Page 82 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Unit 10: Role of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Documents in the Growth and Development of Social Science

10.3 Non-Conventional Sources of Information Notes

Besides the documentary and non-documentary sources there is a prevalent feeling that new
mechanism is needed to make information more readily accessible and that better techniques are
needed to channel it to the ultimate consumer. Thus there are a number of non-conventional sources
which are in machine readable from. A few of them have been discussed below:

Radio

The onset of non-conventional media as sources of information began with radio. It has been a speedy
means of information communication for years. Radio is still an effective medium for this purpose as
it transmits both primary and secondary type of information.
Although this medium is not popularly used because of the new developments in communication,
yet it has had its importance and is still used in rural areas.

Audio–Discs and Tapes

They may be used to store and retrive information as and when required, and is a handy means of
information communication. Audio tapes and discs are being used in some cases as auxiliary forms
of publication for books and journals, particularly when it is difficult to transmit the information
in any other form. Some audio-tapes and discs used as publication media also represent secondary
publication in the form of abstracts and reviews of the literature in a particular field; they also represent
primary publications for example, original panel discussions, conferences or lectures are recorded for
subsequent duplication and distribution.

Film Media
y Motion–picture films: Motion picture films also represent a medium for dissemination of original
information that lends itself primarily to visual representation, but in most cases films are
used principally as teaching aids. Films are also extensively used to store images of text in
miniaturized from for ease in duplication, storage and dissemination.
y Micro-film: It usually records bulky and rate documents which require occasional reference.
Information stored in the daily newspapers of one year can be reduced and recorded in one
100 feet reel of 35mm.film i.e. the size of two cigarette packets.
y Micro-Fiche: It is a transparent film of 6×4” size, recording thousand of pages, which can be stored
in card cabinet’s field in drawers. Many national government agencies and international bodies
such as the General Assembly of the United Nations have produced report and proceedings
on microfiche. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica can be stored on a 6×4” microfiche.
y Micro–card: It is a useful media to store old sets of journals, out-of–print and rare series
documents. It is an opaque card, like microfiche, and takes 26 pages of a book or article on
one side microfiche, and takes 26 pages of a book or article on one side of the card, it can be
field like the ordinary catalogue card.

Magnetic Tapes

Magnetic tapes have vast storing capacity. It is made of half an inch plastic with magnetic exide
coated surface on one side. On every centimeter of the tape about 2500 characters can be stored. It is
highly compact in comparison to punched cards. In case of incorrect data it can be erased and new
information can be entered into the same tape.

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