इस ब्लॉग्स को सृजन करने में आप सभी से सादर सुझाव आमंत्रित हैं , कृपया अपने सुझाव और प्रविष्टियाँ प्रेषित करे , इसका संपूर्ण कार्य क्षेत्र विश्व ज्ञान समुदाय हैं , जो सभी प्रतियोगियों के कॅरिअर निर्माण महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान देगा ,आप अपने सुझाव इस मेल पत्ते पर भेज सकते हैं - chandrashekhar.malav@yahoo.com
Video / Interactive Mode of Tutorial
Information Products
P- 05. Information Sources, Systems and Services *
By :R Arora,Paper Coordinator
Video / Interactive Mode of Tutorial
MODULE 26: INFORMATION PRODUCTS
Content Writer : Dr Sewa Singh, former Professor and Head, Department of Library and Information
Science, Guru Nanak Dev University,
AMRITSAR
Subject Name : Library and Information Science
Paper Name : Information Sources, Systems and Services
Module
Title : Information Products
Module Id : LIS/ ISSS/ 26
Pre-requisites : Knowledge about Information sources, and basic understanding of the information
products
Objectives : To understand the concept of information products; to know about the importance of
various types of information products, such as handbooks, newsletters, house journals, trade
bulletins, technical digests, etc.; to know about the role of the information products in
organizations.
Keywords : Information Products; Information Consolidation Products; Handbooks; Newsletters;
House Journals; Trade Bulletins; Reviews; State-of-the-Art Reports; Trend Reports;
Technical Digests, Electronic Information Products
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the advent of Internet and personal computers, the society is experiencing a period called the
Information Age. It is characterized by widespread access to information, including electronic access, and the
ability to transmit data/information rapidly using digital technology. Libraries and information centres
acquire information from a huge assortment, process it, organize it, and make it available for use. The
processed and systematically organized information results into a product which satisfies a want, or serves a
need of a user. Information is a vital resource needed not only for socio-economic development but also for
educational, scientific and industrial growth. Anthony Debons believed that “information enfolds man
physically and spiritually. It is the vehicle and substance…(and)…is a resource…for …power.” Therefore,
this power inherent in information and information based products are given highest priority in industrially
advanced countries.
2. INFORMATION PRODUCTS: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION
It is an acknowledged fact that in the post-industrial society, information has become coin of the realm.
Information lies at the heart of teaching, learning, research and development. Similarly, information and
knowledge are regarded as the most valuable assets for the business enterprises. By making use of this 2
information, the business/industrial houses and manufacturers create various information products to
promote their own activities, products, processes, services, etc. Information product is any portion of
information/knowledge that has been recorded in some systematic way- whether that is in print format or
audio or video format- so that it can be transmitted to others for use.
According to Jennifer Tribe some of the most common information products are printed books and electronic
books, booklets and special reports, manuals and workbooks, audio cassettes, CDs, or downloadable audio
films, videotapes, DVDs, teleclasses, subscription-based web sites, and so on. Information products are also
sometimes referred to as “digital goods” and “knowledge-based goods”. If it delivers information or
knowledge and one can e-mail it to the customer, or offer it as a downloadable file, then it qualifies as an
information product. Information products are also sometimes referred to as “artefacts” because they capture
the idea that an information product is something left behind for future generations. Information products can
also be delivered over the Internet and essentially provide information about a topic of sufficient interest to
users to pay for the information contained therein.
In order to create an information product, the product developer needs to know the following aspects in their
right context:
1. Demand: There is need to know the demand, and create the product that people want to use.
2. Quality: People believe that there is only one kind of product, and it is high quality product.
3. Presentation: The presentation of the product does matter to the customers.
4. Follow-ups: Information product should not be very expensive. Therefore, create an information
product that can be upgraded and follow-ups can be offered.
Once user demand is determined, the developer may venture into preparing an information product.
Accordingly, information products may be defined as those that are prepared after selecting and acquiring
suitable information sources. These are those products that originate from the information units of various
organizations. Hence, the design and development of the information products involve such activities like
selecting, acquiring, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, restructuring, packaging, repackaging, etc.
2.1 Types of Information Products
In order to meet different requirements of users, the library and information centre will prepare different
types of information products. Saracevic has enumerated the following types of information products:
1. Reviews: These include critical and state-of-the-art reports.
2. Reports: These include assessment, technical reports, market reports, alerting bulletins, newsletters,
and house journals.
3. Data: This category includes data compilations and tables, statistical abstracts, correlations,
composites, and critical data.
4. Databases: These include expert databases and subject knowledge bases.
5. Technical Writings: This type has in its fold guides, manuals, instruction sheets, explanations on a
complex subject provided in a style and language geared toward a given audience level, popular
articles on a scientific or technical topic.
6. Handbooks: These include compilations of essential data, and information on a subject
.3
7. Critical Studies: This type includes comparison of different practices or policies, or studies, and
impact and future studies.
8. Requests: These include briefings, evaluative on-demand studies, and compilations.
It may be pertinent to mention that each of the above mentioned products has its own requirements, criteria,
procedures, etc. For example, criteria and practices for reviews are quite different from those for technical
writings.
2.2 Content of Information Products
Most of the information products are likely to require restructuring of synthesized information. Restructuring
requires the determination of a mode and language in which the contents of information products will be
presented to users.
2.2.1 Content Extent
It implies the decision on the degree of detail with which a subject is treated, i.e., its depth, breadth, etc.
2.2.2 Technical Sophistication
It defines the technical level and understandability of the contents of an information product.
2.2.3 Temporal Aspect
It describes time dimension involved, i.e., immediate, or current, or retrospective period. It also describes
about the frequency of issue of the information product.
2.2.4 Information Quality and Accuracy
It explains the degree of known validity and reliability of information to be included.
2.2.5 Degree of Invariability or Value Added
It defines the degree to which information is presented as contained in the original text/s. It considers the
degree of value added in terms of point of view, comparison, judgement, etc.
2.2.6 Editorial Qualities
It involves, among other aspects, style of presentation, grammar, syntax, clarity, crispness, coherence, etc.
In the following paragraphs, we will describe some of the important information products brought out by
various commercial, industrial, and other similar organizations to promote their own products, processes,
services, etc.
3. NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters have been with us for more than 500 years in one form or the other. The earlier newsletters or
newssheets contained business news and news of other public interest. However, there has been rapid growth
of newsletters, as sources of valuable information, during the twentieth century.4
Seetharama defines a newsletter “as a serial consisting of one or few pages, usually printed, containing
nascent information or news which is of interest to a special or particular group of users and which is
published periodically.”
Newsletters are, therefore, periodical publications issued by various organizations, institutions, government
departments, professional societies, trade and industry associations, etc. for providing speedy information to
their members and subscribers. These are also issued by commercial and research organizations to make their
users aware of the new products. Some organizations publish newsletters as a substitute to journals, and
contain limited pages.
According to online Encyclopaedia Britannica, a newsletter may be an “informal publication, often simple in
format and crisp in style that provides special information, advice, opinions, and forecasts for a defined
audience.”
Newsletters are ordinarily but not always issued regularly. For example, corporations issue newsletters for
intercommunication with employees, while non-profit organizations issue them for their members.
3.1 Types of Newsletters
Based on the publishing organizations, newsletters may be categorized as follows:
a) Research and Development Organizations
b) Associations
c) Government Organizations
d) Public Sector Undertakings
e) Private Institutions
f) Academic Institutions
g) International Organizations
h) Autonomous Institutions, etc.
3.2 Objectives
Newsletters are prepared to fulfill the following objectives:
a. To publicize and promote products and services of the parent organization,
b. To announce current and forthcoming events like holding of conferences, seminars, workshops, etc.,
c. To communicate information about social and cultural activities, appointments, promotions, transfers,
retirements, obituaries, etc. of the members and subscribers of the concerned organizations, and
d. To publish timely and relevant activities of current interest.
