LIS Interview Questions & Answers Series 14

Q. Five New Laws of Librarianship by Michael Gorman: 1. Libraries serve humanity; 2. Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated; 3. Use technology intelligently to enhance service; 4. Protect free access to knowledge 5. Honor the past and create the future Q. Why used 'Anglo' in Anglo American Cataloguing Rule? Ans. Anglo means English. Here Anglo means British. It is jointly published by ALA (America), CLA (Canada) & CILIP [previously LA] (UK) Q. Total No. of Colleges in a state is available from which reference source? Ans. Universities Handbook. Q. Reference Source Selection at a glance: For information about... Choose... Words Dictionaries General information/Overview of topic Encyclopedias Names & addresses of people, Directories organizations, institutions, companies Profiles of people Biographical Dictionaries Places/Maps Gazetteers or Atlases Facts and Statistics Almanacs Formula, Tables, How-To-Do-It Handbooks and Manuals A person's work Reviews or Criticisms Historical tables, Dates, outlines, historical timelines Chronologies, Historical yearbooks Periodical Articles Indexes or Abstracts Bibliographies or Guides to Books and other sources Literature... 100 Philosophy 110 Metaphysics 120 Epistemology 130 Parapsychology & occultism 140 Philosophical schools of thought 150 Psychology 160 Logic 170 Ethics 180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy Q.How these micro subjects are being formed? Ans. Through Fission. Q. Library is a growing organism. Why the term 'organism' being used instead of 'organisation'? Ans. As the animals and plants grown time to time due to biological cause a library should develop/grown like this (i.e., extension of building, purchasing of new books, journals, e-resources and inclusion of new services) otherwise it will be treated as dead. Types of Reference Tools Two major categories of reference materials are general and subject. General sources include all subjects and present overviews of topics. Reference materials focused on specific subjects can provide more in-depth coverage. • Dictionaries: Dictionaries provide information about words. Types: a) General dictionaries includes Webster's International Dictionary, the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, and the MerriamWebster Collegiate Dictionary. These sources generally provide definitions, pronunciations, syllabication, and usage. b) Historical dictionaries provide the history of a word from its introduction into the language to the present. The Oxford English Dictionary is an excellent example of this type of dictionary. c) Etymological dictionaries are dictionaries which emphasize the anaylsis of components of words and their cognates in other languages. These dictionaries emphasize the linguistic and grammatical history of the word usage. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology is an example of an etymological dictionary. d) Period or scholarly specialized dictionaries focus on a particular place or time period. For example, try the Dictionary of Alaskan English if you would like to know when the word "cheechako" was first used. e) Foreign language dictionaries are fairly self-explanatory. We've all looked up words in a French or Spanish or other Western European language. Don't forget other wonderful dictionaries, such as the Yup'ik Eskimo Dictionary or the Inupiat Eskimo dictionary. f) Subject dictionaries focus on word definitions in a subject area, such as finance, law, botany, electronics, physics, etc. g) Other dictionaries include dictionaries of slang, abbreviations, synonyms, antonyms, abbreviations, acronyms, reversals, rhyming, idioms, phrases, and guides to correct usage. Dictionary of Acronyms and Abbreviations, The Macmillan Dictionary of Historical Slang, Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, The American Language, Strunk's Elements of Style. • Encyclopedias Encyclopedias provide general background information. Types a) General encyclopedias usually arrange articles alphabetically by topic. Look for an accompanying index which may list crossreferences to other articles. Included in this category are Encyclopaedia Britannica (29 volumes), The Cambridge Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana, and the Columbia Encyclopedia. b) Subject encyclopedias are available for almost every academic discipline. They provide more in-depth and technical information than general encyclopedias. Subject encyclopedias generally assume some prior knowledge of the subject. A few examples of subject encyclopedias include the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Encyclopedia of World Art, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Encyclopedia of Archaeology. • Directories Directories provide names, addresses, affiliations, etc. of people, organizations, or institutions. They can be used to verify addresses, name spellings, and provide contact information. a) General directories: Zip Code & Post Office Directory, Encyclopedia of Associations b) Subject directories: Fairbanks Phone Directory, Museums of the World, A Directory of Eskimo Artists in Sculpture and Prints, Directory of Multinationals, Federal