the Latin term ‘manuals’ meaning a guide
book. Handbooks and manuals, both are ready reference sources consisting of ‘facts
to know’ and ‘instructions to do’.
Handbooks
A handbook by definition is a concise manual or reference book providing specific
information or instruction about a topic or a subject. A subject handbook basically
gives brief information such as facts on a subject or instruction for operating a
machine. Most of the subject handbooks are meant for practitioners (engineers,
technicians, etc.) and includes formulae, definitions, diagrams, graphs, tables,
procedures, etc. which are required by the practitioners in their day-to-day work.
These handbooks are limited in scope, since they deal with in-depth information in
a narrow subject field and are mostly used by the specialists and practitioners
working in a laboratory or in an industry. CRC Press brings out a large number of
handbooks for practioners. Some of the examples are
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics; CRC handbook of Thermoelectrics;
CRC Handbook of Tables for Organic Compound Identifications; CRC
Handbook of Medicinal Spices and many more.
(http://www.crcpress.com)
A general handbook deals with facts, data and information of general interest for
common people. For example, Guinness World Records is a general handbook
providing facts and figures on records of human achievements, in space, arts, scientific
world, animal and plant kingdom, etc. First published in 1955, under the title Guinness
Book of Records reporting the extremes of everything like the , the biggest, the
smallest, the fastest, the slowest, etc and soon became very popular the world over.
Now published under the title Guinness World Records, it brings out different
editions by category. (http://www.guinessworldrecords.com) 65
Their Use
Fig. 2.32: Guinness World Records
Source: (http://www.guinessworldrecords.com)
Manuals
A manual is a book of instruction for operating a machine e.g. for repairing a car or
many other devices. A manual basically provides step-by-step instructions on how
to do a particular job or operate a particular machine. For example, when you buy
any home appliances such as a television, an air conditioner, an oven or even a
mobile phone, you are provided with a manual which gives proper instructions as to
how to use that appliance.
iv) Directories
A directory is a book listing names and addresses of people and organisations.
Directories are also very important reference tools in the library to answer directory
types of enquiries from the users. Directories are of many types of which telephone
directories are most common. This apart there are topographical directories,
professional directories, organisational directories, business and trade directories,
and so on.
 Telephone Directories
You must be familiar with a telephone directory. Every city in a country has a
telephone directory giving information about telephone numbers of the subscribers.
It also provides addresses along with the telephone numbers of the subscribers.
These directories are usually compiled by post and telegraph departments. For
instance MTNL Delhi Directory is a telephone directory of Delhi from Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Ltd. The directory is now available online. (http://
www.mtnldelhidirectory.com/).
Similarly India-Telephone Directory from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
is a directory of telephone numbers and addresses of all subscribers of BSNL
telephones. The directory is also available online and can be searched state-wise as
well as on the map of India.
(http://www.bsnl.co.in/onlinedirectory).
 Topographical directories
Topographical directories are directories of towns, cities, regions of a country. For
example Directory of Cities, Towns and Regions in India, lists states and union
territories . Under each state the directory provides alphabetical list of cities. Information
66
given under each town or city is its population, longitude, latitude, elevation and Types of Information
Sources
location on the map. (http://www.fallingrain.com).
Fig. 2.33: Map Showing Location of Connaught Place in Delhi
Source: http://www.fallingrain.com
Map showing location of Connaught Place in Delhi from Directory of Cities, Towns
and Regions in India.
 Organisational directories
These Directories list academic institutions, research institutions, and so on. An
academic institutions directory may list institutions of higher education and learning
such as universities and colleges. Under each academic institution, information may
be provided comprises the type of courses and facilities offered, eligibility criteria,
names of the senior staff members etc. These directories may be international or
national in coverage. For instance The Europa World of Learning 2010 is an
international directory listing over 30,000 academic institutions in higher education
and learning throughout the world. Every type of academic institution is covered such
as universities and colleges, research institutions, museums, art galleries, learned
societies, libraries and archives. There is a separate chapter for every country, from
Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. 64th edition of the directory is available both in print and
online. (http://www.worldlearning.com/)
Universities Handbook, 32nd edition, published by Association of Indian Universities
(AIU), is a national directory listing 341 universities and university level institutions
in India. In addition, it provides information on three Associate Members of AIU viz.,
i) Kathmandu University, Nepal; ii) University of Mauritius, Mauritius; and Royal
University of Bhutan. Published every alternate year, the directory provides information
on type of courses offered, duration of the course, eligibility criteria, last date for
admission, library and research facilities, scholarship and fellowships, names of
professors and senior staff members. The directory provides information on types of
courses offered by affiliated colleges as well. . The directory also includes an
introductory chapter, giving an overview of university system in India. (http://
www.aiuweb.org/)
67
Information Sources and  Professionals Directories
Their Use
There are thousands of learned societies and associations in the world in almost
every significant field of knowledge. Members of these associations are scholars in
their respective areas of specialisation. These associations promote the scholarship
in their respective area of specialisation, hold seminars and conferences and bring out
publications. These associations also compile directories listing details of their members.
Professionals’ directories are very helpful in finding experts in various disciplines.
Example of a professionals directory: ATA’s Directory of Professional Translators
and Interpreters published by American Translators Association (ATA).
 Trade and Business Directories
These directories provide information about trade, business and industries. For example
Kothari Industrial Directory of India, 40th edition, 1996, published by Kothari
Enterprises. This directory is in two parts. Part one provides information on Indian
economy, including information on recognised Indian stock exchange, chambers of
commerce, and key statistics of Indian economy. The second part deals with major
industries arranged by broad subject category (e.g. cement, chemical, electronic
industries, etc.). Each section begins with an industry profile, followed by information
on companies within that industry. The company information includes date of
incorporation, statement of objectives, activities and a financial summary.
Points to Remember
* Ready reference sources comprise yearbooks, almanacs, handbooks, manuals
and directories.
* Yearbooks and almanacs trace previous years’ events and developments in a
country or all the countries of the world.
* Both, yearbooks and almanacs depend on government sources for statistical
data. The basic difference is that almanacs present astronomical data which is
absent in the yearbooks.
* Handbooks and manuals are reference books providing specific information or
instructions about a topic or subject.
* Subject handbooks contain practical information on a subject and are used by
engineers and practitioners in their day-to-day work.
* General handbooks deal with facts, data and information of general interest for
common people.
* A manual is a book of instruction providing step-by-step instructions on how
to do a particular job or operate a particular machine.
* A directory is a book listing names and addresses of people and organisations.
Self Check Exercise
5) Fill in the blanks with appropriate word(s)
a) Ready reference sources comprise , ,
, and .
68
b) Yearbooks are published .
c) Yearbooks and almanacs depend on sources for Types of Information
Sources
statistical data.
d) Subject handbooks contain practical information on a subject and are
used by and for their day-today-work.
e) General handbooks deal with facts, data and information of general interest
for .
f) A directory is a book listing names and addresses of
and .
Activity III: Go to a public library. Find out where the Reference Section is
located. Pick up a yearbook and an almanac from the reference collection and
compare their contents. Write down the differences you observe in the information
contents of these two publications.
2.5.4 Geographical Information Sources

