Lecture 7

General Reference Source’s

General reference sources can be categorized mainly into five. These are:
a. Encyclopedia’s
b. Dictionaries
c. Fact Sources
d. Biographical Sources
e. Geographical Sources
Reference resources include Abstracts and Indexes, Handbooks, Atlases,
Gazetteers, Yearbooks, Biographical Dictionaries, to mention the most common.
The kind of information which a user is looking for will determine the kind of
reference books to be used. The reference librarian will always be around to guide
the users
1. Encyclopedias
They are reference sources that are devoted mainly to providing information and
facts on a variety of topics. They provide background information on any topic, as
well as current information. The articles are usually written by experts in the field
and the topics are arranged alphabetically. At the end of each article, a list of
references pertaining to the topic is provided. An encyclopedia could be general,
e.g. Encyclopedia Britannica, or a subject encyclopedia, e.g. Encyclopedia of the
Social Sciences. In the former, the encyclopedia covers all kinds of topics, while in
the latter, it is restricted to topics on a specific subject. They treat information from
the specialist point of view. Because encyclopedias take a long time to prepare,
they have supplements which bring them up to date annually or biannually.
2. Dictionaries
A dictionary is a special type of reference work that deals with all aspects of
words, such as meaning, spelling, pronunciation, etymology, synonyms,
syllabication and grammatical information. Dictionaries are generally arranged in
alphabetical order letter by letter. There are general, specialized and foreign
language dictionaries.

3. Fact Sources
These reference sources are the most heavily used for providing reference services.
They provide facts on a wide range of issues - both background and current
information. They consist of reference sources such as yearbooks, almanacs,
handbooks, directories, etc. The facts stated in these reference sources are usually
accurate as at the time of production. They are very useful in providing answers to
ready-reference questions.
Fact sources include:
 Almanac - Almanacs are the most popular among the fact sources. They provide
basic data and statistics on any topic \such as countries, personalities, subjects, etc.
They are published annually and they usually contain retrospective materials.
Examples are: World Almanac and Book of Facts. New York: Newspaper
Enterprise Association, 1868 Whitakers Almanac. London: Whitaker's Almanac,
1869 –
Astronomical and Meteorological Data Almanacs
The Old Farmer’s Almanac, published in print since 1792, is an example of the
first type of almanac. It provides traditional almanac content, including
astronomical information, weather forecasts, and gardening tips. It offers a freely
available companion site that has been online since 1996.
Astronomy pages offer charts and tables for various celestial events, including
moon phases, comet and meteor appearances, and rise/set times for the sun, moon,
and planets. Cooking pages, household pages, forums, and a Country Store are also
available.
Statistical, Tabular, and General Information Almanacs
Examples of the second type of almanac are the Information Please Almanac, The
World Almanac and Book of Facts, and The New York Times Almanac. Although
these almanacs serve as general almanacs, they contain easily accessible statistical
information. The World Almanac and Book of Facts began in 1868 as a
publication of the New York World newspaper. Although it prominently bears the
date of the following year, the almanac is usually published annually at the end of
November
The Information Please Almanac has been published annually since 1947 by a
series of publishers with variant titles. Its most recent title is the Time Almanac.
“Information Please” was the name of a famous radio quiz program. The
Information Please Almanac is very similar to The World Almanac both in content
and in style.
The New York Times Almanac began publication in 1997. Coverage includes
profiles of U.S. states and nations of the world, politics, education, health and
medicine, the economy, the environment, science and technology, awards and
prizes, sports, and obituaries. It features an extensive index
Almanacs for Children
The World Almanac for Kids appears annually in print and has a corresponding
Web site. It offers a plethora of “kid-friendly” information on such topics as
animals, the environment, nations, population, religion, birthdays and holidays, and
mythology, and it has sections on sports, books, and states as well as a U.S. history
time line. The site also offers a games area with puzzles, educational games, and
quizzes.
Another online almanac for children is Factmonster.com. Drawing on the contents
of the print Time for Kids Almanac, the freely available Web site offers
information in various categories: World, United States, People, Science, Math and
Money, Word Wise, and Sports.

