INFORMATION
RESOURCES AND SERVICES
Reference materials
Reference
material can consist of a range of different types of material providing
students with background information. This material can either
be general or related to specific subject areas.
Dictionaries
It
is good to have a dictionary nearby when you are reading a document,
particularly if it is in a subject or topic that is new to you.
·
Dictionaries
are useful: Dictionaries
are useful to find definitions of terms, subjects or topics
·
Determine
the subject context of a new topic to help with further searching
·
Subject-specific
dictionaries provide definitions of specialist terms
·
Foreign
language dictionaries translate foreign terms into English or vice versa.
Encyclopaedias
·
Encylopaedias
typically provide a little more detail than a dictionary, such as:
concise overview of the key aspects of a subject or concept
·
A review
of the history of a topic.
·
References
to further information
·
Biographical
details of key figures.
Some online encyclopaedias you can
explore are:
·
Encyclopaedia
Britannica Academic editionhttp://www.britannica.com/
·
eLS
Citable reviews in the life sciences http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/
·
Many
more in various subject areas.
Wikipedia is a well-known online
encyclopaedia but has variable quality and should not be relied upon for your
university research. If you do use it at all be sure to follow up
references to other sources to check the factual content and to reference these
rather than Wikipedia itself.
Other reference material
·
Depending
on subject area, there are many other kinds of reference material:
Collections of statistics in which
you can find numerical data for your subject
·
Scientific
data compilations containing e.g. tables of physical and chemical properties
·
Pharmacopoeias which
give factual information on pharmaceuticals e.g. dosages
·
Bibliographies
which are collections of references on a subject or person.
Books
Books
may be textbooks at school or university level or more-detailed monographs.
·
Textbooks
provide:
An in-depth overview of a subject
·
A good
grounding in a new discipline
·
A comparison
of differing ideas, theories and opinions
·
Facts
and figures
Monographs go into more detail
including in-depth information, discussion and detailed explanation of research
- this is particularly the case in the Arts, Humanities and Social
Sciences In the sciences they may provide a collection of data,
experimental methods etc.
Books can become out of date due to
the length of time taken in the publishing process. This is more important in
some subjects than others
e-Books
·
Many
books are now available as electronic versions or e-books.
ome are exact copies of the print
version
·
Some
provide additional features, e.g. video, self-learning tests, quizzes etc.
·
Some
e-books can be downloaded onto hand-held devices for more comfortable reading
while others require an Internet connection
·
eBooks
are useful because they can be viewed by several readers at once while a
printed book is only available to one person at a time.
Due to copyright, you may print only
a part of an e-book not the whole book.
Journals
Journals
(periodicals or serials) are published at regular intervals throughout the year
·
Journals
have: Each year generally has a volume number
·
Each
volume contains individual issues which reflect how often the journal is
published, eg, weekly, monthly, quarterly
·
Each
issue of a journal includes a number of short articles.
Journals may be available in print
and/or electronic format. Often only the more recent volumes are available
online. The University subscribes to hundreds of journals, but these can
only be a proportion of the total number of journals published worldwide.
Individual journals vary but
typically their contents include:
·
Reports
of original research
·
Reviews
of current subjects of interest
·
News
and comment on topical issues or professional concerns
·
Lists
of forthcoming events or conferences
·
Job
adverts.
Journal articles
Articles
may be either reviews or research papers.
Journal articles are useful because:
Review articles are useful to provide an overview of a
subject.
They are:
They are:
·
Long,
essay-style articles giving a state-of-the-art picture of a topic
·
Good
sources of references to other relevant literature.
Reviews may be published in special
annual review serials or alongside other content in journals.
Research
papers, the more
usual type of journal article, directly report primary research.
They are:
They are:
·
More
up-to-date than books as publication is faster
·
Usually
‘peer reviewed’, i.e. they have been rigorously assessed and evaluated by
experts in the field to ensure that the research and conclusions are valid
·
Detailed,
covering a specific aspect of a subject in much more detail than books
·
Usually
short, factual and contain precise research methods and results.
However, research papers are not
useful for:
·
A general
overview of a subject
·
An
introduction to a new topic.
Websites
There
is a great wealth of information available on the Internet. But don’t rely on
Wikipedia and YouTube for your university studies and do ensure that the
websites you use are reliable.
Advantages and disadvantages of
websites include: Advantages:
·
Easy
access
·
Mostly
up-to-date (but check)
·
Include
various types of media e.g. illustrations, videos, sound
·
Available
24/7.
Disadvantages:
·
Variable
quality and lack of control. Anyone can publish a website
·
They
may become out-of-date
·
Content
can be biased
·
Websites
can disappear
·
Information
overload.
Newspapers
As
sources of current information and topical comment, newspapers can be good
sources for primary research information.
·
Important
features of newspapers include: Currency/immediacy
·
Eyewitness
accounts
·
Awareness
raising
·
Opinions
and comment on topical issues
·
Reviews
of books and contemporary culture
·
Obituaries
of famous people.
Disadvantages to newspapers include:
·
Lack
of peer review or accuracy checks
·
Sensationalism/writing
to sell copy
·
Bias,
perhaps written with particular political viewpoint
·
Not
usually written at an academic level.
Conference proceedings
Conference
proceedings consist of a collection of papers reporting on presentations or
posters delivered at conferences, seminars or workshops. They are sources of
primary research information as this may be the first place the information has
been made public.
·
Advantages
of conference proceedings include: Current issues in a particular field
or area are often debated at conferences and the discussions included in the
proceedings
·
Papers
can be presented at a conference long before, if ever, they are published in a
journal
As a result, conference proceedings
are an ideal way of finding the most up-to-date and current research and ideas.
The title of the conference
proceeding will show where the conference was held and when. The organising
body or conference editors will also be provided.
Reports
Reports
are produced by agencies and departments on specific topics or issues. These
agencies can include Government departments, research establishments,
charitable foundations and more.
·
Reports
are useful in providing: Up to date information since they are usually published to a
specific deadline or as a reaction to an event
·
Current
views and opinions
·
Recommendations
about future practice
·
Technical
information, statistics or data that you would not find in books or journal
articles.
The
disadvantages of reports are:
·
They
become out of date as they reflect the current situation at a given time
·
Not
all reports are published so they can be difficult to locate.
Examples
The
following websites are examples of reports published in response to recent
events:
(Both
accessed 28/5/2013)
Standards
Standards
are consensus agreements drawn up by representative collections of people who
have a particular interest in the subject. These might be manufacturers, users,
research organisations, or government departments.
·
Standards may
offer Guidance on recommended procedures
·
Prescriptive
design details
·
Testing
methods.
Standards enable the efficient
design, manufacture and supply of safe products and services to the consumer
by:
·
Promoting
best practice
·
Encouraging
international co-operation
·
Ensuring
compatibility of parts thus enabling global trade
·
Providing
reliable data to inform the design process
·
Setting
quality and safety requirements
·
Enabling
conformance comparisons (fit-for-purpose)
·
Helping
with technology transfer to developing countries.
In Britain, standards are produced
by the British Standards Institution (BSI). There are over 16,000 adopted
British Standards and each year new or revised standards are issued to ensure
they are kept up to date.
Over 150 national bodies combine to
form the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which
agrees international standards.
Other bodies include:
·
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC): International standards for all
electrical, electronic and related technologies
·
The
American National Standards Institute (ANSI): US national standards
·
DIN
(Deutsches Institut fur Normung e. V): German national standards
·
The European Telecommunications Standard Institute: Standards for the
telecommunications industry
·
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International): technical
standards for engineering materials
·
IEEE standards: Standards published by the
Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and also the Institution
of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Manuscripts and Special Collections
Manuscripts
and archives are unique items which were created or collected by a person or
organisation in the course of their ordinary business, and retained by them as
evidence of their activities, or because of the information they contain. They
may be written by hand, but can also be typewritten or even printed from
computer. The rare books collections at the University (currently only
available at the UK campus) include books published before the mid-19th
century, and also research collections on particular themes. Because these
resources are often unique, and can be fragile, they are stored in special conditions,
and consulted under supervision in a reading room (currently only available at
the UK campus).
·
Manuscripts
and special collections are useful because Manuscripts can be used as primary
source material because they give an authentic glimpse into the past
·
They
require you to piece together evidence, and make your own interpretation of how
or why things happened as they did
·
They
form a body of material that can be used for original research, for
assignments, dissertations and post-graduate study
·
Early
books can also be used as primary sources, as they give contemporary insights
into the culture, people and events of the day.