Libraries receive many questions relating to the field of geography. As you know,
geography is the scientific study of the earth’s surface, climate, resources, population,
etc. Users seek information regarding cities, towns, mountains, rivers, including
information about people and population of a particular place, the development of
the place, its historical significance and much more. To meet information needs of the
users, librarians maintain special collection of geographical sources in their reference
collection. Though other reference sources like dictionaries, encyclopaedias, yearbooks
and almanacs also include information about places, people, rivers, mountains, forests,
lakes, etc., but they cover only selected and prominent places. The special collection
of geographical sources in the library, cover these topics more comprehensively and
are specifically designed to locate the information quickly. This collection comprises
the following three types of geographical sources:
 Maps, Atlases and Globes;
 Gazetteers; and
 Guide Books
i) Maps, Atlases and Globes: A map is a pictorial presentation of the earth’s
surface or part of it, showing countries, cities, rivers, lakes and mountains. A
map can also be a drawing of the sky showing the position of stars and the
planets, the constellations, etc..
Atlas A book containing a collection of maps is called an atlas. A world atlas
contains the maps of every country.
A globe is a map that has been pasted or printed on a hollow sphere. Only a globe
can give correct picture of the earth as a whole. Because the surface of the globe
is round like the earth’s surface, a globe represents all parts of the earth’s surface
true to scale. The proportions and positions of the earth’s land features and oceans
in relation to each other are seen on a globe exactly as they are on the earth.
Types of maps: There are many types of maps. Most familiar types are:
 General Reference Maps and
 Thematic Maps
69
Information Sources and General Reference Maps
Their Use
General reference maps identify and locate a variety of geographic features. Such
maps may include land features, boundaries of water, political boundaries, cities and
towns, and many other elements. Maps that emphasise boundaries of countries,
states, continents and other political units are called political maps. Maps that
emphasise the location of physical features of the earth’s surface such as mountains,
rivers and lakes are called physical maps or terrain maps. Some maps are designed
to help people find their way from one place to another. These are maps for travel
on land, water, or in the air. A map used to navigate a ship or an aeroplane is called
a chart. Maps showing different categories of roads, such as motorways, four-lane,
and six-lane roads are called road maps. They also show the cities, towns, parks
and other places connected by those roads. People use road maps to plan trips and
go from one place to another. Street maps are similar to road maps. But a street
map shows a much smaller area in much more detail. People use street maps to find
specific addresses and to plan and follow short routes. People use general reference
maps to locate specific places and to observe their location in relation to other
places.
Thematic Maps
Thematic maps show the distribution of a particular feature such as, population,
rainfall or natural resources; or like coal, petroleum, metals and minerals in the earth.
Many thematic maps express quantities by means of symbols or colour.
National Maps and Atlases
The reliability of maps and atlases depend upon the expertise of the editorial staff and
cartographers. Most of the countries have their own cartographic survey agencies.
In India, we have Survey of India, Dehradun. It is a National Principal Mapping
Agency. This organisation is responsible for mapping and production of geophysical
maps and aeronautical charts.
National Atlas and Thematic Organisation of India (NATMO), Calcutta is
involved in the preparation of National Atlas of India, thematic maps and digital
maps.
National Atlas of India in Hindi is popularly known as Bharat: Rashtrya Atlas,
and was first published in1957 by NATMO, and had 26 multi-colour maps portraying
physical and socio-cultural structure of the country. Bharat: Rashtrya Atlas now
has 300 multi-colour maps and is issued in 8 volumes. It covers all aspects of the
land, people and economy of the country. (http://www.natmo.gov.in/).
International Maps and Atlases
The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World 12thedition (published by Harper
Collins Publishers for Times in 2007), is the most comprehensive atlas of the world.
It has 544 pages and an index of over 200,000 place names. The size of the atlas
is 45x31 cm. First published in 1967, the 12th edition of the Atlas is updated with
the latest geographical and geopolitical changes. The Atlas begins with contributions
from experts in many geographical fields, and provides detailed information on key
issues facing the world today such as climate change, environmental threats, global
communications, biodiversity and energy resources, with supporting maps, photographs
and graphics to illustrate the physical world today and man’s interaction with it.
70
Sources
Fig. 2.34: The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World
Source: www.goodreads.com
The publisher has brought out a wide range of atlases. Some of the titles are as
follows:
The Times Concise Atlas of the World
The Times Atlas of the World Desktop Edition
The Times Atlas of the World Mini Edition
(http://www.timesatlas.com/)
http://maps.google.co.in (is an important site for locating places in online mode).
ii) Gazetteers
A gazetteer is a dictionary of geographical names. It lists names of places, seas,
mountains and other geographical entities with their history, economic development,
geography and the people. As a reference source, a gazetteer provides historical,
social, cultural, political, industrial, demographic and administrative details of a country,
state or district, or an important place.
Based on their coverage, gazetteer can be categorised into
 International gazetteer,
 National gazetteer; and
 Local gazetteer.
International Gazetteer
Merriam Webster’s’ Geographical Dictionary, 3rd edition is an international
gazetteer with 48,000 entries, plus 252 detailed maps, prepared by cartography
department of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Chambers World Gazetteer: A-Z of Geographical Information, 5th edition,
1988. Published by Cambridge University Press it has 20,000 entries.
The Columbia Gazetteer of the World 3 Volume Set edited by Saul.B.Cohen.
New york: Columbia university press,1998. It has 1, 65,000 entries.
71
Information Sources and National Gazetteer
Their Use
Gazetteer of India -The Indian Union, New Delhi: Publication Division, 1965-
78. 4 volumes.
Volume I: Country and People.
Volume II: History and Culture.
Volume III: Economic Structure and Activities.
Volume IV: Administration and Public Affairs.
District Gazetteer
Singh, Raghbir & Ranga, Jeet Ram ed. Haryana District Gazetteer. Chandigarh:
Haryana Gazetteer Organisation, 1986
iii) Guidebooks
Guidebooks are basically travel guides or tourist guides meant for people who want
to visit various places in their own country or any other part of the world. The main
purpose of a guidebook is to guide the travelers when to visit a particular place, how
to reach, where to stay, what to see, and what to buy. The travel guides include
information on historical sites, museums, parks, and other places worth visiting in that
city or a country. Other aspects covered are information on the routes and travel
facilities, best time to visit the place, the types of hotels, restaurants and shopping
complexes, etc. Maps, illustrations and distances are also provided to enhance the
usefulness of a guidebook. In addition, information regarding visa, money exchange,
weather etc. is also given for the benefit of the foreign visitors. Usually a guidebook
covers a region, a country or a city.
Tourism department of the governments of many countries brings out tourist guides
to promote tourism in the country.
In India most of the states (28) and union territories (7) have Tourism Departments
which provide information and bring out tourist guides for the visitors. Ministry of
Tourism of the Government of India as well as most of the State Tourism Departments
have also launched their websites for the benefit of the visitors. These sites provide
up-to-date information to the users. Some of these websites are as follows:
http://www.incredibleindia.org/
http://www.tourismbihar.org/
http://www.delhitourism.nic.in/
Many printed guidebooks are also available. Fodor’s guides are famous ones.
Fodors has published guidebooks for a large number of countries of the world and
a few major cities. (http://www.fodors.com/).
Examples of Guidebooks
Fodor’s India, 6th Edition. New York: Fodor’s, 2008.
Fodor’s Eastern and Central Europe. 21st Edition. New York: Fodor’s, 2008.
Fodor’s London 2011, New York: Fodor’s, 2010.
Fodor’s Paris 2011, New York: Fodor’s, 2010.
Another popular publisher of travel guides is Lonely Planet. The publisher has brought
72 out over 500 travel guides covering 195 countries. Some examples are listed below:
India Travel Guide, 13th Edition. London: Lonely Planet, 2009. Types of Information
Sources
Japan Travel Guide, 11th Edition. London: Lonely planet, 2009.
(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/)
2.5.5 Biographical Information Sources

A biography by definition is an account of a person’s life, usually written by someone
else and published or intended to be published. Biographical sources are publications
listing biographical details of famous people. Such sources cover biographies of
world leaders, people holding key positions in international organisations, people
with outstanding performance in sports, music, dance, acting and other professional
fields like science and technology, medicine, etc. A biographical source may contain
a biography of an individual or biographies of groups of people (called collective
biographies). A book containing collective biographies is also called a biographical
dictionary, for example The Dictionary of International Biography.
The type of information covered in such sources also varies from a brief factual type
of data to a detailed essay type of biography for each entry. Some biographical
sources cover famous people from all walks of life. Such sources are called general
biographical sources. In some, the coverage of people is based on a single discipline
or some other special criteria. Such biographical sources are called subject/special
biographical sources. Again a biographical source may be international or national
in scope depending upon the coverage of persons. Some biographical sources cover
living persons only e.g. Who is Who, Some cover persons who are no longer living
e.g. ‘Who was who’, and some sources cover life sketches of both, living and dead
persons e.g. Webster’s Biographical Dictionary.
Some examples of biographical sources
General Biographical Sources- International
Who’s Who in the World 2011, 28th edition. Also known as Maquis’ Who’s Who
is an American publication containing nearly 63,000 biographies of the world’s most
noteworthy people. Information provided in each entry is personal data and career
history, education, achievements and membership. Online database of this publication
has over 1,444,914 biographies.
(http://www.marquiswhoswho.com/)
Fig. 2.35: Who’s Who in the World
Source: http://www.marquiswhoswho.com/
73
Information Sources and Who’s Who in the World
Their Use
International Who’s Who 2011, 74th edition, from Europa Publications provides
biographical details of over 24,000 prominent and influential people the world over.
Who’s Who 2011 published by Oxford University Press, contains over 33,000 short
biographies of living and noteworthy and influential individuals from all walks of life
the world wide.
General Biographical Sources - National
India Who’s Who, 13th edition. 2008-2009, published by INFA Publications,
contains 5000 concise biographies of prominent Indians from all walks of life including
politics, civil service, education, arts, entertainment and sports. Entries are arranged
profession- wise.
Special/ Subject Biographical Sources
International Who’s Who in Popular Music 2011, 13th edition from Europa
Publications.
Examples of biographical dictionaries of prominent people no longer alive:
Who Was Who in America, Volume 21, Dec. 2010 from Marquis.
The publication contains biographies of 3878 of the most prominent Americans
(including world notables) who have died since the publication of previous edition of
Who’s Who in the World.
Fig. 2.36: Who Was Who in America
Source: www.bookadda.com
The Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed. By Charles C. Gillispie. New York:

