Page 18 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 1: Documentary Sources of Information

as they are built on the basis of research or studies which others have done. Most secondary Notes
sources analyse the material or restate the works of others. If a person writes about research
clone by others, this writing will be secondary source.

Types of Secondary Sources

The secondary sources may be of three types:
(a) Those sources which index selected portion of primary literature and tints help in finding
what leas been published on a given subject.

Example: Indexes, bibliographies and abstracts.
(b) Those sources which survey selected portion of the primary literature and thus help in
acquiring comprehensive information on a given subject.

Example: Reviews and treatises.
(c) Those sources which themselves contain the desired information collected and selected
from primary sources of information.

Example: Encyclopaedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc.

They consist of information such as facts and biographies.
Features of Secondary Sources

Some of the special features of secondary sources are as follows:
(a) They do scribe, interpret, analyse and evaluate primary sources.

(b) They comment on and discuss the evidence provided by primary sources.
(c) Information in secondary sources is systematically arranged and is easy to consult.

(d) Either compiled from or referred to primary sources.
(e) Information given in primal), sources are made available in a more convenient form in
secondary sources.
(f) Generally, secondary sources do not contain original information. They depend upon the
primary sources for reporting and presenting information.
(g) In primary sources information is not arranged systematically whereas in secondary
sources, especially in reference books, information is arranged in a systematic order (e.g.,
it may be alphabetical, classified).

(h) Secondary sources, especially reference books, are exclusively designed to answer specific
queries. They are collection of millions of facts.

(i) Reference books are used within the library and meant for consultation only. Users are
not allowed to borrow.

(j) Secondary sources contain a list of documents (bibliographies) at the end of the text.
By furnishing the list, they guide the researchers back to the original sources.

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