Patents
·
Patents
are legal documents which give the owner exclusive rights to profit from an
invention, protecting it from exploitation by others unless they have the prior
agreement of the patent owner. Patents also establish the ownership of advances
in the subject. They are the first reports of commercially-sensitive research
·
They
document research not reported in journals
·
They
contain detailed descriptions and, if relevant, designs or other illustrations
·
They
can show trends in development and applications of new technology.
The
patenting process
In order to obtain a patent the
invention must fulfil the following:
·
New
- the claimed invention must be filed for patenting before publication
elsewhere or, in some countries, within a limited time period of publication
·
Useful
i.e. capable of industrial application
·
Contain
an “inventive step” which is not obvious to others.
Some types of invention are excluded
from patenting:
·
Illegal
or immoral
·
A literary,
dramatic, musical or artistic work
·
Scientific
or mathematical theories
·
A way
of performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business
·
Some
computer programs
·
Animal
breeds or plant varieties
·
Medical
treatments or diagnostic methods.
The process of patenting an
invention can take several years to complete. Patents are granted by
national or international patenting authorities such as the UK Patent Office or
the World International Property Office (WIPO) and cover specific countries or
geographical areas for limited periods of time, usually 20 years. During
this time the patent-holder can profit directly or by selling or licensing the
invention to other companies.
Theses
Theses
submitted for doctoral degrees are major sources of primary research
output. Some of the most current and original research every year is
produced by postgraduate researchers at UK and international universities.
Use
theses to find:
·
Research
undertaken at universities around the world
·
Details
of research completed by others in your school or department.
Optical
discs most often storing movies or television shows. BLU-ray and DVDs have a
higher resolution than VCDs.
A
downloadable, electronically published magazine or journal=
A
videotape cassette, usually of a movie or television show
Music
sound recordings (e.g., opera, symphony, folk, rock, hip-hop, rap, jazz,
instrumental, vocal, electronic, found, etc.) stored on a variety of media,
e.g., tapes, or CDs
Printed
music (e.g., full scores, miniature scores, piano-vocal scores, individual
instrument scores, songs, etc.)
Music
sound recordings (e.g., opera, symphony, folk, rock, hip-hop, rap, jazz,
instrumental, vocal, electronic, found, etc.) and non-musical sound recordings
(e.g., novels, stories, plays, poems, sound effects, etc.) stored on vinyl LPs
Non-musical
sound recordings (e.g., novels, stories, plays, poems, sound effects, etc.)
stored on a variety of media, e.g. tapes, or CDs
Software
files stored on floppy disks, CDROM or other media
SOURCES
OF INFORMATION
An information source is a source of information for somebody, i.e. anything that might inform a person about
something or provide knowledge about it. Different types of questions require
different sources of information. Information sources may be observations,
people, speeches, documents, pictures, organizations, websites, etc. They may
be primary sources, secondary sources, tertiary sources and so on.
In
general, there are three types of resources or sources of information: primary,
secondary, and tertiary. It is important to understand these types and to
know what type is appropriate for your coursework prior to searching for
information.
1. Primary sources are original materials on
which other research is based, including:
o original written works – poems,
diaries, court records, interviews, surveys, and original research/fieldwork,
and
o research published in
scholarly/academic journals.
Primary sources of information come directly from the creator of the
work. They are first-hand accounts written by the author/s and
read directly by you, the reader. Primary sources are not evaluated or filtered
by a second party, and often represent original research. Primary
sources consist of original thinking, they report discoveries, or
they share new information.
Typical examples
of primary sources include books, journal
articles and conference proceedings
2. Secondary sources are those that describe or analyze
primary sources, including:
o reference materials – dictionaries,
encyclopedias, textbooks, and
o books and articles that interpret,
review, or sythesize original research/fieldwork.
Secondary sources of information are compilations written by someone about other
authors' work. They are called
secondary because a second person intervenes between the author and the reader.
Secondary sources are those which simplify the process of finding and
evaluating the primary literature. They tend to be works which repackage,
reorganize, reinterpret, summarise, index or otherwise "add value" to
the new information reported in the primary literature.