Scribner, 1970-80, 16 volumes.
It covers biographies of scientists from antiquity to modern times (excluding living
ones). It includes scientists who worked in areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry,
biology and earth sciences. The publication provides information on the biography of
the scientist as well as in considerable detail about the scientific contributions made
by that scientist. The articles vary from 1to 5 pages and are written by eminent
historians of science. The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography has been
74
published in 2007 as supplement to the above dictionary covering biographies of Types of Information
Sources
scientists who died after 1950. The e-book version of the entire dictionary is available
as part of Gale Virtual Reference Library. (http://www.gale.cengage.com/)
Fig. 2.37: The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography

Source: http://www.gale.cengage.com/
Example of a biographical dictionary listing biographies of both living and dead

persons
Merriam Webster’s Biographical Dictionary provides biographical sketches of
more than 30,000 significant people from the world who have shaped the history.
Includes key figures from every field of human endeavour (business, sports, the arts,
politics, science, popular culture, etc.) including living and deceased personalities.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/)
Fig. 2.38: Merriam Webster’s Biographical Dictionary

Source: http://www.amazon.com
Points to Remember
* Geographical information sources comprise maps, atlases and globes; gazetteers
and guide books.
* General reference maps identify and locate geographic features of the earth’s
surface like mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, etc.
* General reference maps include physical maps, political maps, road maps
75
Their Use street maps, etc. These are designed to help people find their way from one
place to another and see the location of a place in relation to other places.
* Thematic maps show the distribution of particular features such as population,
rainfall, natural resources like coal, minerals, petroleum, metals, etc. on the
earth’s surface.
* A gazetteer lists names of places, seas, mountains, rivers and other geographical
entities and provides information about the history, economic development,
geography and the people of the places.
* Guidebooks are designed for the travelers to provide handy and practical
information for a particular place such as when to visit, how to reach, where
to stay, what to see, etc.
* Biographical information sources are publications providing biographical details
of famous people.
Self Check Exercises
6) Differentiate between a physical map and a political map.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
7) Show how a road map is different from a street map?
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
8) Fill in the blanks with suitable words:-
a) A map that is used to navigate a ship or an airplane is called .
b) A map pasted or printed on a hollow sphere is called a .
c) A book containing a collection of maps is called .
d) A is a dictionary of geographical names.
e) Guidebooks are basically designed for the .
f) A dictionary listing of are called
biographical dictionaries.
Activity IV: Go to a library and pick up the largest atlas. Write down the title
of the atlas, publisher’s name, year of publication, and size of the atlas. Look
for the following information in the atlas and note it down:
 Types and number of maps
 Scale of the maps
76
 Key to the abbreviations used Sources
 Types of symbols used for thematic maps
 Consult the index and find out where and in which country ‘Lusaka’ is located
with its exact location on the grid.
2.5.6 Statistical Information Sources

