Information Resources and Services

Information Resources and Services

Colombo:

Kumaran, 2010.

The information explosion of the latter part of the 20th Century, which is an important aspect of the environment we live in, would have been an impenetrable cloud, if not for the information resources developed to meet the needs of the users in this present information era.

 When talking about resources the information media in the present era must also be taken into account. The present volume is an attempt to meet the pressing need of explaining the information resources for all who use libraries with an inquiring mind for various purposes, such as to learn, to teach, for leisure and to evaluate their ideas or for factual reference.

 The book has been written with these aims in mind, from  basic resources for research needs to any ready references that gives information, to queries such as to who, where, what  and when, keeping a diversity of users in mind. It also guides users in differentiating the usefulness of information resources from primary sources to ready references and media from ola leaves to the internet.

 These sixteen chapters take away the myth that books are the principal library media, but other information resources could be profitably utilized.

 The present era marked by information explosion is one that has left the generality of people facing bewilderment. The present volume seeks to offer essential guidance to user who turns to the library to find out what is happening in the world around us, to learn, to teach, to communicate, for leisure, to inquire, for research, to fulfill a vocational need, and to assess; to use basic resources from ola leaves to the internet and find answers to questions of who, what, where, when, how and why.   

 This again will be like a text book for students doing a course in library science, taking the reader from the meaning of information to what the current resources and media are like and how the information is organized as ready reference to attain information from within the library, besides to other resources.

How resources are catergorised is explained, from primary sources to the present media, and all kinds of reference sources from ready references to guide books and abstracts, are explained in detail with examples and illustrations.

 Human resources, resource organizations which give tailor made references from abstracts & indexes or full sources to serials & links to others are detailed. Library services from basic to the advancement of IT are also incorporated, with special emphasis on resources & services available in Sri Lanka.

A glossary is also given for user reference.