3. Tertiary sources are those used to organize and
locate secondary and primary sources.
o Indexes – provide citations that
fully identify a work with information such as author, titles of a book,
artile, and/or journal, publisher and publication date, volume and issue number
and page numbers.
o Abstracts – summarize the primary or
secondary sources,
o Databases – are online indexes that
usually include abstracts for each primary or secondary resource, and may also
include a digital copy of the resource.
Tertiary sources of information are works which index, organize and
compile citations to, and show you how to use, secondary (and sometimes
primary) sources.
Scholarly and Popular Resources
A scholarly publication is one in
which the content is written by experts in a particular field of study -
generally for the purpose of sharing original research or analyzing others'
findings. Scholarly work will thoroughly cite all source materials used and
is usually subject to "peer review" prior to publication. This
means that independent experts in the field review, or "referee"
the publication to check the accuracy and validity of its claims. The primary
audience for this sort of work is fellow experts and students studying the
field. As a result the content is typically much more sophisticated and
advanced than articles found in general magazines, or professional/trade
journals.
In brief, scholarly work is:
§
written by experts for experts
§
based
on original research or intellectual inquiry
§
provides
citations for all sources used
§
is
usually peer reviewed prior to publication
Any primary resource can be a
scholarly resource, so the scholarly-popular distinction is only useful for
secondary and tertiary resources. Most disciplines require researchers to use
mainly primary and scholarly resources. Consequently, it is important to be
able to differentiate between the two
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Scholarly
resources provide:
Popular
sources
While many of your
research projects will require you to read articles published in scholarly
journals, books or other peer reviewed source of information, there is also a
wealth of information to be found in more popular publications. These aim to
inform a wide array of readers about issues of interest and are much more
informal in tone and scope. Examples include general news, business and
entertainment publications such as Time
Magazine, Business Weekly, Vanity Fair.
§ Note, special
interest publications which are not specifically written for an academic
audience are also considered "popular" i.e.,National Geographic,
Scientific American, Psychology Today.
Popular
resources provide:
Comparison
of scholarly and popular resources
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Professional/Trade sources
These are more specialized in nature than popular
publications, but are not intended to be scholarly. These types of publications
are aimed at experts in the field and/or keen amateurs, but the content focuses
on news, trends in the field, promotional material etc. Research findings are
not typically disseminated here - though they may report that a scholarly
publication is forthcoming. These types of publications typically will contain
more advertising than a scholarly journal - though it's usually targeted to the
field in some way. Examples: Publishers
Weekly; Variety; Education Digest
REFERENCE
MATERIAL
What are the reference material?
By their very name, reference materials are
obviously those items most likely to be useful in answering reference questions.
For this reason, they are often held by libraries as resources which are either
non-circulating or circulated under strict limitations.
Types of Reference Materials
·
Almanacs.
·
Atlas & Maps.
·
Bibliographies.
·
Biographical Resources.
·
Dictionaries.
·
Directories.
·
Encyclopedias.
·
Handbooks.
Reference Sources
Reference sources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias,
almanacs, atlases, etc. are research tools that can help you with your paper or
project. Reference sources provide answers to specific questions, such as brief
facts, statistics, and technical instructions; provide background information;
or direct you to additional information sources. In most libraries, reference
sources do not circulate and are located in a separate reference collection.
This practice makes reference sources readily available and easily accessible.
Reference sources are designed to be consulted rather
than read through. Their design is generally dependent on the type of
information and treatment provided. Reference materials can be arranged
alphabetically, topically, or chronologically. Many will contain cross listed
information and more than one index. If it is not obvious how a reference
source is organized, take a moment to look through the explanatory or
how-to-use information, which is usually presented at the beginning of the book,
or in HELP screens for online products.
There are thousands of reference sources available
that cover practically every subject. Although the term reference
"book" is frequently used, reference sources can be books, serials,
on-line databases or the Internet. A large part of using reference sources well
is choosing the right one.
Despite the wide variety available, reference sources
can be categorized into a handful of groups. Think about the kind of
information you need and how you will use it. If you are unsure which reference
tool is best suited to your information need, a reference librarian will be
able to assist you.
