Page 219 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes 11.2.1 General Reference Sources

Sources such as Biographies and indexes, Encyclopaedias, Dictionaries, Sources of statistics, and
Biographical sources are all reference books in their own right that serve as information sources
for geography. However, they also contain a lot of other information relating to other areas.
The scope of all these sources goes beyond geographical information. Therefore, they are called
general reference books containing useful geographical data.

11.2.2 Specific Reference Sources

Specialized geographical information sources used in reference work can be divided into three
categories:
Maps, Atlases, and Globes

Gazetteers
Travel Guides
The obvious advantages of these specialized geographical reference tools are:
Giving information for smaller units not found in general reference books;
Information given often is more precise; and

These sources generally are limited to one area, and easier to use.
Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

6. Geographical information can be located in a variety of sources of information.
7. Giving information for smaller units not found in general reference books.

11.3 Maps, Atlases, Globes

Maps, atlases, and globes are the main sources of geographical information. Let us see what
these sources how they are ways to in are.
Maps: According to ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (1983), “a map is a
representation normally drawn to a scale and on a flat medium of a selection of material
or abstract features on, or in relation to, the surface of the earth or another celestial body.”

The Library of Congress defines maps in a broad way as “All forms of cartographic
materials normally added to the collections of the library including flat maps and charts,
collection of maps in atlas form, terrain models, globes, etc.”
Atlas: According to ALA Glossary, an atlas is, “a volume of maps, plates, engravings,
tables etc., with or without descriptive letter press. It may be an independent publication
or may have been issued to accompany one or more volumes of text.”
Globe: The difference between a map and a globe is of form. A map is any geographic
image of the earth drawn to scale on a flat surface whereas a globe is a spherical
representation of the earth’s surface.

Did u know? It is a hollow ball of metal, bearing a word map on its surface and is mounted
on an axle, which permits its rotation.

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