Statistics is science of collecting and using numerical data or facts such as population
about people, weather or business condition. These facts are collected, collated,
interpreted and presented in a usable and understandable form to show particular
trends. Economic, social and environmental statistics of a country are very useful in
drawing plans for future action in any field or in making assessment of a situation in
one or more fields of human activity.
The primary and secondary sources providing reliable and up-to-date statistical
information are very much in demand in libraries. Yearbooks and almanacs are useful
in providing statistical information. These sources are easier to use than the primary
sources from which they derive data. Yearbooks and almanacs mainly depend on
government sources for statistical information. But information provided by them is
relatively old and for latest information one has to depend on primary sources.
Generally, it is the government of a country which collects different types of statistics
for different purposes and for better governance. Most of the data collected by them
is published, such as census data. Other important statistical sources of information
are those produced by international organisations such as United Nations, World
Health Organisation, World Bank etc. A series of publications are produced by these
organisations which give statistical information about various countries of the world.
National Statistical Sources
In India National Statistical Organisation (NSO) of Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation (MOSPI) is responsible for coordination of statistical
activities in the country and evolving and maintaining statistical standards. The NSO
consists of i) Central Statistical Office (CSO), ii) The Computer Centre and iii)
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The activities of CSO include National
income accounting; conduct of annual survey of industries, economic censuses,
compilation of Index of Industrial Production, Consumer Price Indices, Human
Development Statistics and dissemination of statistical information relating to trade,
energy, construction and environmental statistics. CSO is located in Delhi. Some
portion of industrial statistics work pertaining to Annual Survey of Industries is carried
out in Calcutta.
National Sample Survey Office (earlier National Sample Survey Organisation) conducts
nationwide sample survey on various socio-economic issues and collects statistical
data for socio-economic planning and policy making.
Computer Centre is responsible for creation and maintenance of ‘ Data Ware House
of Official statistics’ to enable the data users and general public to have easy access
to published as well unpublished validated data from single source.
Some of the regular publications of MOSPI are as follows:
Monthly Abstracts of Statistics (Monthly)
Statistical Abstracts India (Annual)
Statistical Pocket Book – India (Annual)
77
Information Sources and Statistical Year Book (Annual)
Their Use
India in Figures (Annual)
Annual survey of Industries
All the publications of the Ministry are also available on the website and can be freely
downloaded. (http://www.mospi.gov.in) and (http://www.mospi.nic.in)
Census of India - Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India
is the largest single source for variety of statistical information on different characteristics
of people of India. Its publications are as follows:-
Census Data 2001 (online)
Provisional Population Totals- Census 2011 (India & States/UTs) available
online
Provisional Population Totals- Paper 1 of 2011 India Series-1. Office of the
Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Data Product No. 00-001-2011
Cen-Book (E)
(http://www.mospi.gov.in) ( http://www.censusindia.gov.in)
International Statistical Sources
United Nations Statistical Yearbook is an annual compilation of wide range of
international economic, social and environmental statistics of over 200 countries and
areas of the world. Published since 1949, the current 53rd issue covers data available
to statistical division as on 31st October 2009 and presented in 70 tables on topics
such as agriculture, fishery and forestry, communications, energy, environment, finance,
industrial production, trade, tourism, population, nutrition, wages etc. The year book
is in four parts, part one provides World and Regions Summary, part two Population
and Social statistics, part three deal with Economic activity and part four International
Economic Relations.
Both print and electronic versions of the yearbook are available. (http://
www.unstats.un.org/unsd/syb/)
2.5.7 Current Information Sources

As you are aware, newspapers, radio and television are important sources of
information for current events. Every morning you look forward to read the newspaper
of your choice to know what is happening in your city, nation and around the world.
In print version of the newspaper you get news once in every 24 hours. At present,
electronic version of all important newspapers are available on the Internet, where
news items are updated continuously with no time lag. Newspapers feature articles
on wide range of topics covering politics, sports, science, social problems, business
and arts.
Information published in back issues of newspapers is frequently sought by researchers,
journalists, feature writers and students. Searching information in back issues of
newspapers is fairly difficult. Whereas, response time for news related information is
expected to be very short, at time immediately or within a few minutes. For this
newspaper indexes serve as useful sources of information.
There are indexing services covering an individual newspaper or a number of
newspapers. Apart from newspaper indexing services, there are news digest services
as well where brief summaries of the news items are provided.
788
7 These days most of the important newspapers have both print as well as Internet
edition of their newspapers. For example, Times of India is available both in print as Types of Information
Sources
well as in electronic form on the Internet. Full text archives of Times of India (From
January 2001 to 2011) can be searched online by date on the Internet. (http://
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)
Some examples of News Digest services
Asian News Digest- Is a weekly journal covering all the 43 countries of Asia and
the major world events. The journal was launched as successor to Asian Recorder
(1955-1999). Events, news and news analysis are reported. The journal is available
in print and online. (http://www.asiannewsdigest.com)
Keesing’s Record of World Events from 1987 to present (earlier Keesing’s
Contemporary Archives from 1931 to 1987). The monthly journal provides objective,
concise summaries of world events. The events covered include govt. changes, war,
treatises, appointments, diplomatic initiatives, international agreements, security,
legislation, budgets, natural disasters, environmental issues and scientific discoveries.
(http://www.keesings.com)
2.6 SECONDARY SOURCES: SURVEY TYPES