Quick guide for selecting the right type of reference
source (Collins, 151):
For
information about...
|
Choose...
|
Words
|
Dictionaries
|
General
information/Overview of topic
|
Encyclopedias
|
Names
& addresses of people, organizations, institutions, companies
|
Directories
|
Profiles
of people
|
Biographical
Dictionaries
|
Places/Maps
|
Gazetteers
or Atlases
|
Facts
and Statistics
|
Almanacs
|
Formula,
Tables, How-To-Do-It
|
Handbooks
and Manuals
|
A
person's work
|
Reviews
or Criticisms
|
Dates,
outlines, historical timelines
|
Historical
tables, Chronologies, Historical yearbooks
|
Periodical
Articles
|
Indexes
or Abstracts
|
Books
and other sources
|
Bibliographies
or Guides to Literature...
|
Types of Reference Tools
Two major categories of reference materials are
general and subject. General sources include all subjects and present overviews
of topics. Reference materials focused on specific subjects can provide more
in-depth coverage.
There are reference sources that provide information
on specific subjects as well as general sources that provide information on
many subjects. In general, reference sources are either general or subject
specific. If you need an overview of a subject, perhaps a general information
source will suit your needs. If you need specialized information, a subject
specific tool may be better suited.
The following reference sources and others are
available in the main Reference
Collection on Level 4 of
Rasmuson Library, and/or via the Internet.
Dictionaries
Dictionaries provide information about words.
·
General dictionaries are
the most familiar to us. You may even own one. This group includes Webster's International
Dictionary, the Random
House Dictionary of the English Language, and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.
These sources generally provide definitions, pronunciations, syllabication, and
usage.
·
Historical dictionaries provide
the history of a word from its introduction into the language to the present. The Oxford English Dictionary is
an excellent example of this type of dictionary.
·
Etymological dictionaries are
dictionaries which emphasize the anaylsis of components of words and their
cognates in other languages. These dictionaries emphasize the linguistic and
grammatical history of the word usage. TheOxford Dictionary of English
Etymology is an example of
an etymological dictionary.
·
Period or scholarly specialized dictionaries focus
on a particular place or time period. For example, try the Dictionary of Alaskan English if you would like to know when the
word "cheechako" was first used.
·
Foreign language dictionaries are
fairly self-explanatory. We've all looked up words in a French or Spanish or
other Western European language. Don't forget other wonderful dictionaries,
such as the Yup'ik Eskimo
Dictionary or theInupiat
Eskimo dictionary.
·
Subject dictionaries focus
on word definitions in a subject area, such as finance, law, botany,
electronics, physics, etc.
·
Other dictionaries include
dictionaries of slang, abrreviations, synonyms, antonyms, abbreviations,
acronyms, reversals, rhyming, idioms, phrases, and guides to correct usage. Dictionary of Acronyms and
Abbreviations, The
Macmillan Dictionary of Historical Slang, Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, The American Language, Strunk's Elements of Style.
Dictionaries, like other reference sources, may belong
to more than one category. For example, an English-Russian engineering
dictionary is both a foreign language and a subject dictionary.
Dictionaries may be abridged or unabridged. Abridged
dictionaries are smaller and contained the most commonly used words. Unabridged
dictionaries try to include all words in current usage. Like other reference
sources, dictionaries may become outdated as language evolves. Care should be
taken to carefully identify the publication date and focus of the dictionary
selected. General dictionaries begin with LC call numbers starting with AG.
Specialized dictionaries will have subject specific call numbers.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias provide general background information;
they are a good place to start researching a topic that you know little about.
Large subject areas or disciplines are covered in broad articles that explain
basic concepts. These overview articles often contain references to more
specific aspects of the larger topic and may include a bibliography that leads
you to more in-depth sources. Encyclopedias may be general or subject specific.
·
General encyclopedias usually
arrange articles alphabetically by topic. Look for an accompanying index which
may list cross-references to other articles. Included in this category are Encyclopaedia
Britannica, The
Cambridge Encyclopedia , Encyclopedia Americana,
and the Columbia Encyclopedia. General
encyclopedia LC call numbers begin with AE.
·
Subject encyclopedias are
available for almost every academic discipline. They provide more in-depth and
technical information than general encyclopedias. Subject encyclopedias
generally assume some prior knowledge of the subject. There is no general rule
for how these tools are arranged. Look for an index. A few examples of subject
encyclopedias include the McGraw-Hill
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, International Encyclopedia of
the Social Sciences,Encyclopedia of World Art, Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
and the Encyclopedia of
Archaeology. Subject
encyclopedias will have subject specific call numbers.
