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REFERENCE SOURCES
What is reference sources?
i) A book designed by the arrangement and treatment of its
subject matter to be consulted for definite items of
information rather than to be read consecutively
ii) A book whose use is restricted to the library building
Printed materials supplemented by material in microform,
CD-ROM and other machine readable forms Plus resources accessible through Internet and other
networks (can be accessed from terminal/microcomputers
located in the library)
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CHARACTERISTICS OF A REFERENCE BOOK
1. Meant for consultation for a specific piece of information
2. Not meant for continuous reading
3. Usually lacks continuous exposition or may consist of disjointed
entries of varying length
4. Not lent out
5. Information is so organized that the required information can belocated promptly and exhaustively
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Two (2) main classes of reference sources:
i) The control-access-directional type of source
Compilations that refer to other sources containing information merely
indicating places in which information may be found
eg. catalogs, bibliographies and indexes
Control - bibliography serves as a control device- a
kind of checklist
Access - can be broadly defined as bibliographies;
but may be subdivided as follows:
a) Bibliographies of reference sources and the literature
of a field, of either a general or a subject nature
Guide to Reference Books
The Information Sources of Political Science
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b) library catalog or the catalogs of numerous
libraries arranged for easy access through a
union list
c) General systematic enumerative bibliographies
which include various forms of bibliography
The National Union Catalog
d) Indexes and abstracts
The Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
The New York Times Index
Direction - direct users to the sources of answers
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ii) Source type
give the answers
Encyclopedia - Encyclopedia Britannica
- World Book Encyclopedia
Facts source - Yearbooks, almanacs, handbooks
manuals and directories
- used to look up factual material for
quick reference
- World Almanac
Statesmans Year-Book
Dictionaries - Websters Third New International
Dictionary
Dictionary of American Slang
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REFERENCE SOURCES
1.
DICTIONARY
- provides information about wordsmeaning,
derivation, spelling, pronunciation, syllabication,
usage, and current status.
Eg.
Websters Third New International Dictionary of the
English Language
The Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM
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Used of Dictionaries
To define words
To verify spelling, syllabication or pronunciation
To check on usage To determine the etymological history of a word
Kinds of Dictionaries
a) General word dictionaries, which provide overall
information such as pronunciation, derivation, syllabication,
and meaning, about the words of a language
b) Dictionaries that have to do with certain aspects of
language, such as etymology, synonyms and antonyms,
slang, colloquialisms, dialect, and usage; and
c) Dictionaries concerned with a specific subject area.
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2. ENCYCLOPEDIA
- is concerned with subjects. It gives an overview of
a topic, including definition, description,background, and bibliographical references.
Types of encyclopedias
a) General
e.g.:
The Encyclopedia Americana
The New Encyclopedia Britannica
Colliers EncyclopediaThe World Book Encyclopedia
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b) Subject
e.g.:Encyclopedia of Library and Information
Science
The Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
The Encyclopedia of Religion
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology
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3. YEARBOOK
- often called an annual, presents the events of the
past year in brief, concise formAn annual compendium of the data and statistics.
The purpose is to record the years activities by
country, subject, or specialized area or
organization
e.g.:
Europa World Yearbook
Statesman's Year-Book
Britannica Book of the YearYearbook of Technology and Education
The Annual Register of World Events
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4. HANDBOOK
- literally a small book which can be held conveniently in
the hand, provides miscellaneous items of information.May also be called a miscellany, a manual, or a
companion
e.g.:Emily Posts Etiquette
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and
Therapy
The Chicago Manual of Style
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5. ALMANAC
- a collection of miscellaneous facts and statisticalinformation, retrospective as well as current one
covering local, state, national and international
affairs
e.g.;
World Almanac and Book of Facts
Whitakerss Almanac
The New York Times Almanac
The World Almanac and Books of Facts
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6. BIOGRAPHY
- a collection of sketches of varying lengths about
lives of individuals, arranged alphabetically by
surname.
- They may include details of a persons full
name, gender, date and place of birth, asummary of their achievements, details about
their personal life (eg family interests),
memberships, employment history including
publications, offices and positions held,honours, awards and contact details.
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Autobiography[written by the individual]
Memoirs[reflections of the individual]
Biography[written by another individual]
Diary[personal account of daily life]
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7. DIRECTORY
- lists the names and addresses of persons,
organizations, or institutions and product or services.May provide other pertinent information such as the
purposes, and the officers of the organization.
Uses to find out: an individuals or firms address (including
e-mail) or telephone number
the full name of an individual, a firm, or an
organization
a description of a particular manufacturersproduct or a service
job designation of an individual in an
organization
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8. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Specific sources which are specifically prepared to provide
geographical information or used to answer locational
questions.
Categories
a) Maps and Atlases
A map:- arepresentation of certain boundaries of the
earth (or the moon and planets as well)
may be divided into charts, collections of maps
in atlas form, globes and so forth.
- Three (3) types:
- Physical : traces the various
features of the land, from the
rivers and valleys to the
mountains and hills.
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- Route : shows roads, railroads,
bridges, and the like
- Political : limits itself to boundaries
(e.g., towns, cities, counties,states) but may include
topographical and route
features.
- Thematic : Large group of maps usually focuson a particular aspect of geographical
interest, such as, historical, economic, and
related matters etc.
Eg.
The Times Atlas of World History
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b) Gazetteers
Geographical dictionaries, usually of place names.
Detailed gazetteers will give additional information
on population and possibly leading economiccharacteristics of the area.
Eg.
Chambers World Gazetteer
Websters New Geographical Dictionary
c) Guidebooks
Furnish information on everything from the price
of a motel room in Paris for example to the
primary sights of interest in New York.
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9. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT
A treatise on almost any subject printed at government
expense or published by authority of a governmental
body.
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
- a list of books and other materials which have
some relationship to each other. The materials
listed are described as to author, title, publisher,
price, and number of pages. In some the materials areevaluated
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b) National BibliographyList of books and other library materials published within aparticular country
e.g.:British National BibliographyBibliografi Negara Malaysia
c) Subject Bibliographylisted materials are relate to the subject matter of theircontents
e.g.:AIDS : an annotated bibliography
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d) Trade BibliographyA record of printing output in a particular country. Usually list
books in print or for sale & is compiled by a publisher, abookseller or a group of such agencies
e.g.:Books in PrintWhitakerss Cumulative Book List
e) Special Bibliography
For special material e.g.: inert / manuscript
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11. INDEX
- points out where information can be found
Eg.
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
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12. ABSTRACT
- give digests or summaries of periodical articles andother literature
Eg.
Chemical abstractsPsychological Abstracts