These publications survey the literature of a subject from various points of view and
bring out another set of publications such as textbooks, treatises, monographs, reviews
and state-of-the-art reports. These publications generally provide an overview of a
subject, or highlight significant features of a subject, or depict the progress of a
subject or present the contents of a subject or topic in easy and understandable
form.
2.6.1 Books
As discussed in Unit I, books were the first ones to appear amongst the sources of
information. Even today books are considered as an important source of information
and library acquire them based on the needs of the users. A book may be a simple
book or a compound book; a textbook or a treatise; and a fiction or a non-fiction.
Based on the physical format a book may be in print or non-print medium such as
e-books. Books in non-print medium include audio books, video books, multimedia
books and online books.
Fig. 2.39: Image of e-book and e-book reading device
Source: www.contactdubai.com 79
Information Sources and A book written by a single author is called a single-authored book. A book written
Their Use
by multiple authors is called a multi-authored book. A fiction as you know is a story
and not fact. The fiction books are story books, novels and other prose writings that
tell about imaginary people and happenings. A non-fiction is opposite to fiction.
‘Non-fiction’ books are about real things, people, events and places. Subject books,
reference books, etc. are non-fiction books. In many libraries, fiction books are
shelved in alphabetical order by author’s last name, and non-fiction books are shelved
by the subject category.
2.6.2 Textbooks
A textbook is a book for regular study by a student and is meant to be used as an
authority and standard book in the study of a particular subject. Most books used
in schools for different subjects (such as arithmetic, geography, history, science etc.)
and for different classes are textbooks. Textbooks are graded and instructional in
nature and designed keeping in view the comprehension level of students in each
grade. Students use textbooks to gain knowledge about various subjects and teachers
use textbooks to teach and prepare various class assignments.
2.6.3 Treatises
A treatise is a formal, systematic and authoritative piece of writing on a subject. A
treatise deals with in-depth treatment of the subject and is concerned with investigating
or exposing the principles of the subject. Some well-known earlier treatises written
by famous authors are Arthshashtra by Chanakya; Treatise on Cartography by
Ptolemy; On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin; and Capitalism: A
Treatise on Economics by George Reisman. Treatises are used by scholars for
advanced study of a subject. (http://www.en.wikipedia.com)
2.6.4 Reviews
Reviews like literature reviews, provide a descriptive account of progress of a
particular subject area within a certain time period. The purpose of the review is to
convey what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their
strengths and weaknesses are. Literature reviews are secondary sources of information
and do not report any new or original experimental work like primary sources. They
provide an unbiased and comprehensive view of previous research of a topic. Reviews
are useful for students as they help them to understand a subject and provide an
overview of the subject. Professionals use reviews to keep themselves up-to-date
with what is current in their subject field. Most review articles are accompanied by
a large number of bibliographical references. For a researcher such reviews provide
a solid background for conducting a research. Comprehensive knowledge of the
literature of the field is essential for a researcher, not only at the beginning of the
research, but also at the end, while writing a research paper. Reviews also provide
ideas and suggestions for further research work. Literature reviews are mostly written
in sciences and social sciences and rarely in humanities.
Some reviews are publication appear annually in a book form such as Annual
Review of Immunology and Annual Review of Biochemistry. Some journals
exclusively publish review articles only such as Chemical Reviews. Some review
articles are published in primary research journals such as Current Science.
2.6.5 State-of-the-Art Reports

State-of-the-art report is also a review type publication, but its scope is much
80
narrower than the review. State-of-the art reports are actually topical reports and Types of Information
Sources
explore current status of an issue. Their basic aim is to describe current and up-to-
date status of a situation, which may be of a technology, use of a technology or
impact of a technology. These reports are objective types of reports and are timelier
than the traditional reviews and serve as current awareness tools.
Example of state-of-the art report
International Literacy: An International State-of-the-Art Report. Second
Draft. 2007. UNESCO/IFLA.
2.7 TERTIARY SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Tertiary sources are based on primary and secondary sources and serve as key to
the primary and secondary sources. These sources consist of information which is
distillation and collection from primary and secondary sources. Tertiary sources are
third in the order of appearance. First in the order of appearance are primary
sources, next are secondary sources and then come the tertiary sources. Tertiary
sources help to locate primary and secondary sources. Sources like bibliography of
bibliographies; guides to the literature; directories listing primary and secondary
periodicals etc, are placed under tertiary sources.
Some examples of tertiary sources are listed below
Bibliographic Index: A Cumulative Bibliography of Bibliographies. N.Y. H.
W. Wilson Company: 1937 to date.
Walford’s Guide to Reference Material. 8th ed. London: Library Association. 3
Vol.
Volume I: Science and Technology. 1999
Volume II: Social and Historical Sciences, Philosophy and Religion. 2000
Volume III: Generalia, Language and Literature. 1998
Robert Balay. Guide to Reference Books. 11th ed. Chicago: American Library
Association: 1996.
From 12th edition onwards Guide to Reference Books is available online under the
title Guide to Reference listing more than 16,000 fully annotative entries describing
print and web reference sources. Online edition is the first one to include listings of
websites. (http://www.guidetoreference.org/)
Ulrich’s Web Global Serials Directory (http://www.ulrichsweb.com) It is a
directory and database providing information about popular periodicals, learned
periodicals, magazines, scientific journals, newspapers and other regular and irregular
serials. It has been publishing since 1932 and was founded by Carolyn Ulrich as
Periodical Directory: A Classified Guide to a Selected List of Current Periodicals
Foreign and Domestic. Now, it is also available in online version includes 300,000
active and current periodicals.
2.8 ELECTRONIC SOURCES