Directories
Directories provide names, addresses, affiliations,
etc. of people, organizations, or institutions. They can be used to verify
addresses, name spellings, and provide contact information. As in other reference
sources, directories may be general or focused on a particular subject.
·
General directories: Zip Code & Post Office
Directory, Encyclopedia
of Associations
·
Subject directories: Fairbanks Phone Directory, Museums of the World, A
Directory of Eskimo Artists in Sculpture and Prints, A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies, Directory of Multinationals, Thomas Register of American Manufacturers.
Biographical Dictionaries
Biographical dictionaries contain short articles about
people's lives. Biography resources have call numbers that begin with CT.
·
General biographical dictionaries include Current Biography, Dictionary of American Biography, Who's Who, Encyclopedia of World Biography,
etc.
·
Subject biographical dictionaries may
focus on a subject area or group. These sources include Dictionary of Scientific
Biography, Contemporary
Authors,Biographical Dictionary of Psychology , New Grove Dictionary of Music
and Musicians, Women
of Science, etc.
Gazetteers or Atlases
Geographic information is located in gazetteers,
atlases and maps. Geography resources have call numbers that begin with G.
·
Atlasescontain collections of
maps. They provide information on geographical/political changes. There are
world, national, and thematic atlases and these may be current or historical.
o World atlases include National Geographic Atlas of the
World.
o National atlases: National Atlas of the United
States, Atlas of the
American Revolution.
o Thematic atlases focus
on a specific subject area, such as astronomy or agriculture. Examples include, The Oxford Economic Atlas of the
Worldand the Environmental
Atlas of Alaska.
·
Gazetteersare sometimes referred
to as geographical dictionaries and provide descriptions of places, but no
maps.
o General gazetteers include Webster's New Geographical
Dictionary, The
Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, Gazetteer of Undersea Features,
etc.
o Regional gazetteers,
such as Dictionary of Alaska Place Names,
by D. Orth, focus on a specific geographical region and are good places to look
if you want to know the location of a town, its population, or where its name
came from.
Sometimes atlases and gazetteers are combined, as in
the Alaska Atlas and
Gazetteer, by DeLorme Mapping, which publishes similar products for the
other states.
Almanacs
Almanacs contain statistics and facts about countries,
events, personalities, or subjects. Almanac resources have call numbers that
begin with AY.
·
General almanacs include
the Statistical Abstract of
the United States, The
New York Public Library Desk Reference, World Almanac (an American focus),Information Please Almanac (print ed. called Time Almanac), Whitaker's Almanak (United Kingdom focus).
·
Subject almanacs include The Weather Almanac, The Almanac of Renewable Energy, Political Reference Almanac, Alaska Almanac, and more.
Handbooks/Manuals
Handbooks and manuals are subject area tools.
Handbooks provide facts, terms, concepts, movements, etc. of a topic. Manuals
provide detailed instructions on a particular subject, such as how-to-do
something or how something works.
·
Handbooks: Handbook of North American
Indians, Guide to
Alaska Trees,Words and Ideas: A Handbook for College Writing, Handbook of Mathematical
Formulas, MLA
Handbook For Writers of Research Papers.
·
Manuals: Manual of Photography, Manual for Environmental Impact
Evaluation,Alaska Craftsman Home Building Manual, United States Government Manual.
Review & Criticism Sources
These tools provide reviews or critiques of a person's
work.
·
General: Book Review Digest (OCLC FirstSearch, hereafter called
FirstSearch),MLA (FirstSearch), New York Times Book Review, Contemporary Literary Criticism.
·
Subject: Children's Literature Review, Popular Music Record Reviews.
Historical Tables, Chronologies, Historical Yearbooks
Historical tables and chronologies present historical
facts in different formats. Historical tables provide facts chronologically in
columns with each column representing another geographical area or other major
area, such as history, economics, religions. etc. Chronologies use narrative
form to present facts. Historical tables and chronologies may span long or very
short time periods. Historical yearbooks provide facts and statistics for a
single year and may be published annually.
