Reference and Informational Genres
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Reference and Informational Genres Thomas Mann Library of Congress, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A. Abstract In order to reduce the problems of information overload, librarians and indexers have created systems of categorization that allow large numbers of individual books or articles to be perceived initially through smaller numbers of categories of literature. These categories can be either subject or format groupings. Format designations are particularly useful in segregating reference works from larger collections or retrievals. The distinctive nature, and the purposes and uses of reference works (“tertiary literature” composed of 60% or more of files or lists, as opposed to “primary” or “secondary” literature) are discussed. The mechanisms for finding such works via Library of Congress Subject Headings, or via the peculiarities of their shelving in either the Library of Congress Classification or the Dewey Decimal Classification, are explained. “Publication types” and “document type” searches within databases covering formats other than books are also treated. Reading– Regional The phrase “reference and informational genres” refers not solely accomplished by the creation of subject group- to types of literature that are distinctively formatted in ings; it is also brought about by format and genre such a way as to expedite the discovery of particular kinds categorizations. In the same example, a researcher inter- of information. Such genres include almanacs, atlases, ested in “Afghanistan—history” may, in a large research chronologies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and so on, that library, still be overwhelmed by too much material within usually present informational content in brief, segmented that subject itself; but further subdivisions of the topic displays, rather than in connected narratives or continuous into types of literature such as “Afghanistan—history— expositions. bibliography,” “—chronology,” “—dictionaries,” “— The need for such genres arises from the fact that encyclopedias,” can provide the additional options needed efficient research cannot be done in large, unsorted col- to make the various aspects of the “Afghanistan—history” lections of resources, whether printed or electronic. Some group more perceptible and manageable. kind of categorization of the material is necessary to pre- Format and genre groupings thus allow very useful vent information overload. While the mind cannot grasp discriminations to be made on a basis other than subject huge numbers of individual items in relationship to each content: on the one hand, they enable immediate focus other, it can more easily discern relationships among to be directed toward some particular types of relevant broader—and fewer—categories into which the items resources “within” a subject; on the other, they enable may be sorted or assigned. whole groups of irrelevant sources to be immediately In book literature, for example, one can get a better excluded, which would otherwise remain as cluttering sense of what is or is not contained within the category of elements if only subject (rather than format/genre) cate- works on “Afghanistan—history” if one can readily see gories were available to choose from. In this same that subdividing categories other than “history” per se example, still other format designations (“personal narra- have been created for country’s “antiquities,” “bound- tives,” “pictorial works,” “registers of dead,” “songs and aries,” “civilization,” “economic conditions,” “foreign music,” and so on) may appear as subdivisions of “Afgha- relations,” “geography,” “intellectual life,” “politics and nistan” directly—e.g., “Afghanistan—pictorial works” government,” “social life and customs,” and so on. That rather than “Afghanistan—history—pictorial works,” thus is, one can more readily discern what may be contained allowing other relevant genre categories to be recognized within a “history” of Afghanistan category by being able in the same roster in which subject subdivisions appear. to note, quickly, the relationship of this category itself to The major types of format and genre categorizations an array of all the other subject-aspects that impinge on used in the library field were initially developed as “history” without being included by it. (These particular mechanisms to sort and characterize literature contained categorizations are all formal terms within the Library of in books; but similar or analogous types of category desig- Congress Subject Headings system.) nations have been created to prevent, in comparable The segregation of large collections of resources ways, the retrieval of “too much” information within other into smaller and more manageable “chunks,” however, is kinds of knowledge records. (For example, within journal Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Third Edition DOI: 10.1081/E-ELIS3-120043707 4470 Copyright # 2010 by Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved. Reference and Informational Genres 4471 literature it is possible to focus on, or filter out, letters-to- have some arrangement or categorization of entries reflect- the editor, book reviews, editorials, etc. from conventional ing something of the internal structure or chronological “articles”—points that will be discussed below.) The pres- development of the topic itself, an overall mapping of ent entry therefore starts with a consideration of mechan- parts or aspects of the subject that cannot be captured or isms for sorting book collections, and then moves on to conveyed by automated term-weighting. Frequently sub- consider nonbook resources. ject bibliographies have detailed indexes revealing addi- Several key formats and genres within book literature tional connections among the citations that are not are traditionally distinguished: apparent from the structured order of the listings within Almanacs. These contain miscellaneous data and infor- the body of the bibliography. Bibliographies compiled by mation for quick look-up purposes. They are good sources experts, in short, are often much better than databases in for information concerned with statistics, awards, histori- providing starting points for research, or initial overview cal dates and anniversaries, geography (i.e., basic data on listings of resources. They are especially important in countries, states, large cities, and natural features such as historical and literary research. mountains, rivers, volcanoes), sports records, flags, lists Catalogs. Catalogs provide listings of objects rather of governmental agencies and officials, directory informa- than bibliographic citations; the objects may be merchan- tion for consumers, information on national or world fig- dise, art objects, equipment, machine parts, professional ures, brief chronologies or overviews of world historical or art/craft supplies, and so forth, that are located at par- events, astronomical data and calendars, postal informa- ticular places or that are available for sale. Catalogs, tion, basic world maps, and so on. Almanacs are particu- like bibliographies, may also list publications; but catalog larly useful for answering questions having to do with listings are usually for publications as physical objects who, what, when, and where when only brief, objective residing in a particular place. Catalogs often provide de- information is required. scriptive details, technical specifications, and prices of the Atlases. These are usually compendiums of maps that listed objects. display information graphically and spatially. Maps can Chronologies. These present historical facts arranged Regional show not just national or political relationships but also by the time sequence of their occurrence. Some chronolo- Reading– data on atmosphere and weather, temperature and rainfall, gies present parallel listings that display the developments climate variations, crop production, vegetation, soil condi- within different areas of interest (e.g., politics, arts, tech- tions, biodiversity, ecological changes, mineral concentra- nology, and religion) simultaneously, so that a reader may tions or distributions, geologic processes, fishing patterns, correlate the events of one area with contemporaneous, military power balances, wars and conflicts, status of earlier, or later developments in other subject areas. women, literacy levels, technological levels, population Concordances. These are alphabetical lists of individ- trends, occupational distributions, trade patterns, spread of ual words derived from particular texts (usually literary or diseases, health levels, standards of living, area histories, philosophical classics) that enable researchers to deter- and the like. Many atlases also include representations of mine exactly where any particular word or words appear astronomical information on stars and constellations, the within the text. solar system, planets, moons, comets, and so on. (The term Dictionaries. These provide an alphabetically arranged atlases is also sometimes used in an older sense, referring list of words with their definitions, pronunciations, ety- to compilations of statistical tables rather than maps.) mology, scope of usage, variant forms or spellings, and so Bibliographies. These are compilations of citations to on. Often they contain biographical and geographical books, journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, names. Their scope may vary from coverage of an entire reports, and so on. They may be enumerative (listing language to a focus on only the technical terms or jargon works from a country or other locale,