Indira Gandhi
National Open University
School of Social Sciences
BLII - 013
Information Sources and
Library Services
COURSE INTRODUCTION
BLOCK 1 :
INFORMATION SOURCES AND THEIR
USE
UNIT 1
:
Categories of Information Sources
UNIT 2
:
Types of Information Sources
7
31
BLOCK 2 :
LIBRARY SERVICES
UNIT 3
:
Circulation Services
UNIT 4
:
Reference Service
110
UNIT 5
:
Awareness Services
133
UNIT 6
:
User Orientation
154
89
Programme Design Committee 2009
Professor Uma Kanjilal (Chairperson)
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Professor S.C Biswas, Deptt. of LIS, Burdwan
University, Burdwan, West Bengal
Professor B.K.Sen, Retired Scientist
NISCAIR, New Delhi
Dr. S.R. Zonunthara, Regional Director
Regional Centre, Aizwal and Mizoram
IGNOU
Dr. Jaideep Sharma
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Special Invittee:
Mr. Ashok Neshes, Producer, EMPC, IGNOU
New Delhi
Dr. Manorma Tripathi
(Former Documentatin Officer)
IGNOU
Professor Neena Talwar Kanungo
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Conveners
Dr. Zuchamo Yanthan
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Dr. R. Sevukan (Former Faculty Member)
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Dr. Archana Shukla
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Professor S.B. Ghosh, Retired Professor
Faculty of LIS, SOSS, IGNOU
Programme Coordinators
Dr. Zuchamo Yanthan, Dr. Archana Shukla and Dr. S.R. Zonunthara
Programme Editor
Prof. Uma Kanjilal
Course Coordinator
Course Editor
Dr. Archana Shukla
Prof. B.K. Sen
Unit Writers
Unit No.
1-2
3-6
Contributor
Mrs. C.M. Anand
Dr. Manorama Tripathi
Material Production
Secretarial Assistance
Cover Design
Mr. Manjit Singh
Section Officer (Pub.)
SOSS, IGNOU
Ms. Sunita Soni
SOSS
IGNOU
Ms. Ruchi Sethi
Web Designer
E Gyankosh
IGNOU
September, 2012
© Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2012
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COURSE INTRODUCTION
The contents of this course BLII-013 titled “Information Sources and Library Services”
are divided into two blocks. Block 1 “Information Sources and their Use” is devoted
to different types of information sources. By studying this Block you will be in a
position to grasp the whole idea of information sources with their content and utility.
This Block comprises of two Units. Unit 1 discusses about information sources as
well as their types. The information sources are categorised based on their type,
information contents and physical form. Information sources have also been categorised
into documentary and non-documentary sources. The Unit also traces the historical
development of these sources.
The Unit 2 covers types of periodicals, bibliographies, reference sources like
dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, yearbooks, almanacs, directories,
geographical sources, biographical sources, statistical information sources and current
information sources, as well as secondary and tertiary sources. The Unit covers not
only printed sources but electronic sources as well.
The second Block titled “Library Services” of this course has four Units which
focuses on circulation work, reference service, awareness services and user orientation
provided by the libraries to their users.
Unit 3 entitled, “Circulation Services”, has immense importance because it links the
library collection to the readers and supports the first two laws of library science.
This Unit explains the use of books by readers by offering them issue/return facilities.
Circulation section is responsible for giving books to the users, keeps records of
what has been given to whom; what has been returned or what is overdue now.
Circulation work refers to all activities adopted for registration of users, issue and
return of documents, maintenance of statistics, gate register, property counter and
lockers. The circulation procedures exist to facilitate reader's access to the books in
the library. This Unit discusses the different types of charging systems e.g. register
system, card system and computerised system .The computerised system incorporates
the use of barcode technology for issue return of documents in the library. Besides,
this at present some of the libraries are using RFID technology for circulation
procedures.
Unit 4 dwells on reference service which is provided by all the libraries. Reference
service means providing assistance to users in the use of libraries and their collections;
it is the process of helping readers to identify sources of information in response to
a particular query, interest, or problem. This Unit has also covered the different
activities, which are undertaken while providing reference service to the users. The
reference service can be provided through face-to-face interview; telephone, chat,
e-mail, IM and SMS. The reference staff is required to deal different queries like
directional, procedural, research and bibliographic verification. The reference staff
has to consult various reference sources for answering to the users’ queries.
Unit 5 explains the awareness services provided by the libraries and information
centres. These services have an important role to play in the academic or professional
environment. This is needed because literature across various disciplines is increasing
exponentially. The clients have less time at their disposal to browse and scan the
whole range of literature. The clients may lack the faculty to browse, scan and sift
through the voluminous amount of literature. These services regularly alert the clients
on publications related to their areas of interest. These help the users to keep abreast
with the latest developments in their areas. The efficiency and productivity of the
researchers has also increased to a great extent. By providing this service, the library
staff gets an opportunity to learn about the individual needs of the users. It provides
a valuable information service to the users and promotes the library because it acts
as a publicity tool .The different kinds of current awareness services are e-mail alerts,
TOCs, customised literature search, routing of periodicals, display of current issues
of journals, newspaper clipping service, etc. The libraries provide non-current
awareness service by holding exhibitions, lectures and film shows for their clients.
Unit 6 discusses user orientation, also called user education or user instruction,
which teaches the users how to make the most efficient use of the library system and
its collection and services. The Unit has elaborated upon the need and purpose of
user education. The two components of user education are library orientation and
information literacy. Library orientation is primarily concerned with ways of introducing
the user to the general techniques of library usage and services available, organisation,
layout and facilities of a particular library. The user education sessions should be
regularly organised and conducted for the users. Evaluation is an important activity
which should be undertaken in order to know the impact of user education on the
intended audience.
The contents of this course are presented in illustrative and easy to understand
format. The variety of exercises and activities are included in this Course to check
your understanding after going through the contents.