Chap 11 - Reference Sources

8/12/2019 Chap 11 - Reference Sources

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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

Chap 11 - Reference Sources

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