·
Historical Tables: The Timetables of History, Historical Tables, 58 BC-AD 1985.
·
Chronologies: Chronology of World History, The New York Public Library Book
of Chronologies, Chronology
of the Expanding World, 1492-1762, A Chronology of the People's
Republic of China from October 1, 1949, Annals of European Civilization,
1501-1900.
·
Historical Yearbooks: The Statesman's Year-Book.
Indexes & Abstracts
Indexes and abstracts lead to additional sources of
periodical articles. Indexes only provide author, title, and subject
information. Abstracts tend to be more descriptive. Some online index databases
also include the full-text of the article.
·
General: Reader's Guide to Periodic Index (FirstSearch), Book Review Index,Periodicals
Abstracts (FirstSearch).
·
Subject: Art Abstracts (FirstSearch), New York Times Index (ABI Inform),Biography Index (FirstSearch), Chemical Abstracts.
Bibliographies
Bibliographies lead to other information sources. They
are lists of books and other materials that provide author, title, and
publication information. Annotated bibliographies also include a brief
description or summary of the item. Bibliographies are available on almost
every topic and may focus on specific persons, groups, subjects, or time
periods. Many bibliographies are selective and do not attempt to include all
publications. Bibliographies are sometimes referred to as "Guides to the
Literature ..."
Examples: American
Fiction, 1774-1850, Bibliography
of Education, Utilization
of Wood Residues: An Annotated Bibliography, A Bibliography of Sir Walter
Scott, MLA
Bibliography (FirstSearch), Current Bibliographies in Medicine (NLM), Alutiiq
Ethnographic Bibliography (ANKN).
Ready Reference
The Ready
Reference Collection contains
reference sources that are used most frequently. The Ready Reference shelves
are located adjacent to the Reference Desk. The collection includes reference
tools such as The
Encyclopedia of Associations, The
Encyclopedia of Associations, The
Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, Style guides (MLA, APA, Chicago), a
thesaurus, The Physician's
Desk Reference, Alaska phone directories, Black's Law Dictionary, World Almanac, The Merck Manual of Medical
Information, Zip Code Directories, etc.
.
ACCESS TOOLS/RETRIEVAL
TOOLS
Systems
created for retrieval of information. Retrieval tools are essential as basic
building blocks for a system that will organize recorded information that is
collected by libraries, archives, museums, etc.
Basic Retrieval Tools
§ Bibliographies
§ Catalogs
§ Indexes
§ Finding
Aids
§ Registers
§ Online
Databases
Bibliographies
§ A
list of information-bearing items. Bibliographies bring together lists of
sources based on subject matter, on authors, by time periods, etc.
§ Bibliographies
can be a part of a scholarly work and consist of the information sources that
were consulted to by the author or compiler, or they can be completely separate
entities--an individual list of lists.
§ Some
bibliographies include annotations, brief notes or abstracts that offer
additional comment or summary of a particular work.
§ Each
information-bearing item has a unique description that will include: author(s),
title, edition, publisher, place, and date of publication, etc.
§ Bibliographies
have a particular focus and/or arrangement: subject, author, language, time
period, locale, publisher, form. Oftentimes, bibliographies have a combination
of focuses.
Catalogs
§ Catalogs
provide access to individual items within collections of information sources
(books, videocassettes, computer files, etc.
§ Each
information source is represented by a physical description, classification,
and subject analysis. Access points are determined, subject headings are
assigned, and authority control terms are applied.
§ The
description is constructed according to a predetermined standard.
AACR2 - library, archives, and some
museum collections.
GILS - for some government
information.
Dublin Core - for some internet
information sources.
§ Catalogs
are used by librarians, museum personnel, and patrons of libraries and
archives.
§ Online
catalogs are beneficial when searching for known-item searching or browsing by
patrons.
§ Practically
speaking catalogs should be able to:
1. Enable
a person to find an information-bearing item(s) of which either the author,
title, and/or subject is known.
2. Show
what a collection has by a given author, on a given subject, in a given kind of
literature.
3. Assist
in the choice of material(s) as to the edition (bibliographically) and as to
its character (literary or topical).
4. Provide
an inventory of the collection.
Forms of Catalogs
§ Book
§ Card
§ COM
(Computer Output Microform)
§ OPAC
(Online Public Access Catalog)
Arrangements of Catalogs
§ Alphabetically
Authors
Titles
Subject
§ Numerically
An internal accession numerical
sequence.