3.3 Contents
Based on the purpose, different newsletters cover different type of information as given below:
3.3.1 R&D Organizations
In their newsletters, these organizations include information about their programmes, grants and fellowships,
awards and rewards, forthcoming seminars, etc
.5
3.3.2 Associations
Their newsletters publish information about President’s or Secretary’s report, announcements of association,
employment news, personnel information, academic and/or professional achievements, and other news of interest
to their members.
3.3.3 Industrial Organizations
They publish newsletters for (a) internal circulation, and (b) external circulation. Newsletters for internal
circulation have news about and for the employees, such as promotions, welfare measures, social and cultural
activities of the employees, etc. Newsletters for external circulation cover information about new products,
processes, and services, highlighting the achievements of the organization
.
3.4 Frequency of Publication
The frequency of publication of newsletters varies according to their purpose, nature of information covered and
the ambit of organizations. Some newsletters are published every week, while others are brought out fortnightly,
or monthly, or bi-monthly, or quarterly, or half-yearly, or even yearly. At the same time, there are some
newsletters which do not have any fixed date of publication.
3.5 Electronic Newsletters (E-Newsletter)
Recent advances in computer and telecommunication technology have led to the development and application of
computer networks. These, in turn, have helped in the development of electronic newsletters which are in use
since the 1990s. Electronic newsletters are distributed through e-mail to those users who would willingly
subscribe to them online. This method of sending the e-Newsletter is regarded as fast and cost effective. The eNewsletters
have gained rapid acceptance over printed format. The use of e-Newsletters is becoming quite
popular for advertising the products and services in business and industry because no printing and mailing costs
are involved.
3.5.1 Advantages of E-Newsletters
Some of the advantages of e-Newsletters are identified as follows:
a) These are convenient and delivered to the users at their work desk without delay.
b) E-Newsletters have timely information and real-time delivery.
c) These are informative and keep the users up-to-date.
d) Sometimes users forward e-Newsletters, if found useful, to friends and/ or colleagues.
Examples
a) CSIR News. It is a fortnightly newsletter published by the National Institute of Science Communication and
Information Resources (NISCAIR), CSIR, New Delhi.
b) Financial Times Business Reports. These provide current market and industry news covering the areas of
business and finance, energy, media and technology. These are accessible via FT PROFILE and DataStar
.6
4. HOUSE JOURNALS
House journals have a long history. However, in recent times, the area of work of house journals has
expanded many times in many directions to meet the demands of special interest groups.
A house journal is defined as an internal publication produced by an organization in order to inform and
entertain its employees and to generate better internal communication and relationships.
House journals are serial publications like the newsletters, published by industrial and commercial
organizations, corporations, business houses, public sector undertakings, and similar other organizations.
These are meant for circulation among their customers, shareholders, employees, dealers, retailers, etc. to
inform them about their products, performance, and other activities.
4.1 Type of House Journals
All house journals can be categorized as follows:
4.1.1 Internal House Journals
These are published for employees and members of the organization. These are primarily meant for internal
circulation, and they inform about the welfare measures taken by the management for the employees.
4.1.2 External House Journals
An external house journal may be in the form of a standard technical journal, or a magazine, or a periodical
catalogue. These journals are brought out for customers or potential customers of the organization and are
meant for external circulation.
4.1.3 Combination
Sometimes house journal may be published as a combination of both internal and external wherein attempt is
made to include features of both types of house journals.
4.2 Objectives and Functions
Some of the objectives and functions of house journals are as follows:
i. To promote and enhance the image of the organization as well as that of management among its
customers and employees,
ii. To improve business and industrial relations,
iii. To keep employees and customers in the picture, and
iv. To provide an objective news service.
4.3 Contents
The contents of house journals vary with the type of house journals. However, some standard information to
be included may be as follows:7
a) A message from the Head of the institution/organization is a regular feature, usually on the topic of
current interest.
b) A brief editorial from the Editor of the house journal.
c) Information about the cultural activities related to the organization, like sports events, annual day, etc.
d) Information about personnel changes, incentives, awards, rewards, bonuses, promotions, transfers,
retirements, etc.
e) Articles, features, stories, etc. by employees.
4.4 Characteristics of House Journals
Some of the common characteristics of house journals are as follows:
a) Produced by organizations for enhancing their image and promoting the products and services.
b) Distributed free to the employees and potential customers.
c) Printed on good quality paper and are usually made attractive.
d) Usually carry no advertisements.
Examples
1. Vimanika. A monthly house journal published by Air India, Mumbai.
2. DRDO Newsletter. A monthly house bulletin published by DRDO, DESIDOC, New Delhi.
5. TRADE LITERATURE (BULLETINS)
Trade literature is a generic term which includes trade bulletins and catalogues, etc. It may be defined as
“catalogue and other advertising or promotional material distributed by business firm usually free of charge.”
It is regarded as an important source of information, brought our periodically, especially one published by an
organization or society. Trade bulletins and trade catalogues are printed materials published by
manufacturing, wholesaling, or retailing firms. They promote sales by making claims about product
attributes, give instructions in using products, include detail descriptions of sale products, and so on. Trade
literature is prepared for almost every kind of material, product, or service including books, chemicals, drugs,
household goods, heavy machinery and such like instruments.
Book lists and catalogues issued by booksellers were probably the earliest trade catalogues brought out in the
sixteenth century. Later, with the expansion in trade, commerce, and consumption, trade catalogues started
appearing in the 18th century. ‘Trade catalogue derives from the expression to the trade’ and the materials
were originally produced by manufacturers and wholesalers for their salesmen to market to retailers.
5.1 Features of Trade Bulletins
Trade literature (bulletins, catalogues, etc. includes printed documents, usually illustrated, of items offered
for sale. It appears in a variety of format, size, type and information, ranging from small pamphlets, or
leaflets, to oversized folios of several hundred pages. Trade literature in its various forms, may include
hundreds of products of a single manufacturer or many products of many manufacturers.
Some of the features common to all types of trade /product bulletins, trade catalogues, etc. may be as follows:8
a) They provide such valuable information about a product, an equipment, a process, or a service
that does not appear elsewhere.
b) The amount of information provided varies considerably, so much so that it may range from a
single page to several hundred pages.
c) The information provided is generally supported by various types of illustrations, diagrams,
charts, etc.
d) Since new products, processes and services are being developed on continuous basis, these
bulletins and catalogues become outdated soon, and need to be updated regularly.
e) Trade literature is generally available without any charges.
5.2 Functions of Trade Literature (Bulletins)
Some of the important functions of trade and product bulletins may be as follows:
a) These bulletins are published to promote the sale of the various types of products, etc.
b) Useful source of valuable information for scientists, engineers, medical practitioners, etc.
c) Trade literature contains product description, application, installation instructions, operation
characteristics, maintenance procedures, etc.
d) Helpful in comparing similar products or processes available form different manufacturers.
e) These serve as useful guide to names and addresses of the manufacturers, dealers, etc.
5.3 Sources of Trade Literature
The sources of information for trade literature are identified as follows:
5.3.1 Advertisements and Announcements in Technical Journals and Trade Magazines
Technical journals and trade magazines published by various industrial houses, manufacturers, etc carry, in
addition to articles, some advertisements and announcements about new industrial products, processes,
equipments, etc. These advertisements and announcements are very helpful to those buyers who may be
interested in a particular product for their use.
5.3.2 Special Issues and Supplements of Journals
There are some technical journals which bring out special issues to mark some occasions. These special
issues and supplements carry directory type information which is considered useful for the potential buyers.
5.3.3 Manufacturers’ Catalogues
These catalogues include significant technical information and other important data about the products
offered by the manufacturers. These catalogues reach the probable buyers through the dealers of the
companies.
5.3.4 Product Descriptions Supplied at Trade Fairs, etc.
Invariably, manufacturers display their products, equipment, etc. at fairs, exhibitions, conventions,
conferences, etc. organized by societies, associations, etc. They also distribute their catalogues, brochures,
etc, to make the participants aware of new equipment, products, etc., who may be prospective buyers.9
5.3.5 Directories of Products
These directories are issued by independent publishers from time to time. These contain useful information
about various companies and their industrial or scientific products. These publications are helpful in knowing
about the profiles, products, and services of different companies across the world. These are generally
arranged under different categories of products and services.
