Page 11 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes

Notes We always want our sources to be as close to first hand as possible. We also need to
consider the reliability of any source we use.
Although more and more information resources are demanded and supplied electronically, we
do still hold an important amount of information in print form. This includes books and print
journals but also maps; photocopied articles and book chapters; theses and dissertations.
Printing involves a minimum of four different items: (i) manuscript, i.e. the piece of writing to
be printed; (ii) composition of the matter either by hand or by machine; (iii) the physical
medium, say, paper on which the matter is to be printed; and (iv) the ink with which the matter
to be printed. For illustrations, blocks, etc., are also required. Products of printing are many and
varied.

Example: Books, periodicals, newspapers, etc. are all products of printing and all of
them represent one medium or the other. All these products taken together form the print
media.

Hence, in this Unit we are using the term print media instead of print medium.
Types of Print Media

Print media can also be categorised according to the physical formats on which the matter is
printed, say paper, plastic, cloth, metal sheet, and so on. In this writing, we are confining
ourselves to such items as are printed on paper such as sheets, leaflets, booklets, books, periodicals,
and so on.

Printed Sheets

A sheet is a piece of paper of varying sizes on which the written or typed matter is printed.
Usually the printed sheets are used for advertising, campaigning and other purposes. The details
of a product, items being sold at a shop, the opening of a new shop, showroom, restaurant, stall,
etc. are printed on the sheet and the same is distributed to the prospective customers. Sometimes
these sheets are also pasted on the walls to attract the attention of the public. College and
university students and teachers, politicians of all levels, and many others fighting some election
use printed sheets for propaganda. Printing of the sheets is neither time consuming, nor costly.
Moreover, they can be distributed by hand and pasted on walls, tree trunks, and other places
with ease.

Leaflets

A leaflet is a small sheet of paper folded once and printed to make two or four pages. The pages
follow the same sequence as those of a book. It is neither stitched nor stapled. It may be noted
that in US and Canada, a leaflet or booklet is termed as a folder. At times, serials also appear in
the form of leaflets. Examples: Leaflet, Department of Agriculture, Bengal; Indian Forest Leaflet,
etc. These leaflets contain product information, tourist information, road maps, and so on and
generally distributed free. A tourist while proceeding on a journey can conveniently carry the
leaflets and use them with utmost ease whenever necessary. Neither carrying nor using creates
any difficulty. Many publishers send blurbs of their publications by post or courier to prospective
buyers. The approach is personalised, not costly, but quite effective and can reach even the most
undeveloped and remote area of a country.

6 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY