Official Publications:

Government Information, Statistics, and Patents

public domain information

• government publications

• census data

• legal records (patents, copyright records, etc.)

Why?

• collecting information about population (literacy, demographics)

• establishing national policies, planning, control

• cf. Stieg’s article on the nineteenth century information revolution

Government Information

reference work with official publications

Government• Government Printing Office (GPO) (online:MOCAT)

www.access.gpo.gov• SuDocs classification system, other controlled

vocabularies (uniform title field)• locating government information (indexes: Monthly

Catalog, U.S. Government Periodicals Index, State Publications and Depository Libraries, etc.)

• Thomas (U.S. Congress on the Internet) thomas.loc.gov• CIS (Congressional Information Service databases

available through Lexis-Nexis) www.cispubs.com

reference work with official publications

• government (international, national, state, county government, municipal government)

• level of bibliographical control varies for governmental organizations of different levels

reference work with government publications

Government: International• Statesman’s Yearbook (annual, 1864+)• Background Notes Series. U.S. Department of State. Bureau of

Public Affairs. (irregular, 1980+)• Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook. Gale

(annual, 1980+)• Worldwide Government Directory. Keesing’s Worldwide

(annual, 1981+)• Dbase of worldwide government institutions (links to

parliaments, ministries, offices, embassies, city councils, public broadcasting corporations, central banks, etc. http://gksoft.com/govt/en)

reference work with government publications

Government: National

• U.S. Government Manual. U.S. GPO (annual, 1935+)

• Budget of the United States. Bureau of the Budget. U.S. GPO (annual, 1922+) (PrEx2.8)

reference work with government publications

Government: State• Book of the States (1934+)

with supplement • State Leadership Directories, Part III: State Administrative

Officials Classified by Function. (annual 1996+)• Facts about the States. 2nd ed. (1994)• Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States. 4th ed. (1998)• major almanacs have brief articles concerning each state

(for information as population, area, and state symbols (state bird, motto, tree, etc.) they will provide a quick answer

reference work with government publications

Government: County

• County and City Data Book. U.S. Bureau of the Census. U.S. GPO (irregular, 1949+) C56.243

reference work with government publications

Government: Municipal

• The Municipal Yearbook. Intl. City Manager’s Association (annual, 1934+)

for statistical data on many other items, see

• County and City Data Book. U.S. Bureau of the Census. U.S. GPO (irregular, 1949+) C56.243

reference work with government publications

Indexes• Monthly Catalog of United States Publications. U.S. Supt.

Of Documents. U.S. GPO (monthly, 1895+)

• Guide to Popular U.S. Government Publications. 3rd ed. Libraries Unlimited, 1993

• State Publications and Depository Libraries. Greenwood, 1981

• U.S. Government Periodicals Index (1992+)

Statistics

reference work with statistics resources

General

• There are many sources of statistics (every field produces

its own statistics)

• Statistics Sources (Gale, 1962+)

• Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences. Update (1982-1989) 10 vols.; (1997-1998) 2 vols. (detailed coverage of all types of statistical methods in all fields)

reference work with statistics resources

Government • Statistical Abstracts of the United States. U.S. Bureau of

the Census. U.S. government Printing Office. Annual, 1878+ (C3:134)

• 1995+ Statistical Abstracts downloadable from http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-us.html

• Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970. U.S. Bureau of the Census. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976. (supplement to the Statistical Abstracts)

reference work with statistics resources

Government

• City and County Data Book. U.S. Bureau of the Census. U.S. Government Printing Office. Irregular, 1949+ (C56.243/)

Patents

reference work with patent information• criteria: originality, innovation, not obvious

• U.S. Patent Office www.uspto.gov

• registration, reference (searches performed by law firms to assert rights)

• classification system for patents

• access to patent information databanks (STN, DIALOG)

reference work with patent information

how to apply

• Patents’ Handbook: A Guide for Inventors and Researchers to Searching Patent Documents and Preparing and Making an Application. 1995

• Inventor’s guide to Successful Patent Applications. 1988

reference work with patent information

government regulations• Roster of Attorneys and Agents Registered to Practice

Before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. GPO (irregular, 197?+)