5.3.6 Websites and Trade Portals
In the days of computers and Internet, manufacturers of various equipment, products, etc. have got a good
opportunity to reach out to their real and prospective customers around the globe. The manufacturing
industries and companies have made their catalogues and bulletins available online which can be accessed by
the interested parties. These days a large number of business to business portals, usually known as B2B
portals, are offering useful information about industrial equipment and other products, sometimes with their
images. In India also TradePortalofIndia.Com (http://www.tradeportalofindia.com), IndiaMart.com
(http://www.indiamart.com), etc. offer wide ranges of business promotion opportunities.
In the paragraphs given above are discussed some information products which are produced by the
manufacturers of various equipment, products, materials, services, etc. We will now discuss about some
more products which are prepared after consolidating information obtained from various sources.
Information, no doubt, has been recognized as a vital source of social and economic significance, an
important component of social change, economic growth, scientific and technological development.
However, it has been observed that information is not smoothly transferred to the users the way want it.
Alvin Toffler, while rightly feeling the pulse of people stated in his The Third Wave that “…many people
feel cut off because the very packages in which information arrives are unfamiliar….” For efficient use of
information the users need information in a format and language that is readable and understandable.
Therefore, the actual and potential users require consolidated and repackaged information ready for use.
These are described in the following pages.
6. HANDBOOKS
A handbook is a book giving information such as facts on a particular subject, or instructions for operating a
machine. It is a comprehensive and handy work on a particular topic for practitioners, structured for quick
reference. The term ‘handbook’ is derived from the German word ‘handbach’ meaning a small book or a
treatise giving useful facts. It is called handbook because it is usually convenient to be held in the hands of
the users. It is a ready reference source the relevant portions of which are consulted at the time of need.
Louis Shores defined a handbook as: “A reference book of miscellaneous facts and figures on one or many
subjects assembled for ready use, in response to popular interest or to a specific need for concise, handy
information”.
William Katz defined a handbook as “a collection of a miscellaneous group of facts centred on one theme or
subject area.”10
Many organizations, centres, and other institutions have been preparing handbooks since a long time. A
handbook, therefore, may deal with any topic, and is generally a compendium of information in a particular
field or about a particular technique.
Professional organizations also prepare a variety of handbooks meant for different types of users, such as
technical personnel, industrial workers, office staff, and so on.
6.1 Purpose of Handbooks
According to Katz, the basic purpose of handbooks is to serve as ready reference source for a given field of
knowledge. Handbooks lay emphasis on established knowledge rather than on recent advances, although in
the field of science, handbooks that are more than a few years old may not be of much use. They primarily
give information about facts to know and instructions to do.
6.2 Scope and Coverage
Most handbooks have limited scope. However, they may include the following in their scope and coverage.
a) Provide facts, figures and themes of a specific area.
b) No emphasis on newer ideas and current developments.
c) Help in understanding the subject.
d) Prepared with the assumption that users have osme background knowledge about the subject
covered.
e) Provide sources for the facts and figures included.
f) Give instructions on how to serve as guides to occupations, hobbies, art forms, etc.
6.3 Type of Handbooks
There are a large number of handbooks being published on different subjects. However, these can be
categorized in the following types:
6.3.1 General Handbooks
General handbooks include information to satisfy the interests of people at large. These handbooks are
arranged subject wise with a detailed index for easy location of various topics and sub-topics.
Examples:
1. Guinness World Records, 2014. London: Guinness World Record. Annual since 1955.
It provides ultimate record-breading facts and includes new and updated records with new
photographs.
2. Awards, Honours and Prizes. 11th ed., by Gita Siegman. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995-96. 2 volumes.
It includes information about awards, honours and prizes in a wide range of fields including
Canadian, American and international awards.
6.3.2 Statistical Handbooks11
Statistical handbooks are generally published by government departments of various countries. These
provide information on every aspect in statistical form, hence useful source of information for social
scientists, researchers, and academicians.
Examples:
1. Statistical Yearbook of the United Nations. New York: United Nations Statistical Office. Annual.
It provides a summary of international data for various countries of the world about education,
science and technology, culture, book production, etc.
2. International Historical Statistics: Europe, 1750-2005, by Brian R. Mitchel. latest ed. London:
Palgrave, 2007.
It is most authoritative collection of data available on almost every aspect covering agriculture,
climate, population, education, industry, labour force, trade, etc.
6.3.3 Historical Handbooks
These types of handbooks are useful in answering queries regarding events, dates, discoveries, etc. in history.
These also provide information regarding achievements in literature, music, art, science and technology, etc.
during a particular year.
Examples:
1. The People’s Chronology: A Year by Year Record of Human Events form Pre-History to the Present,
by James Trager. Rev and updated ed. New York: Owlet, 1994.
It has been updated through 1993; the ever popular chronology presents more than 35,000 events. It
is augmented by a complete index of names.
2. The Time Tables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events, by Bernard Grun. 4th rev.
ed. New York: Touchstone, 2005.
6.3.4 Literary Handbooks
These handbooks are useful in getting information of ready reference queries about literature, literary works,
literary characters, etc.
Examples:
1. The Oxford Companion to American Literature, by James D. Hart and Phillip Leininger. 6th
ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
It is unparalleled guide to America’s literary culture providing information about the great authors. It
is completely revised and updated in the light of new developments.
2. The Cambridge Guide to English Literature, edited by Ian Ousby. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1988.
The revised edition provides literary information beyond UK and Ireland to include US, Canada,
Africa, India, etc.
6.3.5 Subject Handbooks12
Subject handbooks have been prepared on almost all the subjects for the use of researchers and academicians.
Examples:
1. Third World Economic Handbook, by S. Sinclair. 2nd ed. London; Euro Monitor Publications,
1989.
2. Handbook of Special Librarianship and Information Work. Edited by A. Scammell. 7th ed.
London: ASLIB, 1997.
6.3.6 Practical Handbooks
These handbooks provide information about specific instructions to make, to operate, to perform, etc. These
are also known as instruction manuals. These handbooks are of various types as given below:
a) Family Health, First Aid Handbooks
b) Home Maintenance Handbooks
c) Etiquette and Manners Handbooks
d) Cooking Recipes Handbooks
e) Recreation, Handicrafts and Hobbies Handbooks
f) Self-taught and Learn yourself handbooks
g) Equipment and Appliances Handbooks
7. MANUALS
A manual is a brief reference book dealing with a particular process, operation, mechanism, job instruction,
etc. It is regarded as a comprehensive step-by-step guide to a particular topic both for beginners and
practitioners. It is essentially an instruction book which instructs how to do something with clear directions.
It usually accompanies a technical device and explains how to install or operate it. Therefore, it means how a
certain thing happens, or how a particular job should be done. However, sometimes it is difficult to
distinguish it from an average handbook, as observed by Katz
.
7.1 Scope
A manual has a limited scope, and usually it focuses on a specific area of interest. According to Katz, its
particular value is its depth of information in a narrow field of knowledge.
7.2 Uses of Manual
Some of the uses of a typical manual are as under:
a) It provides instructions to users on the uses of equipment, or appliances, or software, etc.
b) It gives directions to users’ representatives on how to instruct their employees about the use of
various machines and other equipment.
c) It provides instructions to management, supporting or helping staff on the use of equipment, or
procedures.13
d) It gives instructions to other departments or organizations on how to liaise their operations with
yours.
7.3 Type of Manuals
In the present day world many types of manuals are available. They can be grouped according to the various
jobs they are meant to perform.
7.3.1 Technical Manuals
A technical manual describes an equipment, or a process, or a software, or a mechanical device. It contains
instructions for its installation, about its operation, maintenance, or repair of any technical device.
7.3.2 Procedural Manuals
This category of manuals deals with established procedures and working practices in an organization. The
procedural manuals are helpful to the managers in carrying out their work in methodical manner.
7.3.3 Laboratory Manuals
The category of laboratory manuals describes how the users can perform experiments and give information
about the concerned equipment, procedures, installing software, testing techniques, etc.