Government Agencies Directory (Hierarchical), Thomas Register Manufacturers, Scholarly Societies Project. of American • Biographical Dictionaries Biographical dictionaries contain short articles about people's lives. a) General biographical dictionaries include Current Biography, Dictionary of American Biography, Who's Who, Encyclopedia of World Biography, etc. b) Subject biographical dictionaries may focus on a subject area or group. These sources include Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Contemporary Authors, Biographical Dictionary of Psychology, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Women of Science, etc. • Gazetteers or Atlases Geographic information is located in gazetteers, atlases and maps. Atlases contain collections of maps. They provide information on geographical/political changes. There are world, national, and thematic atlases and these may be current or historical. a) World atlases include National Geographic Atlas of the World. b) National atlases: National Atlas of the United States, Atlas of the American Revolution. c) Thematic atlases focus on a specific subject area, such as astronomy or agriculture. Examples include, The Oxford Economic Atlas of the World and the Environmental Atlas of Alaska. Gazetteers are sometimes referred to as geographical dictionaries and provide descriptions of places, but no maps. a) General gazetteers include Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, Gazetteer of Undersea Features, The World Gazetteer , etc. b) Regional gazetteers, such as Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, by D. Orth, focus on a specific geographical region and are good places to look if you want to know the location of a town, its population, or where its name came from. Sometimes atlases and gazetteers are combined, as in the Alaska Atlas and Gazetteer, by DeLorme Mapping, which publishes similar products for the other states. • Almanacs Almanacs contain statistics and facts about countries, events, personalities, or subjects. Almanac resources have call numbers that begin with AY. a) General almanacs include the Statistical Abstract of the United States, The New York Public Library Desk Reference, World Almanac (an American focus), Information Please Almanac (print ed. called Time Almanac), Whitaker's Almanak (United Kingdom focus). b) Subject almanacs include The Weather Almanac, The Almanac of Renewable Energy, Political Reference Almanac, Alaska Almanac, and more. • Handbooks/Manuals Handbooks and manuals are subject area tools. Handbooks provide facts, terms, concepts, movements, etc. of a topic. Manuals provide detailed instructions on a particular subject, such as how-to-do something or how something works. a) b) Handbooks: Handbook of North American Indians, Guide to Alaska Trees, Words and Ideas: A Handbook for College Writing, Handbook of Mathematical Formulas, MLA Handbook For Writers of Research Papers. Manuals: Manual of Photography, Manual for Environmental Impact Evaluation, Alaska Craftsman Home Building Manual, United States Government Manual. Review & Criticism Sources These tools provide reviews or critiques of a person's work. • • General: Book Review Digest (OCLC FirstSearch, hereafter called FirstSearch), MLA (FirstSearch), New York Times Book Review, Contemporary Literary Criticism. Subject: Children's Literature Review, Popular Music Record Reviews. Historical Tables, Chronologies, Historical Yearbooks Historical tables and chronologies pesent historical facts in different formats. Historical tables provide facts chronologically in columns with each column representing another geographical area or other major area, such as history, economics, religions. etc. Chronologies use narrative form to present facts. Historical tables and chronologies may span long or very short time periods. Historical yearbooks provide facts and statistics for a single year and may be published annually. • • • Historical Tables: The Timetables of History, Historical Tables, 58 BCAD 1985. Chronologies: Chronology of World History, The New York Public Library Book of Chronologies, Chronology of the Expanding World, 1492-1762, A Chronology of the People's Republic of China from October 1, 1949, Annals of European Civilization, 1501-1900. Historical Yearbooks: The Statesman's Year-Book. Indexes & Abstracts Indexes and abstracts lead to additional sources of periodical articles. Indexes only provide author, title, and subject information. Abstracts tend to be more descriptive. Some online index databases also include the fulltext of the article. • • General: Reader's Guide to Periodic Index (FirstSearch), Book Review Index, Periodicals Abstracts (FirstSearch). Subject: Art Abstracts (FirstSearch), New York Times Index (ABI Inform), Biography Index (FirstSearch), Chemical Abstracts. Bibliographies Bibliographies lead to other information sources. They are lists of books and other materials that provide author, title, and publication information. Annotated bibliographies also include a brief description or summary of the item. Bibliographies are available on almost every topic and may focus on specific persons, groups, subjects, or time periods. Many bibliographies