Free & Open Sources information on the Web

By Syed Habib Akhter Jaffri

Senior LibrarianPASTIC National Center

Islamabad

What is source?source 1. The point or place from which something

originates2. (Earth Sciences / Physical Geography)a.  A spring that forms the starting point of a

stream; headspringb.  the area where the headwaters of a river

rise the source of the Nile3. A person, group, etc., that creates, issues, or

originates something the source of a complainta.  Any person, book, organization, etc., from

which information, evidence, etc., is obtainedb.  (as modifier) source material

Type of Sources

As you conduct research, you will consult different sources of information. A professor may request primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.

Primary sources The definition of a primary source may vary depending upon the discipline or context.

Journal articles published in peer-reviewed publications; Letters; Newspaper articles written at the time; Original Documents; Patents; Photographs Proceedings of Meetings, conferences and symposia; Records of organizations, government agencies; Speeches; Survey Research (e.g., market surveys, public opinion polls); Video recordings (e.g. television programs).

Secondary sourcesThey are accounts written after the

fact with the benefit of hindsight. They are interpretations and evaluations of primary sources

Catalogues/ Bibliographies (also considered tertiary); Biographical works; Commentaries, criticisms; Dictionaries, Encyclopedias (also considered tertiary); Histories; Journal articles (depending on the disciple can be

primary); Magazine and newspaper articles (this distinction

varies by discipline); Monographs, other than fiction and autobiography; Textbooks (also considered tertiary); Web site (also considered primary).

Tertiary sources Tertiary sources consist of information

which is a distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources.

Almanacs; Bibliographies (also considered secondary); Chronologies; Dictionaries and Encyclopedias (also considered

secondary); Directories; Fact books; Guidebooks; Indexes, abstracts, bibliographies used to locate

primary and secondary sources; Manuals; Textbooks (also be secondary).

What is Open Information Sources ?

Open information sources provide access to knowledge without the need to pay for the knowledge itself, although there may be marginal fees for access (membership in  trade associations, attendance at conferences, subscriptions to journals).

Secondary sources

Bibliographies (also considered tertiary) PASTIC

Catalogues Union Catalogue of PASTIC ;

OPAC of PAK Univ World Cat

Dictionaries (also considered tertiary) List of Online Dictionaries

Encyclopedias Info please Wikipedia

Abstracting & indexing PASTIC

Primary sources Peer-reviewed Journal articles NISCAIR Research JournalsNew School Education N.YDirectory of Open Access Jou

rnals (DOAJ)Newspaper articles Newspapers

PatentsWorld Patent OfficesCanadian Patents

Proceedings of conferences and symposia

LFG Online Proceedings

Websites

List of Search Engine

Learned Societies For MathKhan Academy For PhysicsAmerican Association of Physics Teachers

Some useful LinksOnline open Access Books Encyclopedia.com Kitab-Ghar for Urdu Books Biology Corner Learners TVDepth-first.comFree-ebookShaheed Benazir Bhutto Women

University

Thanks for your patience

&

Best wishes for this Seminar