• Rules of Practice in Patent Cases (C21.14)

• Trademark Rules of Practice of the Patent and Trademark Office with Forms and Statutes (C21.14:T67/2)

reference work with patent information

general information• General Information Concerning Patents. U.S. Patent and

Trademark Office. U.S. GPO (annual, 1922+) C21.26/2

• Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patents. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. GPO (weekly, 1872+) C21.5:

• U.S. Patent Office website www.uspto.gov

Reference Sources: Conclusion

tracing historical trends

following trends in discourse communities

locational information

indirect sources -- direct sources (bibliographies / directories)

primary -- secondary -- tertiary sources

lexical material and non-lexical material (etymologies, synonyms, usage or status labels, pictorial information, maps, etc.)

lexical semantic networks (opposites, synonymous, antonymous)

resolving garbled quotations

crossword puzzle enthusiasts, translators, writers (variations, subtle connotations of words)

does the library own a book (by an author, in a particular subject)

does the book really exist

verification of a bibliographical reference (when user does not have complete information)

matching information needs and the types of sources that address them

implying the limitations of these sources, cf. Bopp & Smith's "Search strategy" sections (boxed case studies) for each of information sources (e.g., Box 15.1 Almanac Search Strategy, p. 366, 15.3 Handbook Search Strategy, p. 372, etc.)

reference sources in flux: where are we now?

formats, distribution, uses of hybrid information

• revolution starting in the 1960s/1970s (databases)

• current trends and implications for creation, distribution, and use

• derivative genres in networked environment, fragmentation

• distribution in print and on the network, hybrid information spaces

• licensing vs. ownership

• physical scattering of sources (new configurations needed for online access)

• reference resource management systems: JAKE (Jointly Administered knowledge environment - Yale http://libraries.harvard.edu/..., Office of Information Systems, LDI page) VERA (Virtual Electronic Resources Access - MIT http://libraries.mit.edu/vera)

• electronic gateways (construction, training, collaboration)

• an overview of reference sources through an

epistemological approach

• critique of retrieval models (T. Mann)• methods-of-searching configuration of the library and library model --

implications for retrieval

• evaluation of content and structuring for retrieval• matching sources with information needs (translation of information

need to search task)

• typical questions, analysis of queries

• resource evaluation exercise (Soergel)

information sources: an epistemological approach

What is the epistemological strategy of an index? What does an encyclopedia let us

know? And what it does not?

Using the epistemological model, we can critically examine the nature,

limits, and validity of knowledge and the difference between knowledge

and belief (the sources that these sources use as evidence of their

authority) of each of the information source types. * indexes, bibliographies

* dictionaries

* biographical sources

* encyclopedias

* almanacs, handbooks, ready-reference sources

* serials

* geographical sources (gazetteers, dictionaries of place names,

guidebooks)

* government documents

* statistical sources

information sources: an overview index

(fr. indicate to indicate) (1571) a device (as the pointer on a scale or the gnomon of a sundial

that serves to indicate a value or quantity; a list (as of bibliographical information or citations

to a body of literature) arranged usu. in alphabetical order of some specified datum (as author,

subject, or keyword); a list of items (as topics or names) treated in a printed work that gives

for each item the page number where it may be found; a bibliographical analysis of groups

of publications that is usu. published periodically; a list of restricted or prohibited material

(Index Librorum Prohibitorum = a list of books the reading of which is prohibited or restricted

for Roman Catholics by the church authorities; (metaphorically) the ratio of one

dimension of a thing to another dimension (Webster's)

bibliography

(fr. Gk, the copying of books, fr. bibli- + graphia- graphy) (1802) the history, identification, or

description of writings or publications; a list often with descriptive or critical notes of writings

relating to a particular subject, period, or author; a list of works written by an author or printed

by a publishing house; the works or a list of the works referred to in a text or consulted by the

author in its production

information sources: an overview

dictionary book that lists words and their definitions in alphabetical

order; may be general or subject oriented; Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the

