PREAMBLE

Students able to;

Identify various types of encyclopedia and
dictionaries
Discuss criteria used in evaluation of encyclopedia
and dictionaries.

01/11/22 2
 Various means by which information is recorded
for use by individual or organization
 Could be observation, people, organization,
speeches, documents, pictures, manuscripts, art
works
 Could be in print or non-print format

01/11/22 3
 Government –department, agencies, ministry
 Academic /Research Institution – colleges,
universities, research institution
 Private sector – Private individual, Non-
government, non-profit organization and
commercial agencies, private agencies, professional
association, corporate bodies & laboratory

01/11/22 4
 lookup rather than reading
 provides a representation based upon which we
proceed with retrieval of information from
another source (secondary, primary)
 provides access to organized information

01/11/22 5
 May be obtained from;
› Human sources
› Archive
› Library
› Internet

01/11/22 6
 Format
 Scope
 Relation to similar works
 Authority
 Treatment
 Arrangement
 Special features
 Cost
01/11/22 7
Authority
1. Authorship. What are the qualifications in experience and
education of the author, authors, contributors, and editors by
reputation and as revealed in previous works?

2. Auspices. What is the reputation of the publisher or the

sponsoring agency?

3. Genealogy. Is the work new? If it is based on previous

publication, what is the extent of the revision

01/11/22 8
Scope
4. Purpose. To what extent is the statement of purpose in
the preface fulfilled in the text?
5. Coverage. What is the range of subject matter and what
are the limitations?
6. Recency. How up to date is the material? Are all of the
articles and bibliographies as recent as the last copyright date?
7. Bibliographies. To what extent do the bibliographies
indicate scholarship and send the user on to additional
information?

01/11/22 9
Treatment
8. Accuracy. How thorough, reliable and complete
are the facts?
9. Objectivity. Is there any bias in controversial
issues? How balanced is the space given one subject
as compared with others of equal importance?
10. Style. Is the writing level that of the layman or the
scholar, adult, or child? How readable is the work?

01/11/22 10
Arrangement
11. Sequence. Does the sequence of content follow
classified, chronologic, geographic, tabular or
alphabetic order? If alphabetic, are the topics
large or small?

12. Indexing. Is the main text arrangement adequately

complemented by indexes and cross references

01/11/22 11
Format
13. Physical make-up. Do binding, paper, type, and
layout meet minimum specifications?

14. Illustrations. Are the illustrations of good

quality, are they of real significance and are they
directly related to the text?

01/11/22 12
Special features

15. Distinction. What features distinguish this

information source (reference book) from all
others?

16. Comparative values. How does the work

compare to similar titles? Reviews: are they
favourable

01/11/22 13
 DICTIONARIES  GEOGRAPHICAL
 ENCYCLOPEDIAS SOURCES
 READY REFERENCE  GOVERNMENT
SOURCE: ALMANACS, DOCUMENTS
YEARBOOKS,  BIBLIOGRAPHIES/
HANDBOOKS, CATALOG
DIRECTORIES  INTERNET
 BIOGRAPHICAL  ELECTRONIC
SOURCES SOURCES FOR
REFERENCE
SERVICES

01/11/22 14
 A reference book that
contains words listed in
alphabetical order and that
gives information about the
words' meanings, forms,
pronunciations, etc.
 http://www.merriam-webster.com/
dictionary/dictionary
A reference work containing an 
alphabetical list of words in o
ne language with their transla
tions in another language.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
dictionary

01/11/22 16
 17

Synonyms:
i.lexicon
ii.vocabulary
iii.wordbook
iv.word list
v.thesaurus
vi.glossary

01/11/22
01/11/22 18
 DICTIONARIES
Used :
To define words
To verify spelling, syllabication or
pronunciation
To check on usage
To determine the etymological (history
of a word)
To standardize the language based on
current usage
 
01/11/22 19
General word
dictionaries - provide
overall information
such as pronunciation
(including syllabication
and emphasis),
definition, function,
variant spellings and
example of usage.

01/11/22 20
 Specialized dictionaries
(discipline-focused
dictionary) - give more
detail in its definition,
example and usage such as
etymological , synonyms and
antonyms, slang,
colloquialisms, dual-
language, dialect, and usage
dictionaries

01/11/22 21
 Dictionaries
concerned with a
specific subject area.

01/11/22 22
a) Unabridged
Comprehensive, covering all the
words of a language, provide more
information than abridged dictionary
e. g:
Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary

Random House Webster's

Unabridged Dictionary

01/11/22 23
b)Abridged
 Based on a larger work,
reduced in content but retaining the
features of the unabridged work;
may include on a word’s definition,
part of speech, pronunciation and
usage, variant spellings, word
etymology, lengthy notes about
usage, synonyms or words history
and color pictures.
 e. g: The Random House
College Dictionary

01/11/22 24
c) General-purpose desk dictionaries not
abridgments of a work but which include only a
selection of the words of a language
e. g: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionaries

d) Dictionaries in electronic form – include

enhancements such as hyperlinks for cross-
reference or audio samples of correct
pronunciation.