§ Classification
Subject analysis.
Classification
Scheme (i.e. Dewey Decimal Classification System of the Library of Congress
Classification System.
Indexes
§ Provide
access to the analyzed contents of "bibliographic entities" (i.e.
articles in a journal, short stories in a collection, etc.)
§ Indexes
are not limited to what is available in a local setting, and they do not
usually give location information as.
§ Indexes
are available in print, CD-ROM, or on-line.
§ Indexes
are arranged in alphabetical order with entries offered for authors, titles,
and subjects.
§ There
is not a standard of arrangement, organization, or online searching.
Finding Aids
§ Long
descriptions of archival collections. Also referred to as an inventory.
§ Finding
aids are often cataloged, that is an alternative record that provides the name,
title, and subject points to the item(s).
Registers
§ The
primary control tools for museums, also referred to as an accession log.
§ Registers
function like catalogs, although they have additional kinds of access points,
such as the identification of the object, the donor, a history of
association (i.e. where or with whom
previously owned the item), any insurance related information.
§ An
identification number (accession number) is assigned. The accession record
becomes one or more files that help to provide organization to a museum's
collection.
Online Databases
Electronic catalogs, where records are
encoded for computer display and are stored in computer memory or on CD-ROM
disks.
§ Online
databases are built on the technical logic supported by relational database
theories. Databases that have records that are all stored within the same file.
§ Records
are link by a unique identifier and are linked to related databases that share
this unique identifier.
§ Online
databases conserves storage space, allows for faster searching, and allows for
easier modification o records.
DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE
LIBRARY
Different
libraries need to perform different functions to meet their users' needs. That
is why the number and types of departments vary from library to library. Even
within a specific category of library, departments differ in response to
influences such as size, budget and usage. Despite these differences, all
libraries serve the same purpose, which is to provide both intellectual and
physical access to information (Wilson,1984). The following list from
Foundations of Library and Information Science includes departments found in larger
public libraries and their purposes. Each department will likely not exist in
smaller libraries, school libraries or special libraries where several
functions are often combined under one department.
Board of Trustees
purpose:
establish policies, strategic plans, goals, and direction
Library Administration
purpose:
handle overall operation, policy creation and enforcement, personnel practices,
fiscal operations, and planning
Reference Department
purpose:
meet the information needs of users by answering information questions,
reader's advisory, locating materials, preparing guides, maintaining reference
files, conducting tours and programs, and selecting reference materials
Circulation Department
purpose:
handle the flow of materials to users by checking materials out, receiving
returned materials, and administering fines and procedures for late or lost
materials
Audiovisual Department
purpose:
manage audio/visual equipment and programming
Archives and Special Collections
purpose:
manage and preserve records of local or general historical importance,
including the handling of rare or fragile materials
Special Services
purpose:
serve patrons with special needs such as the blind or visually impaired and
provide service to places such as prisons and nursing homes, ex: Bookmobile
service
Technical Services
purpose:
receive and prepare materials so they can be assessed by maintaining catalog,
acquiring materials, monitoring acquisition expenditures, cataloging,
classification, barcoding, and preservation of library materials
Maintenance
purpose:
keep the physical facility running smoothly by maintaining the grounds,
heating, plumbing, electrical repair, housekeeping, and displays
Public
Relations: provide communication to the public through promotional materials,
programming activities, grant-writing, media relations, and crisis management
Security
purpose:
maintain a safe environment for users and staff by patrolling the premises,
protecting library property, dealing with problems, and contacting additional
safety forces needed
Integrated Systems
Purpose:
coordinate the acquisition and use of technology by evaluating and selecting
information technologies, training staff, and trouble-shooting technological
problems
E-LIBRARY
A digital
library is a special library with a focused collection of digital objects that can include
text, visual material, audio material, video material, stored as electronic mediaformats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media), along with means for organizing, storing,
and retrieving the files and media contained in the library collection. Digital
libraries can vary immensely in size and scope, and can be maintained by
individuals, organizations, or affiliated with established physical library
buildings or institutions, or with academic institutions.[1] The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed
remotely via computer networks. An electronic library is a type of information retrieval system.
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