Documentary and Primary Sources

• The text below forms study notes for students
• Facts are derived from the provided text
• Concise and engaging notes are given
• All key facts, figures, and entities are listed

Documentary Sources

• Movable type printing in the 1450s increased publication production.
• Manuscripts, notes, and diaries co-existed with printed documents.
• Documentary and non-documentary sources form the entire information source spectrum.

Information Sources

• Include documentaries and non-documentary
• May be divided into published and unpublished categories.
• The classification of documents differs across authors.
• Discrepancies in document classification are addressed.

Primary Sources

• Research periodicals are included.
• Technical reports and conference proceedings are included.
• Patents and standards are included.
• Theses and project reports are included.
• Official publications and trade literature are included.
• Laboratory notebooks, diaries, and internal research reports are included.
• Correspondence and personal files are included.

Secondary Sources

• Bibliographies, secondary periodicals, and reference books are included.
• Encyclopaedias and dictionaries are included.
• Handbooks and manuals are included.
• Yearbooks, directories, formularies, and textbooks are included.

Tertiary Sources

• Bibliography of bibliographies is included.
• Directory of directories is included.
• Library catalogues are included.
• Guides to information sources are included.

Information Source vs Information Resource

• 'Information source' traditionally referred to documents or institutions providing information.
• 'Information resource' relates to information and communication technologies, especially information management.

Categorization of Sources: Objectives

• Information sources can be categorized.
• Categorization criteria: type, content, media, and publication status.
• Lack of unanimity exists in categorization.
• Categorization is generally applicable to scientific publications, and categorization has uses.

Documentary Sources

• Form of documents are documentary sources.
• The term 'document' now includes books, periodicals, manuscripts, videotapes, computer files, and databases.

Non-Documentary Sources

• Humans, organizations, and the World Wide Web are non-documentary.

Print Sources

• All sources in print form.

Non-Print Sources

• Documentary sources that are not printed.

Published Sources

• Documentary sources, both printed and non-printed, produced by publishers in large numbers, usually priced and sold.

Unpublished Sources

• Documentary sources neither published nor produced in large numbers, and usually not for sale.

Primary Sources

• Contain newly generated information, original research, or new interpretations of known facts, often scattered and unorganized.

Secondary Sources

• Dependent on primary sources, organized, and arranged according to a definite plan.

Tertiary Sources

• Dependent on secondary sources or both primary and secondary sources, acting as a key to them.

Categorization by Ranganathan

• Documents are categorized by thought content volume (macro/micro) and recording media (conventional/non-conventional).

Lack of Unanimity in Categorization

• No unanimity exists in the categorization of sources like textbooks, monographs, manuals, yearbooks, bibliographies, and directories.

Usefulness of Categorization

• Aids in judging collection soundness and determining how research-oriented a field is.

Primary Sources: Objectives

• Define, categorize, and discuss the content of various types of primary sources.

Primary Periodicals

• Contain primarily research papers, published by learned bodies or commercial organizations, with original content, high standards, and indexing.

Reports

• Technical reports, administrative reports, and trip reports exist.

Anthologies of Papers

• A festschrift is a collection of writings published in honor of a learned person.

Conference Documents

• Important information sources with nascent ideas, categorized by scope (international, national, provincial) or subject, generating pre- and post-conference documents.

Patents

• Official rights given to inventors for their creations, considered primary information sources with detailed descriptions and figures, issued by patent offices.

Standards

• Rules for measuring quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality, always primary sources, broadly categorized as technical/industrial or physical/scientific.

Trade Literature

• Provides application-oriented descriptive information about products and processes, distributed freely, serving a dual function of informing and stimulating sales, appearing in various forms.

Theses and Dissertations

• Documents containing details of research conducted under expert guidance, indicating areas for further research, considered primary sources, though access was difficult but now improving with digitization.

Project Reports

• Required for a student to work on a project approved by the authorities concerned.

Reprints

• A quick way to disseminate information with some printed copies of hte article for her/his own use.

Information Leaflets

• Carriers of information that is great for patients, parents, kids and young peoples.

Preprints/manuscripts

• Type-written scientific paper; i.e. the manuscript, that is yet to be published in a scientific journal.

Laboratory Notebooks

• Recording daily laboratory activities are great for researchers

Diaries

• Providing the best authenic information to things.

Structure of Sources

• This unit discusses the secondary and tetrary sources of information.
• Help with appropiate examples

Express Information Bulletin

• Published monthly in Russia with very clear details and diagrams..

Abstracting Periodicals

• Contains publications abstarcts in addition to details of bibliographical.

The features of primary periodicals

• They are brought out by learned bodies and commercial/private organizations.
• They commonly have something that shows a new interpretation or original.