Page 208 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 10: Directories

Notes
Did u know? In the US, under current rules and practices, mobile phone and Voice over IP
listings are not included in telephone directories. Efforts to create cellular directories have
met stiff opposition from several fronts, including those who seek to avoid telemarketers.

A telephone directory and its content may be known by the colour of the paper it is printed on.
A white page generally indicates personal or alphabetic listings.
Yellow pages, golden pages, A2Z, or classified directory is usually a “business directory,”
where businesses are listed alphabetically within each of many classifications (e.g.,
“lawyers”), almost always with paid advertising.

Grey pages, sometimes called a “reverse telephone directory,” allowing subscriber details
to be found for a given number. Not available in all jurisdictions for reasons of privacy.
Other colours may have other meanings; for example, information on government agencies is
often printed on blue pages or green pages.
Telephone directories can be published in hard copy or in electronic form. In the latter case, the
directory can be provided as an online service through proprietary terminals or over the Internet,
or on physical media such as CD-ROM. In many countries directories are both published in book
for and also available over the Internet. Printed directories were usually supplied free of charge.

10.3.1 History

The first telephone directory, consisting of a single piece of cardboard, was issued on 21 February
1878; it listed 50 businesses in New Haven, Connecticut that had a telephone. The first British
telephone directory was published on 15 January 1880 by the Telephone Company. It contained
248 names and addresses of individuals and businesses in London; telephone numbers were not
used at the time as subscribers were asked for by name at the exchange. The directory is preserved
as part of the British phone book collection by BT Archives.
In 1981 France is the first country to have an Electronic Directory on an Internet system called
Minitel. The Directory is called “11” after its telephone access number. In 1991 the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled (in Feist v. Rural) that telephone companies do not have a copyright on telephone
listings, because copyright protects creativity and not the mere labour of collecting existing
information. 1996 is the year the first telephone directories go online in the USA. Yellowpages.com
and Whitepages.com, both see their start in April.
In the 21st century, printed telephone directories are increasingly criticized as waste. In 2012,
after some North American cities passed laws banning the distribution of telephone books, an
industry group sued and obtained a court ruling permitting the distribution to continue.
Manufacture and distribution of telephone directories produces over 1,400,000 metric tons of
greenhouse gases and consumes over 600,000 tons of paper annually.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
7. A ...................................... is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or
subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory.
8. A telephone directory is also known as a .......................................
9. Telephone directories can be published in ........................................

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