Page 224 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 11: Geographical Sources

Times London Index-gazetteer of the World. London: Times Publishing, 1965. Notes
About 3,45,000 geographical locations, countries, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, and
other geographical features find place in this gazetteer. They provide map references to
1,98,000 locations given in the mind-century edition of Times Atlas of the World. It gives
geographical equivalent in some fifty languages.

(b) National Gazetteers: Examples include:
National Gazetteer of the United States of America: United States since 1990. Washington:
U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1990.

A condensed version of the National Gazetteer of the United States of America volume set,
(1983–1990. “Includes about 45000 entries for populated places, administrative areas and
major physical features”.
Gazetteer of India: The Indian Union/Central Gazetteer Unit, Government of India. Delhi:
Publications Division, 1965–1978. 4 volumes.

Developed on the pattern of the first four volumes of the Imperial Gazetteer, the volumes
are titled as:
(i) Country and People

(ii) History and culture
(iii) Economic structure and Activities
(iv) Administration and Public Welfare
All the chapters in each volume have been contributed by a team of experts in the field and
carry a bibliography at the end. Volumes have been reprinted from time to time; volume
2 had its fifth printing in 1997.

(c) Local/District Gazetteers: Most of the districts in India have gazetteers now. They could
be called miniature encyclopaedias for each district. They contain extremely useful
reference material for the administrator, the scholar and the layman alike.
Examples include:
Orissa District Gazetteers/ed. By Nilamanisenapti. Koraput, Cuttack: Govt. Press, 1966.
Andhra Pradesh District. Gazetteers.

The Gazetteer of the District of Hyderabad by M.V.S. Prasad Rau. Hyderabad: District
Gazetteers Department, Andhra Pradesh.

Task Differentiate between the maps, atlases, and gazetteers.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
12. A map is a geographical dictionary of places arranged alphabetically.

13. Most of the districts in India have gazetteers now.
14. The ALA of Library and Information Science (1983) defines it as “a geographical dictionary”.
Rather it has been called “Dictionary of Places”.

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