01/11/22 25
e) Etymological dictionaries – consulted for its
extensive etymologies that record history of words
and meanings
f) Foreign language/English-Language Dictionaries
– popular type of reference book, generally issued
in series by major publishers with the same format
throughout the series

01/11/22 26
g) Dictionaries of slang and dialect – compiled
because standard dictionaries frequently omit
colloquial and vulgar terms or do not define
them with enough depth. Almost entirely
descriptive, with every nuance of meaning
considered valid as long as it is used by
someone
h) Thesauri and user guides – very specialized
dictionaries that deals only with word synonyms
and antonyms

01/11/22 27
01/11/22 28
DICTIONARIES

Eight (8) categories in print or digital

a) General English language dictionaries
b) Paperback dictionaries
c) Historical dictionaries
d) Period or scholarly specialized titles
e) Etymological dictionaries
f) Foreign language
g) Subject works
h) “Others”

01/11/22 29
 DICTIONARIES
Points of Evaluation
 a) Authority
- investigate the background of the
publishers (commercial; university presses)
- print, online publisher
- reviews in the library literature
- browsing catalogs or bookstores.
        e.g. :
Merriam-Webster
        Oxford University Press
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
       
       
        01/11/22 30
- difficult to judge qualification of individual
compilers
- general language dictionaries tend to be compiled
by the editorial staff of publishers
- publishers’ reputation are built on earlier
editions or on similar types of publications
- reference librarians should learn the names of
most authoritative

01/11/22 31
b) Accuracy
– Spelling and definition;
evaluate currency of spelling in recent dictionaries
(check words that have been modernized..e.g.
‘airplane’ rather than ‘aeroplane’
-Check authorities for hyphenation (e.g. ‘on-line’ to
‘online’)
-Definition should reflect the meaning of the word
in clear, unambiguous terms

01/11/22 32
c) Currency – current usage of words –usage is
continually changing; e.g. slang term can become
standard usage
d) Format - large unabridged dictionaries
infrequently published; abridged /desk dictionaries
must be judge on effectiveness of purpose as stated
in title or introduction; checked on the availability in
CD-ROMs and online databases ; writing formats
meet the targeted audience

01/11/22 33
e) Scope – is stated in its preface or introduction

f) Pronunciations - guides are necessity in all

general-language dictionaries

g)Illustrations add interest and information to the

dictionaries, large color plates are attractive but not
a necessity as in the small illustrations

01/11/22 34
h) Syllabication - the division of words into syllables, either
in speech or in writing (the act, process or method of forming
or clarifying words into syllables)
i) Synonyms - a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly
the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for
example shut is a synonym of close.
j) Grammatical information –indicates the parts of
speech (verb, noun, adjective); contain sub-categorization
information ( countable/non-countable, etc…)

01/11/22 35
k) Usage - provide guidance on how best to use the
language in context; the customary manner in which
a language or a form of a language is spoken or
written

l) Vocabulary - the stock of words used by or known

to a particular people or group of persons

01/11/22 36
Sites of dictionaries on Web
a)OneLook Dictionary Search www.onelook.com
b)Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com

01/11/22 37
ENCYCLOPEDIA

01/11/22 38
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
A book giving information on all branches of
knowledge or a specific subject. An idea book,
which deals with concepts.
Best used for finding answers to background
questions related to general information and self-
education.
May come in a single volume on one specific
subject or multivolume work
Provide a summarized compendium of
multidisciplinary knowledge in a variable,
organized and readily accessible manner

01/11/22 39
Encyclopedia often used to provide answer for;
i.Ready reference information
ii.General background information
iii.‘Pre-research” information – useful launch point
for learning basic research skills & for embarking
on research itself

01/11/22 40
i. General - a work that contains information on all
branches of knowledge
E.g.:
 The Encyclopedia Americana
 The New Encyclopedia Britannica
 Collier’s Encyclopedia
 The World Book Encyclopedia

01/11/22 41
 ENCYCLOPEDIAS
ii. Subject Encyclopedia – give more in-depth
coverage to specific field of knowledge; varying
in size and prize; deliver depth and breadth of
information not covered in general encyclopedia

  

01/11/22 42
01/11/22 43
 ENCYCLOPEDIAS – Points of evaluation

a)    Scope
- Purpose, intended audience and format of
an encyclopedia is generally found in
its prefatory remarks.
- Subject coverage - assess whether
encyclopedia is balanced with respect to
subject coverage
-Audience –subject matter and age
determine an encyclopedia’s audience

  01/11/22 44
b)    Authority
Accuracy and reliability – examination of a
source’s prefatory remarks can reveal much about its
authority & its worthiness ; check for author’s credit
E.g.:
Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corp
- Grolier Incorporated
- Macmillan Educational Corporation

01/11/22 45
ENCYCLOPEDIAS: Points of evaluation…cont’d
c) Viewpoint and objectivity – balanced coverage
d) Writing style
e) Up-to-date / Recent - Including revision plans
f) Arrangement and entry- general multivolume
generally follow a common format-
alphabetical arrangement with associative
cross references and indexes
g) Index -- With reference to how one gains
access to information in the set
h) Format - Physical format and illustrations
i) Cost
j) The presence of biliographies
01/11/22 46
01/11/22 47
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Sites of online encyclopedias on the Web
a) http://www.britannica.com/
b) http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/
c) http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/
d) http://www.scholarpedia.org/

01/11/22 48
THANK YOU

01/11/22 49