The document discusses various types of geographical sources used for reference work, including maps, atlases, gazetteers, and guide books. It provides information on evaluating, selecting, and organizing these resources. Specifically, it outlines factors to consider when purchasing atlases, such as scope, currency, publisher reputation, and index quality. It also describes how local maps and gazetteers can complement atlas collections.

1. Geographical Sources
Governmental Publications/
Documents
Continuing Resources

2. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
What is Geographical Sources?
Is an Inexpensive atlases and it may safely discarded
after five to ten years. More expensive, expensive works are in
available. In fact, many gain in both research and monetary
value over the year.
Geographical sources may be used at the mundane
level, or in more sophisticated way to help clarify linkages
between human societies. Reference librarians are with both
approaches.

3. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Geographical sources are generally graphic
representations which allow the imagination full reign.
Indeed, many of them are works of art, and they provide a
type of satisfaction rarely found in the purely textual
approach to knowledge.
Geographical sources used in Ready-Reference works
may be subdivided into three categories;
• Maps and Atlases
•Gazetteers
•Guide Books

4. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
EVALUATION
The same standards apply for university
map collection, and medium to large public
and special libraries and will provide a useful
guide for both beginners and experts. The
standards are published by the Special Libraries
Association, Geography and Maps Division. It gives
detailed instruction and suggestion on how “ to
create , study, evaluate and recognize” a map
library

5. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Buying Guides
The best relatively current to popular atlases is the
General Reference Books for Adults, which, as with encyclopedias
and dictionaries, give detailed information on each of the works,
as well as useful preliminary information on evaluation.
From time to time, the “Reference Books Bulletin” in The
Booklist offers reviews of just-published atlases, such as the
“World Atlas Survey”. The Geography and Maps Division, Special
Libraries Association, issue the bulletin which frequently has
articles of interest to librarians. Contributors covers new atlases,
books, and related materials in each issue.

6. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Publisher
Map printing is a specialized department of the graphic arts;
while simple maps can be prepared by an artist or draftsperson,
more complicated works required a high degree of skill. More
important, their proper reproduction necessitates expensive
processes which the average printer of reference work is not
equipped to handle.
When the cartographic firm’s reputation is not known, it is
advisable to check through over works it may have issued, or in a
buying guide. The map market may differ from the publisher, and
in the case of an atlas both should be check.

7. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Scope and Audience
As with all reference works, the geography section must
represent a wide variety of titles for many purposes and, in a
public or school library, for the appropriate age groups.
Essentially, it is the matter of scope. Some atlases are universal;
other are limited to a single country, or even a region.
Other maps, even within a general work ,may be unevenly
distributed so that 50 percent or more of the work may give
undue attention to the United States or Canada, ignoring the
weight of the rest of the world.

8. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Currency and Standardization
In effort to resolve the problem these problems in the United
States, the Board on Geographic Names was established about
100 years ago. Originally the purpose was to establish names for
settlements, mountains, and other geographical features in the
United States, but as the years passed the board’s mandate was
extended. It now include standardizing all foreign and domestic
names for use by federal agencies on maps and in periodicals. By
extension, the board influences the commercial mapmakers. In
seeking to standardize foreign names, the board works with
similar groups in other Western countries.

9. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Format
When one considers format, the obvious problem is to print a
map in such a way that it is easy to read a mass of names which
cover a densely populated area. It is one thing to clearly print
maps of the north and south polar regions, and quite another to
be able to arrange type and symbols so that one can find a path
from point to point in a map of the areas around the New York
City, Paris, and London.
• Color
• Symbols
• Projections
• Grid Systems
• Type
• Binding
• Marginal Information

10. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Index
A comprehensive index is an important in an atlas as the maps
themselves. A good index is in alphabetical sequence and clearly
lists all place names that appear on the maps. In addition, there
should be a reference to the exact page; the exact map; and
latitude, longitude, and grid information. A page number alone is
never enough, as anyone who has sought as exclusive town or
city on a map lacking such information will testify.
The index in many atlases is really an excellent gazetteer; that
is, in addition to basic information, each entry includes data on
population and country.

11. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Major- Size World Atlases
Times Atlas of The World
• is the best single-volume atlas available.
• Is suited for American libraries because, unlike many other
atlases, it gives a large amount of space to Non-European
countries
The New International
• Has 160,000 entries in the index and 300 good to excellent
maps.

12. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Intermediate- to Small- Size Atlases
The Medallion World Atlas
• Is the largest of the numerous atlases issued by Hammond.
• The atlas is the work horse of the line, with 324 pages maps
and over 148,000 entries in the index.
Citation World Atlas
• Has 26,000 entries in the index as compared with Medallion’s
100,000.
• There are other differences, and yet the maps are precisely
the same.

13. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
The International Geographic Atlas
• Has much in addition to maps.
• It is quite attractive, at least to many people and school
children.
• Here one finds numerous thematic maps and discussions of
world resources.
The Rand McNally Cosmopolitan
• Has approximately 300 maps on a scale of from 1:3 million to
1:16 million.
• Of all the atlases it may be the most familiar.
• It has serviceable index (36,000 entries) and close to 400
alum, it is updated frequently.

14. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Local and Regional Maps
In evaluating a local map, the requirements are usually three
fold. First, the map should be truly local and should show the
area in detail. Second, it should be large scale. Third it should be
recent. Although this requirements may be difficult to meet, an
effort should at least be made to keep the local collection as
current and as thorough as possible.

15. GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Gazetteer
In one sense, the index in any atlas is a gazetteer, that is, it is a
geographical dictionary for finding lists of cities, mountains,
rivers, population, and the features in the atlas. A separate
gazetteer is precisely the same information, but usually without maps.
Why ,then, bother with a separate volume?
There are three reasons: (1) More detailed; (2) the information is
usually more detailed; and (3) a single, easily manage volume is often
welcomed. Having made these point, one can argue with some
jurisdiction that may atlas indexes often have more entities, that they
are more up to date, and they contain a larger amount of information
than one finds in a gazetteer. The wise librarian will first consider what
is to be found in atlas before purchasing any gazetteer.

16. Government documents
What is Government Documents?
It is any publication that is printed at government expense or
published by authority of a government body. Documents may
be considered on terms of issuing agencies: the congressional,
judiciary, and executive branches, which includes many
department and agencies. In terms of use, the documents may
be classified as: (1) record of government administration,(2)
research documents for specialists, including a considerable
number of statistics and data of value to science and business,
and (3) popular sources of information. The form may be book,
pamphlet, magazine, monograph, microforms or almost any
media.

17. Government documents
Organization and Selection
The organization and selection of government documents in all
but the largest of libraries is relatively simple. Librarians
purchase a limited number of documents, usually in terms of
subjects of interest to users, such as the Statistical Abstract of
the United States. If they are pamphlets, they are usually are
deposited by subjects in a vertical file. If books, they are
cataloged and shelved as such.

18. Maps

19. Guidebook

20. Gazetteers

21. Atlas