Examples
1. Haynes Owner’s Workshop Manuals. England: Haynes Publishing Group, 1960 to date.
2. Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. By Kate L. Turabian. 7th ed.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
8. REVIEWS
There is influx of ideas and deluge of ideas in the modern society. Access to information has become
difficult because of increasing volume of primary information in various subject fields. Again, information
produced by subject specialists is not easy to understand because of the use of technical terminology.
Attempts have been made to find solution to such problems coming in the way of access and use of valuable
information. For instance, efforts have been made to find solution in bibliographical control and organization
through indexing and abstracting of information. But many information related problems still remained
unaddressed solutions of which was found through other means.
The users require information packaged in a language, form and manner which is easily understandable
giving a clear picture of the latest developments in a subject. This and other related aims were achieved
through reviews.
8.1 Definition14
Saracevic and Wood have defined a review as “a critical synthesis of the state of knowledge in a given
subject or topic; it is a critical examination of information and literature on a subject or topic accommodated
in its broader framework.”
According to Guha a review is a “narrative account of the progress of a particular field of study, prepared by
an expert in the field.”
Reviews are prepared by information selection, analysis, evaluation, restructuring and repackaging for
satisfying information requirements of users working in a given subject field.
8.2 Characteristics
Reviews have the following characteristics:
Integration: A review arranges each of the articles reviewed in a context and integrates them
with the existing body of knowledge on that subject.
Evaluation: Critical reviews are invariably evaluative in nature. While evaluating, the review
sifts through the available literature, identifies significant items and in the process eliminates
some of the primary documents considered not useful.
Compaction: it is usually estimated by determining (a) the average number of references cited
per page of text, or (b) the ratio of the number of pages of primary documents to the number of
pages in the review document. However, the degree of compaction varies from subject to subject.
8.3 Type of Reviews
There reviews are of the following types:
Bibliographic Reviews: This category of reviews is literature-oriented or bibliographic approach,
wherein it selects and evaluates primary literature published on a subject within a defined period
of time.
Instructional Reviews: This type of reviews follows subject-oriented or didactic approach. It
focuses on a particular scientific or technical problem, and attempts to follow its solution.
Combination: There are some other reviews which combine the bibliographic and instructional
role into one. In these reviews proportion of bibliographic or instructional type varies according
to the aim and users for the reviews.
8.4 Functions of Reviews
According to Woodward, reviews are prepared to perform the following functions:
8.4.1 Historical Functions
These are related to the development of a subject or topic, and are as follows:
Evaluation of the published literature on a subject by expert and selecting significant items only.
Collation of information from various sources and putting in proper perspective.
Compaction of existing knowledge.
Replacement of many scattered documents with one.15
Identification of emerging discipline through reviews.
8.4.2 Contemporary Functions
Some of these functions are as follows:
Current awareness function to keep the individual user up to date about the latest developments.
Most significant contributions are brought to the notice of the individual users through reviews.
Reviews serve as the back up for other literature searches.
Reviews are useful to students in knowing new subject, and experts in getting overview.
Critical reviews provide ideas for further research work in a given subject.
Examples
1. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 1966- . USA: Information Today Inc. on
behalf of the American Society for Information Science. Annual.
2. Advances in Solid State Physics, 1954- . Edited by Rolf Haug. New York: Springer. Annual.
9. STATE-OF-THE-ART REPORTS
State-of-the-art reports are another important information consolidation product required by scientists and
other researchers. These are the type of reviews which do not have an all compassing scope. These lay
emphasis on recency and up-to-dateness of a situation.
9.1 Definition
According to Saracevic and Wood: “State-of-the-art report is a review concentrating on the most up to date
information and literature in a given subject or topic.”
State-of-the-art report is the highest level of development of a technique, or scientific field, etc achieved at a
particular time. The aim of such reports is to describe a very recent situation, hence a current awareness
source for a specific group of users.
9.2 Characteristics
Some of the general features are as follows:
Completeness: It indicates the degree to which information and literature on a subject are covered.
Perspective: It involves the direction, purpose, subject orientation, etc in relation to a subject as well
as a user group.
Analysis: It is with regard to depth and extent of analysis.
Synthesis: It is concerned with the degree of compactness and consolidation from various sources of
information.
Value Addition: It is related to the requirements of the users as subject specialists.
Utility: It is the degree to which the state-of-the-art report serves multiple functions.16
9.3 Types
Saracevic and Wood stated that the state-of-the-art report is used mostly in relation to technological topics,
and in business and commerce.
9.3.1 State-of-the-art of Technology
These reports summarize, compare and evaluate the advances, characteristics and/or utilization of a given
technological product or process. The scope and emphasis differ according to the technical and engineering
aspects, use aspects, management aspects, and strategic aspects.
9.3.2 Market Reports
Saracevic and Wood help the opinion that these reports usually summarize the state of an industry or a
market in terms of its existence, financial strength, economics, profitability, growth, characteristics, trends,
potential, etc. These reports can also be oriented toward different uses and clientele. Their main use is in
market decision and planning, and so on.
9.3.3 Statistical Reports
These reviews present statistical correlations in a wide variety of technical, market, demographic, scientific,
and other areas. Such reviews are specifically composed and evaluated to show cross-dependence of trends,
situations, and results. These may accompany any of the above mentioned state-of-the-art reports or issued as
independent publications. These statistical reports are usually used for briefing decision makers.
9.4 Functions
These are given as follows:
Peer Evaluation of Published Literature: Peer evaluation brings quality information and literature to
the notice of the users.
Provides a continuing conceptual framework.
Replacement of Primary Documents as the Written Record: This involves replacing of many
scattered documents with only one document.
Identification of Emerging Specialists: This is carried out by bringing together various works in a
review.
Direction of Research and Work: Reviews include various suggestions for further research work.
Examples
1. State-of-the-Art Report on Technology for the Efficient Management of Geo-spatial 3D data on
Commodity and Distributed Platform. EU Project.
V-PLANET (IST- 2000- 28095). March 2002.
2. Information Technologies: State-of-the-Art and Imperatives for India, vol. II. New Delhi: TIFAC,
Department of Science and Technology, 1993.
10. TREND REPORTS17
Preparing trend reports is the practice of collecting information and attempting to spot a trend or pattern in
the information. Trend reports usually furnish indicators of variations of control parameters against planned
objectives. They provide a systematic outlook of latest developments and current research trends in a subject
field during a specific period of time. The trend reports provide an insight about how a subject has performed
during a particular period. These are usually prepared by information specialists with assistance from subject
specialists, and written with help from technical writers to ensure an acceptable use of language, etc.
10.1 Definition
Gopinath stated that: “A trend report is an exposition of a subject, giving an account of the general direction
of research in the subject, based on a review of the documents on current developments.” A trend report,
therefore, would demonstrate the development of a subject in a certain direction.
10.2 Purpose
The main purpose of trend reports is to briefly capture the major trends in a given area of research based on
the analysis of literature on the given subject published during a given period of time.
10.3 Need
The present day scientists, academicians, and researchers are facing problems of rapid growth of information
due to increasing number of available documents. The current awareness services being provided by the
information specialists are not adequately meeting their needs. The trend reports, however, provide an
overview of the recent developments and research trends in a particular subject. Trend reports are prepared to
fulfill the following needs:
To help researchers to keep themselves aware of the latest developments in a given subject field. This
will help them to know about the new areas of research.
To help planners and decision makers to sponsor a research in a given area.
To help students to make out an area of research.
10.4 Preparation of Trend Reports
Preparation of trend reports is not an easy task; it is quite a time consuming and complex process. Earlier, the
trend reports were prepared by subject specialists based on the documents available in their institution’s
library. it involved great deal of time and effort in reading, sifting, evaluating and selecting the documents to
be included and then writing the report. In terms of intellectual effort involved in writing a trend report it was
no less challenging than the original research work.
Meanwhile, new techniques of data collection and availability of electronic resources in the libraries and
information centres have made it possible for library and information professionals to take up the task of
preparing trend reports.