 Yearbook- Year-books are published annually. They provide a variety of

information and review of events of the past year. The data and statistics contained
in them are usually up to date and reliable.
Some Year-books are general in nature and many deals with a specific country,
examples are the Nigerian Year-book pub1ishcd by Daily Times, or provide
information on world events Statesman’s Year-books.
 Handbook
- A handbook is usually a small book, conveniently handy and containing concise
information on a given institution or organization or country. For example,
Nigerian Handbook produced by the Department of Information in the Presidency.
Guinness Book of Records which provides information on the extremes in human
performance and of the natural world, human achievements, sports, humours,
political and social life, military arts and so on. Handbooks are very useful to
reference librarians. They are usually a collection of miscellaneous facts on a
particular theme or subject. They generally assume knowledge; hence they are
usually used to provide answers to specialists' queries. By their nature handbooks
are usually limited in scope. The most common handbook is: Guinness World
Records (formerly Guinness Book of Records). New York: Banmtam, 1956.
Manuals - These are like Handbooks. They provide guidance and information on
given subjects or topic. Turbian (1973) has produced A Manual for Writers of 47
term papers, theses and dissertations (4th ed. 1973), which gives information on
how to plan, collect materials and actually execute a project or conduct research.
 Compendium - A compendium can also be categorized as a fact source as it
provides a brief summary of important information in a subject field.

4. Biographical Sources
These are special reference sources that provide information on individuals
whether dead or living. They give written accounts of people’s lives which contain
a collection of sketches of varying lengths about individual lives. The names of
persons are arranged in alphabetical order. Sometimes it may be names of famous
men and women, politicians or professionals.
There are three major categories of biographical sources.
These are universal and current biographies, national and local, and professional
and subject biographies.

5. Geographical Sources
These are reference sources that provide information on places, such as towns,
cities, countries, geographical features, etc. These include atlases, gazetteers and
travel guides. Atlases are a collection of maps bound together.
 Atlases -An Atlas is a volume of maps plates and charts which provide
geographical information about places. Some atlases have articles or brief
description of items discussed. Others have tables and others illustrative materials
to highlight climate, vegetation, mineral resources, industrial products and soon.
The most comprehensive Atlas known is the Times Atlas of the world, Gazetteers.’
Another is the Atlas of African History. Atlases provide information on physical
and climatic conditions of different places such as towns, countries and regions,
e.g. The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition, London: Times Books,
1999, 220 p.
 Gazetteers - A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary which provides
information and data about places which may include villages, town or rivers,
mountains, lakes and other geographical features as well as population longitude
49 and latitude. The Gazetteer of the Northern Provinces Nigeria with a general
introduction. by A.H.M. Kirk Green (1974) is a good example. Gazetteers usually
provide information on towns, cities and other geographical features. These are
more or less a dictionary of geographical places such as cities, towns, countries,
etc. Examples include: The Columbia Gazetteer of the World. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1998. Webster's New Geographical Dictionary.
Springfield, MA: G &C Merriam Company, 1972.
 Guides - Guides provide direction or help on a given subject or topic of a
specific nature. Some guides provide information on cities or countries. Examples
are A to Z London and A guide to Ilesha. Others provide information on subjects
in bibliographic manner - Woodbury, M.A. A guide to source, of Educational
Research, and Lagos State Yellow Pages. Travel guides provide information to a
traveler about places of interest and features of a particular place the traveler
wishes to visit. Thus, information on transportation, hotels, restaurants, etc, is
usually provided.
 Directories - A directory gives a list of names and addresses of persons,
institutions, organizations, and business enterprises and so on in a town, district,
country or even the world. The best example of a directory is the National
Telephone Directory. Others are: The world Directory of Multinational
Enterprises, Directory of Catering and Hotels and Catering Establishments in
Nigeria. Directories are usually arranged in alphabetical order. They contain
information such as addresses, brief information on individuals or institutions.
There could be city directories, telephone directories or directories in major areas
of specialization