are selective and do not attempt to include all publications. Bibliographies are sometimes referred to as "Guides to the Literature ..." Examples: American Fiction, 1774-1850, Bibliography of Education, Utilization of Wood Residues: An Annotated Bibliography, A Bibliography of Sir Walter Scott, MLA Bibliography (FirstSearch), Current Bibliographies in Medicine (NLM), Equity Issues in Science and Math (State of AK, Dept of ED), Alutiiq Ethnographic Bibliography (ANKN). Ready Reference The Ready Reference Collection contains reference sources that are used most frequently. The Ready Reference shelves are located adjacent to the Reference Desk. The collection includes reference tools such as The Encyclopedia of Associations, The Encyclopedia of Associations, The Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, Style guides (MLA, APA, Chicago), a thesaurus, The Physician's Desk Reference, Alaska phone directories, Black's Law Dictionary, World Almanac, The Merck Manual of Medical Information, Zip Code Directories, etc. How to find reference materials in Library: All materials in the Reference Collection can be found by searching the library catalog. Once you determine what type of reference source you need, simply do a subject or keyword search for that tool. All items with a REF location code may be helpful to find the reference collection. • Browse the reference section • Ask a Reference Librarian. Ask in-person at the Reference Desk or send your question via email to Ask a Librarian. A librarian will respond to your question via e-mail. • Refer to guides to reference materials, such as Guide to Reference Books. • Search the Internet. Many university web sites and Internet "virtual libraries" provide access to web reference resources. Or locate reference sources on the Web using a search engine. Web Resources for Reference Tools The number of Internet reference tools increases every year. If you are looking for reliable online versions of your favorite print research tools, some good places to start are university sponsored reference sites, such as, Internet subject directories or virtual libraries. Virtual Libraries, web sites created by librarians that index quality web links, can also help you find quality Internet reference tools. Many of these sites have specific "general reference" sections. Try some of the virtual libraries listed here: • • • • • • Reference Desk - Librarian's Index to the Internet. Includes links to other information sources including almanacs, calendars, dictionaries, encyclopedias, holidays, names, phone books, and statistics. General Reference - WWW Virtual Library. One of the first virtual library sites, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the web itself. Reference and Periodicals - Awesome Library. This virtual library provides separate indexes for teachers, kids, teens, parents, librarians and "community." Reference Resources - Internet Public library. Maintained by the University of Michigan. Reference works are broken into over twenty sub categories from almanacs to trivia. Electronic Resources: For The Reference Desk - A selective list of reference sites from the Library of Congress. See this linked Academic Info Digital Library site for a list of subject specific virtual libraries. Other good online reference tools can be found on the WWW. The selected sites below represent the variety of online resources. • • • • • • • • Bartleby.com This site features full text of several reference standards, including Columbia Encyclopedia, American Heritage Dictionary, Strunk & White's Elements of Style, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Gray's Anatomy, Roget's Thesaurus, the World Factbook, and more. The Riley Guide. Career information, including preparing a resume, job listings, and links to professional organizations NIH Health Information. Created by the National Institutes of Health. Health Information provides links to reliable web sources on a wide range of health issues. Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Features answers to frequently asked questions about the Smithsonian and links to Smithsonian resources on subjects from Art to Zoology. E-Conflict World Encyclopedia. Country information from around the world. A resource for business, tourists, students and teachers. Currency Conversion. A conversion tool sponsored by Yahoo. Essentials of Music. A W.W. Norton. site. Includes overviews of historical periods of classical music, biographies of composers, and a dictionary of music terms. Mammals Species of the World (MSW). Sponsored by the Smithsonian national Museum of Natural History, this site contains the names of the 4,629 currently recognized species of mammals, in • • • a taxonomic hierarchy that includes Order, Family, Subfamily, and Genus Nobel Foundation. The official site for the Nobel Prize Foundation. Includes information on all recipients, arranged by prize category. Online Literary Criticism Collection. The Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection contains 4689 critical and biographical web sites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period. ZIP Code Look-Up and Address Information. A. U.S. Postal Service site.