Library and information professionals have the necessary skills, knowledge and competence to analyze a
subject in great depth. They can bring out the relation of the appropriate components of a subject in a helpful
way. They can also view the subject of trend report in proper perspective of the development of subject in
past, present and future. In recent times, some of the library and information professionals working in the 18
environments of special libraries and information centres are also getting training in technical writing. It is
helping them to equip themselves for editing, formatting, etc of the trend reports.
However, library and information professionals ought to possess the following skills and qualifications for
preparing a trend report in their institutions:
a) Familiarity with different components of the subject on which trend report is to be prepared.
b) Proper rapport with the specialist users to find out subject approach and views on the subject of
the trend report.
c) Knowledge of the exact subject requirements of specialist users.
d) Good knowledge of different sources of information on the concerned subject from which
material is to be collected.
e) Familiarity with technical writing skills and methods of compiling a trend report.
Examples
1. IFLA Trend Report, 2014.
2. World Bank. Trends in Developing Economies. Washington: World Bank, 1995.
11. TECHNICAL DIGESTS
Technical digests are considered are considered important information products as source of information for
managerial and technical workers in industrial, commercial, scientific and other such establishments. But the
multi-dimensional growth of information relating to their needs has been making it difficult to keep them
updated about the latest developments of new products, machinery, processes, techniques, etc. In order to
meet their information requirements, a specialized service called technical digest service, has been prepared.
11.1 Definition
A digest is a summation or condensation of a body of published literature hence found useful for all types of
researchers.
Webster’s Third International Dictionary defines a digest as “to compress a piece of literature or a body of
information into a short summary form, containing essential core of the matter.”
According to Guha, “digest is actually a fuller representation of a document, rewritten for a purpose or to suit
the requirement of a different group of people, but intended to serve as a complete substitute for the original
document.”
Sometimes the term digest is synonymously used with compendium of information collected from various
sources and arranged systematically.
On the other hand, a technical digest is not as different from a digest, as defined above, except the coverage
and scope of the subject. A technical digest includes in its scope primarily science and technology, but it is
not limited to it only. It may also cover commerce, management, education, computers, and so on. It is,
therefore, addressed to the defence, scientific, academic, industrial, and other communities. 19
11.2 Need
In industrial environment, technical digests are a useful source of information for managers, technical
workers, etc. as they can get technical information on areas related to their occupation.
In industrial set up, different categories of personnel and workers have different types of information needs.
For example, managerial personnel require product-oriented information which may further be categorized as
technical, commercial, marketing, and information relating to decision-making. On the other hand, technical
workers require information on solving technical problems. Therefore, the contents of technical digests
should also be structured according to their levels and needs so that the managers can save their time in
decision-taking. These also help save time of other technical workers, and the information can be utilized
more effectively and efficiently.
11.3 Functions
Technical digests are prepared to perform the following functions:
a) To keep various levels of personnel in the industry aware of the latest developments in their
respective fields of interest.
b) To provide timely and reliable information to keep users aware of the new developments taking
place in their areas of specialization.
c) To propagate latest technical know-how.
d) To help solve technical problems by providing new ideas and information about processes in day
to day working.
e) To serve as an efficient channel between research and production centres.
11.4 Categories of Technical Digests
Keeping in view the various levels and types of personnel working in industry, the technical digests are
prepared for each of these categories.
11.4.1 Top Management
The technical digests prepared for top management usually cover the following type of information:
- Corporate management and planning,
- Finance,
- Production,
- Research and development,
- Personnel,
- Sales,
- Public relations.
11.4.2 Middle Level Management
The technical digests meant for middle level management may contain information about the following:
- Enhancing utilization of installed capacity and resources,20
- New production processes and techniques helpful in maximizing production,
- Problem-solving and decision making.
11.4.3 Operator Level Professionals
For operators and other workers, the digests should contain information which they can easily understand
and put to use. These contain information regarding the following:
- Solving day-to-day technical problems,
- Ensuring modernization of existing production methods and techniques,
- Helping in small improvements in manufacturing and process techniques,
- Assisting in mechanization of existing work.
Examples
1. John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Technical Digest. Volume 32, 2013. Quarterly.
2. Management Digest. Hyderabad: Small Enterprises National Documentation Centre. Bimonthly.
3. TERI Information Digest on Energy and Environment. New Delhi: Tata Energy Research Institute.
Quarterly.
12. ELECTRONIC INFORMATION PRODUCTS
Electronic information products are provided in electronic form, and these include resources available on the
Internet such as e-books e-journals, online database, CD-ROM databases and other computer–based
electronic networks. The first electronic information product emerged in the form of CD-ROM database
during 1980.
Internet/Web information products emerged more than three decade ago. It has witnessed phenomenal
growth as a medium preferred for information discovery and delivery and it is widely accepted as a major
source of scholarly, scientific, commercial, and entertainment information. The variety of information
available via the Web ranges from traditional, general reference sources to information contained in scholarly,
government, and commercial sources. The Web allows accessing most types of information on the Internet
through a browser. One of the main features of the Web is the ability to quickly link to other related
information. The Web contains information beyond plain text, including sounds, images, and video. Web
resources can be broadly grouped into two categories: internal and external. “Internal” Web resources are
those created by the local library and exist on the library’s own site. They tend to be navigational tools,
pointing users to library services and administrative information or, occasionally, to digital content created
by local libraries. With the advent of Internet and world wide web there had been proliferation of on line
Information products besides CD-ROM data bases. A few of them detailed further.
12.1 CD-ROM Databases
The CD-ROMs, one type of the electronic information products, are increasingly becoming popular; their
growth is increasing at an exponential rate. In the 1980s, UMI (University Microfilm International) was first
to start producing CD-ROMs that stored databases of periodicals abstracts and indexes. Further, books, 21
particularly in the field of computer science and general interest, also started being brought out in CD-ROMs.
Most of the databases first appeared as CD-ROM databases. The CD-ROM databases are of immense
value over print if the system is networked, as users, at their terminals, could access information without
coming to the library. These databases are important tools for identifying the bibliographic details of
potentially useful documents and ensure easy access to large volumes of literature for research.
12.2 Library Databases
The library uses the term ‘database’ to describe a searchable CD/online resource. Using the databases
provided by the library will help to find reliable information from trusted sources. It may be OPAC (Open
Public Access Catalog) or relevant Electronic Information Products downloaded by library or subscribed by
them online. Library databases provide the users with a well-sourced, efficient and exhaustive mine of
information that can be used for research, curiosity or just for reading pleasure. Such online library databases
are highly organized and classified into different database types in order to streamline search efforts. Library
databases also contain more reliable information than what users find on some websites, primarily because
the information library databases contain is sourced from experts and professionals.
12.3 Online Full-text Databases
Online databases are the most effective way to provide access to electronic books/journals primarily in
university libraries through subscription to online databases which can be accessed through the internet.
Online databases are a collection of electronic information products (e-journals/e-books) prepared by
publishers from various fields and disciplines.
12.3.1 Electronic Books
An eBook as a portable hardware and software system can display large quantity of readable textual
information to the users and allows them to navigate through this information. eBooks are exactly like print
or paper books except that they are bound electronically. eBooks come in a variety of formats as well. For
example, they can be downloaded in .pdf, .html, plain text and rich text formats, and they can also be
purchased in CD ROM and floppy disc formats. There are so many publishers (like Springer, Elsevier, Wiley,
Oxford, etc) providing the products of eBooks. The eBook packages are also offered by the vendors and
aggregators.
12.3.2 Electronic Journals
An article full-text database enables to search through several of different magazines, journals and
newspapers to find articles on a particular topic. Some of the articles are Full Text, which means users can
read the entire article right there online; while in others the database will only provide with an abstract, or
summary of the article. Still in other cases, the database will only provide a citation, which tells as to where
one can find a print version of the article.