Electronic publications are those publications which require use of a computer to
access the information they contain. Electronic publications can be off-line or on-line.
An off-line electronic publication is the publication which is stored in machine readable 81
Information Sources and form on an electronic storage medium like CD-ROM, DVD, Diskette or magnetic
Their Use
tape and can be accessed using a computer and the requisite software. An online
electronic publication is an electronic document which is accessible online on the
Internet, for example, an electronic journal, a World Wide Web page, or online
databases.
Most of the sources we have discussed above are available in both, print and
electronic form. Some of the sources which were in print form earlier are now
available in electronic form only. For example, Library and Information Science
Abstracts and Guide to Reference Books are now published and distributed
electronically only. Most of the material published today exists in computer readable
form at some stage in its production process and making it available in electronic
form becomes easy.
The advantages and limitations of electronic sources over print sources are as follows:
Advantages of Electronic Sources over Print Sources
 Electronic sources are more frequently updated than their print counterpart.
 They provide more search options.
 They provide access to wider range of information.
 They provide faster and easy access to information, particularly in the case of
indexing and abstracting periodicals, where back volumes are consolidated into
single searchable database; making search is easy and extremely fast.
 Online resources provide linkages from citations to full text e-journals.
 Full-text data can be delivered instantly on a remote computer.
 Electronic resources can de delivered in multimedia format where text, video
and sound can be added.
 A print source can be used by one person at a time, whereas an online electronic
source can be accessed simultaneously by many.
 An online electronic source can be accessed at any time and from any place
where the network exists.
 Back volumes of print periodicals need to be bound and stored. This calls for
lots of expenses and plenty of storage space. Whereas, e-journals are accessible
online, they need not be bound or stored. Even electronic resources on CD-
ROM occupy very little space.
 Missing issues, missing pages and other damages caused by mishandling of print
sources do not occur in electronic sources.
Limitations of Electronic Sources
 Use of electronic sources require expensive infrastructure which must be acquired,
maintained and upgraded. This includes computer hardware and software, Internet
connection and subscription to electronic resources.
 Electronic sources, despite being user-friendly, require certain degree of computer
knowledge to get maximum benefit from them. This means libraries have to
incur expenses to train their staff as well as the users to use the resources.
82
 Most of the publishers of e-publications sell their products under license Types of Information
Sources
agreement. The license agreement imposes a number of restrictions on the user
in the use of e-resources.
 Reading from the computer screen causes discomfort to the users. Most of the
users prefer to take print-out of the article for reading and do most of the
reading from print publications.
Though advantages of electronic sources are far more than their limitations, but they
are not likely to replace print sources in the foreseeable future. People still prefer to
read newspapers, books and many other sources in print form.
To sum up we can say, electronic sources will not substitute but supplement print
sources.
Points to Remember
* Survey type of secondary sources survey the literature of a subject from
various points of view and bring out another set of publications.
* Survey type of publications comprise, textbooks, treatises, monograph, reviews
and state-of-the art reports.
* Textbooks are graded and instructional in nature. They are meant for regular
study of a subject by the students.
* Treatises deal with in-depth study of a subject. They are generally used for
advanced study of a subject.
* Reviews provide a descriptive account of the progress of a subject during a
specified period.
* State-of-the-art reports are also review type publications, but their scope is
much narrower than that of reviews. They are more current in nature and
generally cover one aspect or a small topic of a particular subject at a time.
* Tertiary sources of information are based on primary and secondary sources
of information.
* Tertiary sources of information help to locate primary and secondary sources
of information.
* Tertiary sources comprise bibliography of bibliographies, guides to the literature
and directories listing primary and secondary sources.
* Primary, secondary and tertiary sources of information are available in both
print and electronic form.
* Electronic publications are those publications which require computers to access
information contained in them.
Self Check Exercise
9) Fill in the blanks with suitable words:
a) Textbooks are and in nature.
b) Textbooks are meant for of a subject by the
. 83
Information Sources and c) Treatises deal with study of a subject.
Their Use
d) Treatises are used for of a subject.
e) Tertiary sources help to primary and secondary sources.
f) Reviews and state-of-the-art reports are sources of
information.
2.9 SUMMARY
The Unit deals with different types of information sources, their basic information
content and utility. In the beginning details of different types of periodicals viz. scholarly
journal, trade and business periodicals, popular journals, newspapers and magazines
have been covered along with e-journals. In the secondary periodical category,
indexing and abstracting services have been dealt with. Amongst reference sources,
types of dictionaries, encyclopaedias, ready reference sources, geographical,
biographical, statistical and current information sources have been covered in detail
with examples in each type. Then basics of survey types of publications such as
books, textbooks, treatises, reviews, and sate-of-the-art reports have been covered.
In the category of tertiary sources, publications like bibliography of bibliographies,
guides to the literature and directories listing primary and secondary periodicals are
covered. In the end the Unit deals with merits and demerits of print vs. electronic
sources of information.
2.10 ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISES

1) a) refereed b) industry sector c) popularise d) research
2) E-journal is any serial produced, published and distributed nationally or
internationally via electronic networks.
3) a) secondary b) indexing c) national d) publishers, printers, book sellers
and distributors.
4) a) F b) F c) T d) F e) T
5) a) yearbooks, almanacs, handbooks & manuals, and directories. b) Every year
c) government d) engineers and technicians e) common people f) people and
organisations.
6) A physical map depicts the physical features of the earth’s surface, such as
mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. A political map indicates the political boundaries
of the countries, states, continents and other political units of the earth.
7) Road maps show the cities, towns and other places connected by the main
roads. Road maps are used for going from one place to another place. Street
maps are like road maps, but it covers a much smaller area, like a locality, and
is in much more details. Street maps are used to find specific addresses in an
area.
8) a) chart b) globe c) an atlas d) gazetteer e) travelers f) life sketches, famous
people.
9) a) graded and instructional b) regular study, students c) indepth d) advanced
study e) locate f) secondary.
84
2.11 KEYWORDS Sources
Antonym : A word that means opposite of another word.

Kosh : Hindi term for dictionary.
Machine Readable : Information stored in electronic form.
National Bibliography : It is a list of books or other works published
in a country or about a country or in the
language of a country
NISCAIR : National Institute of Science Communication and
Information Resources.
Shabd : Hindi term for a word.
Synonym : A word that means the same or nearly the same
as another word in the same language.
2.12 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Cassel, K. A. Reference and Information Services in 21st Century: An
Introduction. London: Facet Publishing, 2006. Print.
Indira Gandhi National Open University. Dictionaries. BLIS-05, Block-2, Unit-6.
5-32. Print.
Indira Gandhi National Open University. Handbooks, Manuals, Yearbooks, etc.BLIS-
05, Block-2, Unit-8. 54-81.Print.
Katz, W. A. Introduction to Reference Work. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2
Vol., 2002. Print.
Lancaster, F. W. Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Illinois:
Champaign, 2003.Print.
Lancaster, F. W., and M. Julie. “The Future of Indexing and Abstracting Servies”.
Journal of American Society for Information Science. Mar. 33(3), 183-189.
Print.
Sharma, C. K. Reference Service and Sources. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2006. Print.
85

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UNIT 2 TYPES OF INFORMATION

2.4 Secondary Periodicals

2.6 Reference Sources

2.7 Secondary Sources: SurveyTypes

2.8 Tertiary Sources of Information

2.3 PERIODICALS AND THEIR TYPES

2.2.1 Scholarly Periodicals

Fig. 2.1: A Scholarly Journal

Title: Alterations in plasma nitric oxide during aging in humans

Files in This Item:

File Description Size Format

2.2.2 Trade and Business Periodicals

Fig. 2.2: A Trade and Business Periodical

Chemical News (Formerly Chemical Industry News) is published monthly. The

2.2.3 Popular Periodicals

Fig. 2.3: Popular Periodical

Fig. 2.4: India Today Magazine in English

Fig. 2.5: India Today Magazine in Hindi

2.3 SECONDARY PERIODICALS

2.3.1 Indexing Periodicals

2.4.1 National Bibliography

2.4.2 Trade Bibliography

2.4.3 Subject Bibliography

* A subject bibliography lists books on a subject.

2.5 REFERENCE SOURCES

Fig. 2.6: Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (General Dictionary)

Fig. 2.7: Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary (General Dictionary)

Fig. 2.8: Merriam Webster’s School Dictionary (General Dictionary)

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: The 11th Edition, published in 2003

Fig. 2.9: The Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary- Online: This version is authoritative guide to the

Fig. 2.10: A Page from Oxford English Dictionary

Fig. 2.11: Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Fig. 2.12: Oxford First Maths Dictionary

Fig. 2.13: Oxford Website for School Education

Fig. 2.14: Wiktionary an Online Dictionary

ii) Subject Dictionaries

Fig. 2.15: Shabdkosh website for Hindi and English Translation

Fig. 2.16: Encyclopaedia Britannica 32-Volume Set

Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia in single volume has 28,000 short articles

Fig. 2.17: Single volume Britannica Concise encyclopedia

Fig. 2.18: Compton’s by Britannica

Britannica Student Encyclopaedia: The encyclopaedia in 16-volume Britannica

Fig. 2.19: Britannica Student Encyclopaedia

Recent advances in information technology and rise of electronic encyclopaedias

Fig. 2.20: Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite

Fig. 2.21: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Screen

Encyclopaedia Britannica Children’s Encyclopaedia on CD-ROM: Designed

Fig. 2.22: Encyclopedia Americana Online

Fig. 2.23: The New Book of Knowledge Online

Fig. 2.24: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia online

Fig. 2.25: World Book Student website

Fig. 2.26: World Book Kids Website

Fig. 2.27: Main Page of Wikipedia

ii) Subject Encyclopaedias

2.5.3 Ready Reference Sources

Fig. 2.28: The Stateman’s Yearbook

Fig. 2.29: Whitaker’s Almanack

Fig. 2.30: World Almanac and Book of Facts

Fig. 2.31: The World Almanacs for Kids

iii) Handbooks and Manuals

Fig. 2.32: Guinness World Records

Fig. 2.33: Map Showing Location of Connaught Place in Delhi