English Language (1755) is one of the pioneering dictionaries in

English; U.S.: Webster's Dictionary (1828) and U.K.: The Oxford English

Dictionary (1884+) are two most comprehensive successors of Johnson's

Dictionary

thesaural arrangement (Peter Mark Roget published a thesaurus in 1852)

arranges words according to 15 primary classes of categories designated

as living things, language, arts, etc.; within the categories, words are

grouped by the ideas they convey, with synonyms and antonyms appearing in close

proximity; cross-references are included but no definitions are part of it (Bopp &

Smith)

information sources: epistemology

directory (1543 from. lat. dirigere) serving to direct specif:

providing advisory but not compulsory guidance; a book or collection of

directions, rules, or ordinances; an alphabetical or classified list (as

of names and addresses) (Webster's)

almanac (fr. Arabic al-manakh) (14th cent.) a publication containing

astronomical and meteorological data for a given year and often

including a miscellany of other information; a usu. annual publication

containing statistical, tabular, and general information (Webster's)

information sources: overviewencyclopedia (fr. Gk enkylios + paideia educatiaon of children, child rearing) (1644)

a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge usu. in articles

arranged alphabetically often by subject; (1844) encyclopedic=comprehensive;

Encyclopedists are writers of a French encyclopedia (1751-80) identified with the

Enlightenment and advocated scientific rationalism (Webster's)

serial (1846) a work appearing (as in magazine or on television) in parts or intervals,

installment; a publication (as a newspaper or journal) issued as one of a

consecutively numbered and indefinitely continued series (Webster's)

newspaper (1670) a paper that is printed and distributed usu. daily or weekly and that

contains news, articles of opinion, features, and advertising

information sources: overview

journal (ME service book containing the day hours, fr. journal daily fr. L diurnus =

of the day) (15th cent.) a record of current transactions; an account of day-to-day

events; a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use; a

daily newspaper; a periodical dealing esp. with matters of current interest

(Webster's)

Journal des Savants (1665) - originally motivated by the need to issue a journal to control intellectual life as well as

economic, by publishing record of scientific experiements and a review of recent publications: a review evidently

intended to influence the opinions of the intelligentsia where necessary. Issued upon Colbert's initiative by Dennis de

Sallo, a counsellor of the Parlement and a scholar of international repute, later continued by Abbe Gallois who left outall

the criticism of the works summarized in the journal. Translated in to Italian, German, and Latin, and in 1678 its format

was reduced so that it could be sent abroad to the provinces through the post, as easily as a letter. Royal Society's

Philosophical Transactions (1665) and other journals (esp. gazettes) rivalled the Journal des Savants. This kind of

publication acquainted readers to a broad scope of ideas, and although in its infancy, exercised from the beginning a

profound influence on the evolution of ideas (Febvre & Martin 1976, 235-236)

information sources: overviewgeographical sources map (fr. L, napkin, towel) (1527) a representation usu. on a flat

surface of the whole or a part of an area; a representation of the celestial sphere or a

part of it; something that represents with a clarity suggestive of a map (Webster's)

gazetteer (gazette fr. F fr. It gazetta, ca. 1598) newspaper; an official journal; (1611)

a geographical dictionary; a book in which a subject is treated esp. in regard to

geographic distribution and regional specialization (Webster's)

sources of statistical information (statistics fr. Gk Statistik or study of political facts

and figures) (1770) a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis,

interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data; a collection of

quantitative data; statistical (1787) or related to or employing the principles of

statistics (Webster’s)

critique of retrieval models & existing access configurationsThomas Mann: Library Research Models (1993)

• access to materials is physical & intellectual (controlled vocabularies: classification, subject headings including LCSH floating subdivisions)

critique of retrieval models & existing access configurationsThomas Mann: Library Research Models (1993)

• library model does not promote access to same information

in different types of literature (bibliographies, and non-reference works), and access to different levels of representations (full-text articles, citations, encyclopedia entries, etc. about the same topic)

• methods-of-searching configuration of the library

information sources: existing configurations

library model

information sources: alternative access configurations

methods-of-searching model

information sources and information needs: evaluation of content and structuring for retrieval

• matching sources with information needs (translation of information need to a search task)

• typical questions, analysis of queries

• resource evaluation exercise (Soergel)• entity-relationship model