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Unit 10: Role of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Documents in the Growth and Development of Social Science
10.2 Non-Documentary Sources Notes
There are a number of sources that provide information but are not generally printed or published
in a documentary form, are known as non-documentary sources. Although these documents are in a
vague form, they are not easily available, yet they contain important information. These sources are
mainly divided into two types:
1. Formal
2. Informal
10.2.1 Formal Sources
They contain information in some or the other forms as plans, charts etc., that may be in printed form
but are not published and so are beyond the reach of general users. Some of these sources are brought
out by government establishments, departments, public undertakings, learned and professional bodies,
universities, industrial concerns, data centres.
Formal Sources used by Social Scientists
Formal and informal sources of information refer to all facilities and channels or transmission media
from which scientists can obtain information. The table 10.1 given below showed the results of a
survey conducted to find the formal sources used by social scientists:
Table 10.1: Formal Sources Used by the Social Scientists
Sources Generally used Rarely used Never used
Personal Information File 11 (15.7%) 42 (60%) 17 (24.3%)
Textbooks/ Monographs 69 (99.8%) Nil 1 (1.4%)
Print Journals 64 (91.4%) 4 (5.7%) 2 (2.9%)
Newspapers/ Magazines 55 (78.6%) 12 (17.1%) 3 (4.5%)
Government Publications 16 {22 9%) 49 (70%) 5 (7.1%)
Publishers Catalogue 25 (35.7%) 37 (52.9%) 8 (11.4%)
Library Catalogue 31 (47 1%) 32 (47.1%) 6 (8.6%)
Thesis/ Dissertation 14 (20%) 50 (71.4%) 5 (7.1%)
Abstract/ Indexes 34 (48 6%) 30 (42.9%) 5 (7.1%)
Research Report 28 (40%) 37 (52.9%) 4 (5.7%)
Bibliography 30 {55 7%) 24 (34.3%) 6 (8.6%)
The most-used resources include monographs and textbooks, print journals, newspapers, and
magazines.
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