Ready Reference Sources

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Ready Reference Sources

• Sajjad ur Rehman

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Almanacs, Yearbooks Handbooks Nature

• Concise factual information
• Fastest and easiest way to retrieve factual
  information
• Current and historical events
• Focus on governments, organizations, events,
  things
• Statistical presentation of factual data

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Almanacs

• 17th/18th Century tools, primarily for weather,
  other forecasts and some handy information
• 19th century American papers started publishing
  them
• Content calendar, political, historical and
  current events of popular interest
• Broad in geographical and subject coverage,
  sports, entertainment and practical information

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Almanacs (2)

• Present tabular data on matters of common
  interest sports, diet and nutrition, demography,
  environment, political events, etc.
• Annual publication
• Available in print and electronic formats
• Household Items

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Important Almanac Titles

• World Almanac and Book of Facts
• Information Please Almanac
• New York Times Almanac

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Yearbooks

• Information and data about the preceding year
• Yearbooks issued by encyclopedias supplement them
• Statistical data about countries, brief
  biographical accounts of celebrities, sports
  news, and articles about the events of the year

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Yearbooks (2)

• Index personal names
• Longer description of events and analyses as
  compared to almanacs

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Important Yearbook Titles

• Britannica Book of the Year
• Europa World Yearbook 2 volumes
• Statesmans Yearbook
• CIA World Factbook

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Handbooks Manuals

• Information about people, events and trends
• Subject handbooks contain handy data about
  procedures, guidelines, formulae
• Compressed information
• Contain examples and illustrations
• Manuals focused on procedures

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Handbook Examples

• Guinness Book of World Records
• Famous First Facts
• NYPLs Desk Reference
• Manuals of Style
• Physicians Desk Reference Annual
• Legal Researchers Desk Reference
• Handbook of Chemistry

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Criteria for Evaluation

• Accuracy
• Indexing
• Documentation
• Comprehensiveness
• Uniqueness
• Format
• Currency

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Electronic Sources

• Almost all yearbooks and almanacs are available
  in CD
• Electronic versions of many sources available
  through IPL
• Have search advantages
• Current
• More reliable