An e-journal, like any other serial, is produced, published and distributed all over globe via electronic
network. E-journals for all practical purposes may thus be defined as those journals which are available in
electronic media; some may be available on CD-ROM; a few may be available only on online; some may
be available both in electronic media and in print. McMillan defines E-journals as "any serials, produced,
published, and distributed nationally and internationally via electronic networks.22
12.4 Bibliographic Databases
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records. It is an organized digital collection of
references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports,
government and legal publications, patents, books, etc. The bibliographic records in these databases usually
describe articles, conference papers, etc., rather than complete monographs, and they generally contain very
rich subject descriptions in the form of keywords, subject classification terms, or abstracts. Some of the
bibliographic databases are briefly described as under:
12.4.1 Compendex
Compendex, was first brought in printed format, and later its CD-ROM version started to bring out the
computerized online version of the Engineering Index. It is a comprehensive engineering bibliographic
database which indexes scientific literature pertaining to engineering materials since 1884, compiled
manually under the original title of Engineering Index. (Compendex it is now published by Elsevier, who
purchased the parent company Engineering Information in 1998). The name Compendex stands for
COMPuterized ENgineering inDEX. Compendex currently contains over 15 million records and references
from over 5,000 international sources including journals, conferences and trade publications. Approximately
1,000,000 new records are added to the database annually from over 190 disciplines and major specialties
within the engineering field. Coverage is from 1969 to the present, and is updated on weekly basis.
12.4.2 Index Medicus
Index Medicus (IM) was a comprehensive bibliographic index of scientific journal articles focusing
on medical science fields, published from 1879 to 2004. It is now being brought out by the United States
National Library of Medicine (NLM). In 2004, its print publication ceased. In one sense, Index
Medicus and Abridged Index Medicus still exist conceptually as content curation services that curate
MEDLINE content into search subsets or database views.
12.4.3 INSPEC
Started in 1967, INSPEC is a major indexing database of scientific and technical literature, published by
the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and formerly by the Institution of Electrical
Engineers (IEE), one of the IET's forerunners. INSPEC coverage is extensive in the fields of physics and
computer, control, and mechanical engineering. Its subject coverage includes astronomy, electronics,
communications, ergonomics, computers and computing, computer science, control engineering, electrical
engineering, information technology, and physics. Primarily, the database covers journal articles and papers
presented at conferences, significant books, technical reports, dissertations, etc consisting of about 8 million
records from more than 3,000 journals and about 2,000 conference proceedings, books and reports. It adds
over 4,00,000 new records to the database annually.
12.4.4 MathSciNet
MathSciNet is an electronic publication offering access to searchable database of reviews, abstracts and
bibliographic information for much of the mathematical sciences literature. Over 100,000 new items are
added each year, most of them classified according to the Mathematics Subject Classification. Continuing in
the tradition of the paper publication; Mathematical Reviews (MR), which was first published in 1940, over 23
40,000 reviews are added to the database each year. Extending the MR tradition, MathSciNet contains over
two million items and over 1,000,000 direct links to original articles.
12.4.5 SciFinder Scholar
SciFinder is a research tool that
allows students, faculty, and scientists to access diverse research topics from
many scientific disciplines, including biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, materials science,
agricultural science, etc. It provides easy access to the rich and diverse scientific information contained in
the CAS databases including Chemical Abstracts from 1907 onwards, and offers a variety of pathways to
explore CAS databases as well as MEDLINE. SciFinder Scholar interface provides the most accurate and
comprehensive chemical and related scientific information including journal articles and patents together in
one source, substance data, chemical reactions, chemical regulatory data, chemical suppliers, biomedical
literature. It has references from more than 10,000 currently published journals and patents from more than
59 patent authorities across globe.
12.4.6 Scopus
Scopus is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles. It covers
nearly 21,000 titles from over 5,000 publishers, of which 20,000 are peer-reviewed journals in scientific,
technical, medical, and social sciences (including arts and humanities). It is owned by Elsevier and is
available online by subscription. Searches in Scopus incorporate searches of scientific web pages through
Scirus, another Elsevier product, as well as patent databases. The publishers are careful in the choice of
journals to be included in the database and maintain an open and transparent content coverage policy,
regardless of publisher.
12.4.7 Web of Science
The Web of Science provides seamless access to current and retrospective multidisciplinary information
from approximately 8,700 of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world. Web of
Science also provides a unique search method and cited reference searching. With it, users can navigate
forward, backward, and through the literature, searching all disciplines and time spans to uncover all the
information relevant to their research. Users can also navigate to electronic full-text journal articles. It has
access to the Science Citation Index (1900 to present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1956 to present), Arts
& Humanities Citation Index (1975 to present), Index Chemicus (1993 to present), and Current Chemical
Reactions (1986 to present).
12.5 Other Electronic Information Products
Sometimes users assume that a library database is the same as a website, when, in fact, this is not so.
Although a library database is accessed through Internet, yet the information found therein is actually
reprinted from physical print sources. Another important difference between a library database and a website
is that many of the texts that one finds on the library database are not available on the Internet. Because of
this important difference, it follows that much of the information contained in a library database is composed 24
by professionals or experts in their fields, while websites simply contain information from both expert as
well as non-expert sources.
Some of the other electronic information products are mentioned below:
12.5.1 Online Newspapers
The online versions of many newspapers and magazines can give us additional information, hence
these are becoming quite popular. The "newspaper online"(www.newspapers.com) in their online service
provides the important national and international news stories as well as extensive financials news. Further,
they also offer news in multi- media form, ie, charts and graphs, photos, audio and video clips.
However, their services are more concentrated towards synthesizing news rather than as an information
solution for individuals. Also, www.netgazettes.com gives a directory of web magazines.
There are sites which refer to a collection of sites, oft en called search engines; for instance, the pathfinder
(www.pathfinder.com) is both a search engine and a collection of web sites. Almost all sites, herein are,
however, affiliated to Time -Warner. Among the searchable sources, Time, Life, Fortune, Sports Illustrated,
etc. are the few important magazines.
12.5.2 Reference Sources as Information Products
Reference databases provide reference information (facts, statistics, background information) from many
different print sources. Among the advantages of searching electronic sources on the Internet are that it
is fast, readily available and mostly free. The Internet also allows us to search multiple sources at a time.
There are a number of reference sources on the Internet. The Internet has information about libraries; it has
dictionaries, encyclopaedias, almanacs, yearbooks, handbooks, manuals, directories, bibliographies,
biographies, maps, charts, tables, etc.
13. SUMMARY
This module explains the growth of information in recent times as a result of developments and discoveries
in science and technology, agriculture, medicine, and even social sciences. Such growth of information has
made it difficult for the scientists, academicians, researchers to keep track of the latest developments in the
fields of their interests. Despite the fact that the research findings have been reported in various types of
indexing and abstracting services, yet these too were found to be deficient in many cases. Besides, there are
many organizations which provide various services, develop products, processes, techniques, etc but
information about them could not be transmitted to the potential users for want of adequate information
products in a language and format easily understandable and acceptable to them. As such the information
products have been developing from compendium to condensed form such as the newsletters, house journals,
trade bulletins, reviews, state-of-the-art reports, trend reports, technical digests, etc. Their need, features,
functions, etc have been described to know about their benefits to the users. Further, the pace of development
of information products from print to electronic format has been tremendous in recent times. Their use and
popularity has necessitated designing and developing electronic/computerized databases some of which are
available online, and these too have been described for the benefit of the users.
14. TEXT FOR VOICE NARRATION25
14.1 Information Products
Information product is any portion of information/knowledge that has been recorded in some systematic way,
whether that is in print format or audio or video format. According to Jennifer Tribe some of the most
common information products are print books and electronic books, booklets and special reports, manuals
and workbooks, audio cassettes, CDs, or downloadable audio films, videotapes, DVDs, teleclasses,
subscription-based web sites, and so on. Information products are also sometimes referred to as “digital
goods” and “knowledge-based goods”. Therefore, information products may be defined as those that are
prepared after selecting and acquiring suitable information sources.
14.2 Types of Information Products
There are following types of information products:
1. Reviews: These include critical and state-of-the-art reports.
2. Reports: These include assessment, technical reports, market reports, alerting bulletins, newsletters,
and house journals.
3. Data: This category includes data compilations and tables, statistical abstracts, correlations,
composites, and critical data.
4. Databases: These include expert databases and subject knowledge bases.
5. Technical Writings: This type has in its fold guides, manuals, instruction sheets, explanations on a
complex subject provided in a style and language geared toward a given audience level, popular
articles on a scientific or technical topic.
6. Handbooks: These include compilations of essential data, and information on a subject.
7. Critical Studies: This type includes comparison of different practices or policies, or studies, and
impact and future studies.
8. Requests: These include briefings, evaluative on-demand studies, and compilations.
14.3 NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters have been with us for more than 500 years on one form or the other. However, there has been
rapid growth of newsletters, as sources of valuable information, during the twentieth century.
A newsletter has been defined “as a serial consisting of one or few pages, usually printed, containing nascent
information or news which is of interest to a special or particular group of users and which is published
periodically.”
Newsletters are, therefore, periodical publications issued by various organizations, institutions, government
departments, professional societies, trade and industry associations, etc for providing speedy information to
their members and subscribers. These are also issued by commercial and research organizations to make their
uses aware of the new products. Some organizations publish newsletters as a substitute to journals, and
contain limited pages.
Newsletters are prepared to fulfill the following objectives:
a. To publicize and promote products and services of the parent organizations.
b. To announce current and forthcoming events like holding of conferences, seminars, workshops, etc.26
c. To communicate information about social and cultural activities, appointments, promotions, transfers,
retirements, obituaries, etc of the members and subscribers of the concerned organizations.
d. To publish timely and relevant activities of current interest.
14.3.2 Electronic Newsletters (E-Newsletter)
Recent advances in computer and telecommunication technology have led to the development and application of
computer networks and the development of electronic newsletters which are in use since the 1990s. Electronic
newsletters are distributed through e-mail to those users who would willingly subscribe to them online. The eNewsletters
have gained rapid acceptance over printed format. The use of e-Newsletters is becoming quite
popular for advertising the products and services in business and industry because no printing and mailing costs
are involved.
1
4.4 HOUSE JOURNALS
House journals have a long history. However, in recent times, the area of work of house journals has
expanded many times in many directions to meet the demands of special interest groups.
A house journal is defined as an internal publication produced by an organization in order to inform and
entertain its employees and to generate better internal communication and relationships.
House journals are serial publications like the newsletters, published by industrial and commercial
organizations, corporations, business houses, public sector undertakings, and similar other organizations.
These are meant for circulation among their customers, shareholders, employees, dealers, retailers, etc. to
inform them about their products, performance, and other activities.
14. 4.1 Types of House Journals
All house journals can be categorized into the following two distinct types:
- Internal house journals, and
- External house journals.
14.4.2 Objectives and Functions
Some of the objectives and functions of house journals are:
a) To promote and enhance the image of the organization as well as that of management among its
customers and employees.
b) To improve business and industrial relations.
c) To keep employees and customers in the picture.
d) To provide an objective news service.
14.5 TRADE LITERATURE (BULLETINS)
Trade literature is a generic term which includes trade bulletins and catalogues, etc. It may be defined as
“catalogue and other advertising or promotional material distributed by business firm usually free of charge.27
They promote sales by making claims about product attributes, give instructions in using products, include
detail descriptions of sale products, and so on.
Some of the features common to all types of trade /product bulletins, trade catalogues, etc may be as follows:
a) They provide such valuable information about a product, an equipment, a process, or a service
that does not appear elsewhere.
b) The amount of information provided varies considerably, so much so that it may range from a
single page to several hundred pages.
c) The information provided is generally supported by various types of illustrations, diagrams,
charts, etc.
d) Since new products, processes and services are being developed on continuous basis, these
bulletins and catalogues become outdated soon, and need to be updated regularly.
e) Trade literature is generally available without any charges.
Some of the important functions of trade and product bulletins may be as follows:
a) These bulletins are published to promote the sale of the various types of products, etc.
b) Useful source of valuable information for scientists, engineers, medical practitioners, etc.
c) Trade literature contains product description, application, installation instructions, operation
characteristics, maintenance procedures, etc.
d) Helpful in comparing similar products or processes available from different manufacturers.
e) These serve as useful guide to names and addresses of the manufacturers, dealers, etc.
14.6 HANDBOOKS
A handbook is a book giving information such as facts on a particular subject, or instructions for operating a
machine. It is a comprehensive and handy work on a particular topic for practitioners, structured for quick
reference. The term ‘handbook’ is derived from the German word ‘handbach’ meaning a small book or a
treatise giving useful facts. It is called handbook because it is usually convenient to be held in the hands of
the users. It is a ready reference source the relevant portions of which are consulted at the time of need.
A handbook is defined as: “A reference book of miscellaneous facts and figures on one or many subjects
assembled for ready use, in response to popular interest or to a specific need for concise, handy information”.
The basic purpose of handbooks is to serve as ready reference source for a given field of knowledge.
Handbooks lay emphasis on established knowledge rather than on recent advances, although in the field of
science, handbooks that are more than a few years old may not be of much use. They primarily give
information about facts to know and instructions to do.
Most handbooks have limited scope. However, they may include the following in their scope and coverage.
a) Provide facts, figures and themes of a specific area.
b) No emphasis on newer ideas and current developments.
c) Help in understanding the subject.
d) Prepared with the assumption that users have osme background knowledge about the subject
covered.28
e) Provide sources for the facts and figures included.
f) Give instructions on how to serve as guides to occupations, hobbies, art forms, etc.
There are a large number of handbooks being published on different subjects. However, these can be
categorized in the following types:
- General handbooks
- Historical handbooks
- Literary handbooks
- Statistical handbooks
- Official handbooks
- Practical handbooks
- Subject handbooks
14. 7 MANUALS
A manual is a brief reference book dealing with a particular process, operation, mechanism, job instruction,
etc. It is regarded as a comprehensive step-by-step guide to a particular topic both for beginners and
practitioners. It is essentially an instruction book which instructs how to do something with clear directions.
It usually accompanies a technical device and explains how to install or operate it. However, sometimes it is
difficult to distinguish it from an average handbook, as observed by Katz.
A manual has a limited scope, and usually it focuses on a specific area of interest. According to Katz, its
particular value is its depth of information in a narrow field of knowledge. Its scope is as follows:
a) It provides instructions to users on the uses of equipments, or appliances, or software, etc.
b) It gives directions to users’ representatives on how to instruct their employees about the use of
various machines and other equipments.
c) It provides instructions to management, supporting or helping staff on the use of equipments, or
procedures.
d) It gives instructions to other departments or organizations on how to liaise their operations with
yours.
In the present day world many types of manuals are available. They can be grouped according to the various
jobs they are meant to perform.
- Technical Manuals
- Procedural Manuals
- Laboratory Manuals
14.8 REVIEWS29
A review may be defined as “a critical synthesis of the state of knowledge in a given subject or topic; it is a
critical examination of information and literature on a subject or topic accommodated in its broader
framework.” A review has the following types:
- Bibliographic Reviews
- Instructional Reviews
- Combination of the above two.
Reviews are prepared to perform the following functions:
14.8.4.1 Historical Functions
1. Evaluation of the published literature on a subject by expert and selecting significant items only.
2. Collation of information from various sources and putting in proper perspective.
3. Compaction of existing knowledge.
4. Replacement of many scattered documents with one.
5. Identification of emerging discipline through reviews.
14.8.4.2 Contemporary Functions
1. Current awareness function to keep the individual user up to date about the latest developments.
2. Most significant contributions are brought to the notice of the individual users through reviews.
3. Reviews serve as the back up for other literature searches.
4. Reviews are useful to students in knowing new subject, and experts in getting overview.
5. Critical reviews provide ideas for further research work in a given subject.
14.9 STATE-OF-THE-ART REPORTS
State-of-the-art reports are another important information consolidation product required by scientists and
other researchers. These are the type of reviews which do not have an all compassing scope. These lay
emphasis on recency and up-to-datedness of a situation.
State-of-the-art report is the highest level of development of a technique, or scientific field, etc achieved at a
particular time. The aim of such reports is to describe a very recent situation, hence a current awareness
source for a specific group of users.
Some of the characteristics of state-of-the-art reports include:
-Completeness: It indicates the degree to which information and literature on a subject are covered.
-Perspective: It involves the direction, purpose, subject orientation, etc in relation to a subject.
- Analysis: It is with regard to depth and extent of analysis.30
- Synthesis: It looks into the degree of compactness and consolidation from various sources of information.
- Value Addition: It is related to the requirements of the users as subject specialists.
- Utility: It is the degree to which the state-of-the-art report serves multiple functions.
The state-of-the-art report is used mostly in relation to technological topics, industry, business and commerce,
and statistical reports presenting correlation in market, demographic, scientific areas. It performs the
following functions:
- Peer Evaluation of Published Literature
- Collation of Information from Different Sources
- Replacement of Primary Documents as the Written Record
- Identification of Emerging Specialists
- Direction of Research and Work
14.10 TREND REPORTS
Trend reports usually furnish indicators of variations of control parameters against planned objectives. They
provide a systematic outlook of latest developments and current research trends in a subject field during a
specific period of time. The trend reports provide an insight about how a subject has performed during a
particular period.
A trend report may be defined as an exposition of a subject, giving an account of the general direction of
research in the subject, based on a review of the documents on current developments.
The main purpose of trend reports is to briefly capture the major trends in a given area of research based on
the analysis of literature on the given subject published during a given period of time. The current awareness
services being provided by the information specialists are not adequately meeting their needs. The trend
reports, however, provide an overview of the recent developments and research trends in a particular subject.
Trend reports are prepared to fulfill the following needs:
-To help researchers to keep themselves aware of the latest developments in a given subject field.
-To help planners and decision makers to sponsor a research in a given area.
-To help students to make out an area of research.
14.11 TECHNICAL DIGESTS
The multi-dimensional growth of information relating to the needs of managerial and technical workers in
industrial, commercial, scientific and other such establishments has been making it difficult to keep them
updated about the latest developments of new products, machinery, processes, techniques, etc. In order to
meet their information requirements, a specialized service called technical digest service, has been prepared. 31
A digest is a summation or condensation of a body of published literature hence found useful for all types of
researchers. It is a full representation of a document, rewritten for a purpose or to suit the requirement of a
different group of people, but intended to serve as a complete substitute for the original document.
A technical digest, however, is not as different from a digest except the coverage and scope of the subject. A
technical digest includes in its scope primarily science and technology, but it is not limited to it only. It may
also cover commerce, management, education, computers, and so on.
In industrial environment, technical digests are a useful source of information for managers, technical
workers, etc as they can get technical information on areas related to their occupation. Here, different
categories of personnel and workers have different types of information needs. For example, managerial
personnel require product-oriented information which may further be categorized as technical, commercial,
marketing, and information relating to decision-making. On the other hand, technical workers require
information on solving technical problems. Therefore, the contents of technical digests should also be
structured according to their levels and needs so that the managers can save their time in decision-taking. Th
Technical digests are prepared to perform the following functions:
- To keep various levels of personnel in the industry aware of the latest developments in their
respective fields of interest.
- To provide timely and reliable information to keep users aware of the new developments taking
place in their areas of specialization.
- To propagate latest technical know-how.
- To help solve technical problems by providing new ideas and information about processes in day to
day working.
- To serve as an efficient channel between research and production centres.
14.12 ELECTRONIC INFORMATION PRODUCTS
Electronic information products are provided in electronic form, and these include resources available on the
Internet such as e-books e-journals, online database, CD-ROM databases and other computer–based
electronic networks. The first electronic information product emerged in the form of CD-ROM database
during 1980.
Internet/Web information products emerged more than three decade ago. It has witnessed phenomenal
growth as a medium preferred for information discovery and delivery and it is widely accepted as a major
source of scholarly, scientific, commercial, and entertainment information. The Web allows accessing most
types of information on the Internet through a browser. One of the main features of the Web is the ability to
quickly link to other related information. The Web contains information beyond plain text, including sounds,
quickly link to other related information. The Web contains information beyond plain text, including sounds,
images, and video. With the advent of Internet and World Wide Web there had been proliferation of on line
information products besides CD-ROM data bases that stored databases of periodicals abstracts and indexes
as well as books.
14. 12.1 Bibliographic Databases32
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records of references to published literature,
including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications,
patents, books, etc. The bibliographic records in these databases usually describe articles, conference papers,
etc., rather than complete monographs, and they generally contain very rich subject descriptions in the form
of keywords, subject classification terms, or abstracts. These bibliographic databases include Compendex,
Index Medicus, INSPEC, MathSciNet, ScifinderScholar, Scopus, etc.
There are other electronic information products also such as online newspapers, online reference sources, and
so on.
REFERENCES
Atherton, Pauline. Handbook of Information Systems and Services. Paris: UNESCO, 1977.
Debons, Anthony. Information Science 101. USA: Scarecrow Press, 2008.
Documentation Research and Training Centre, Bangalore. Information Analysis and Consolidation:
Principles, Procedures and Products. edited by G. Bhattacharyya and M. Gopinath. Annual Seminar. 18.
Bangalore: DRTC, 1981.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008, online, available at
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/newsletter
Guha, B. Documentation and Information: Services, Techniques and Systems. 2nd rev. ed. Calcutta: World
Press, 1983. Reprinted 1999.
Katz, William A. Introduction to Reference Work. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. 2 Volumes.
Kumar, P.S.G. Information Analysis, Repackaging, Consolidation and Information Retrieval. New Delhi:
B.R. Publishing Corporation, 2004.
Saracevic,T. “Processes and Problems in Information Consolidation”. Information Processing &
Management 22, no. 1 (1986): 45-60.
Saracevic, T. and Wood, J. B. Consolidation of Information: A Handbook on Evaluation, Restructuring and
Repackaging of Scientific and Technical Information. Paris: UNESCO, 1981.
Seetharama, S. Information Consolidation and Repackaging: Framework, Methodology, Planning. New
Delhi: Ess Ess Publications, 1997.
Sewa Singh. Information Analysis, Consolidation and Repackaging. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2014.
Subramanyam, K. “Review Literature”. in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, edited by Allen
Kent. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1979. Volume 26, p. 461-74.33
Tribe, Jennifer. www.juicedconsulting.com
16. ASSESSMENT AND EVLAUATION
16.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1. ……………………. is also sometimes referred to as ‘artefacts’ because it is left behind for future
generations.
(a) Handbook
(b) Trade Bulletin
(c) Newsletter
(d) Information product
2. To create an information product, developer should know about the demand, quality, presentation,
and…..
(a) follow-ups
(b) users
(c) institution
(d) sources
3. …………..…… is a serial publication consisting one or more pages giving latest information.
(a) House bulletin
(b) Product bulletin
(c) Newsletter
(d) Trade bulletin
4. ……………….…… is an internal publication produced by an organization.
(a) Trade bulletin
(b) House journal
(c) Handbook
(d) Product bulletin
5……………………… is published to promote the sales of a product or service.
(a) House bulletin
(b) Trade/Product bulletin
(c) E-Newsletter
(d) Handbook
16.2 Fill in the Blanks
6. ………………..…. contains valuable information about product description, installation
instructions, etc.
7. ……………………..……is a type of reference work intended to serve ready reference source.
8. ………….…….is a critical synthesis of state of knowledge in a given subject.
9. …………………………...is the highest level of development of scientific knowledge at a
particular time.
10. The main purpose of………………………..is to capture the trends in a given area of research.
16.3 True and False Statements
11. E- information products are provided in electronic form which include resources available on the
Internet
12. Reviews do not replace the primary documents.
13. A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records of references to published
literature
14. Primarily, the INSPEC database covers journal articles, conference papers, significant books, etc.
15. Scopus bibliographic database does not contain abstracts and citations for academic journal
articles.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
1. (d)
2. (a)
3. (c)
4. (b)
5. (b)
6. Trade/ product bulletin
7. Handbook
8. Review
9. State-of-the-art report
10. Trend report
11. True
12. False
13. True
14. True
15. False
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