This document discusses reference materials which provide benchmarks for measurements. It defines certified reference materials as those characterized by a metrological procedure and certificate, while non-certified materials lack these. Reference materials play important roles in quality assurance and validation of methods. They are used to support measurements in various fields and may be characterized by their identity or measured property values.

1. INTRODUCTION
Reference material provides a kind of benchmark
for a measurement. It is therefore used in, for example,
method development and validation, calibration and
quality assurance. The term "reference material" is a
generic term, i.e. it comprises materials which are
investigated and documented at different levels .Certified
reference materials (defined as "reference material,
characterized by a metrological valid procedure for one
or more specified properties, accompanied by a
certificate that provides the value of the specified
property, its associated uncertainty, and a statement of
metrological traceability").Non-certified reference
materials (not accompanied by a certificate, sometimes
called "reference materials" in the sense of materials
qualified only to a limited extent compared to "certified
reference materials").

2. REFERENCE MATERIALS
 Reference books are used to supplement knowledge gained
in the classroom and to acquire new knowledge.
 Reference books provide a means for self-improvement.

 These include dictionaries, yearbooks, government reports,
journals, encyclopedia of science, etc.
 They are authentic and reliable sources of information.
 Authors of the reference books will be persons who have
made original contributions and experience in the field.
 The students must be given special training in the use of
reference books.
 The teacher should ensure that the suggested reference
materials are easily comprehensive, readily available and
appropriate for the age levels of the pupils.

3. Reference material is a material sufficiently, homogenous and stable with
respect to one or more specified properties which has been established to be fit
it its indented use in measurement process.
The metrological point of view, a kind of hierarchy can be established on
the uncertainty of the certified values and in relation to their position in
the trace ability chain.
 PRIMARY REFERENCE MATERIAL:
A material having the metrological qualities and whose value is
determined by the means of primary method.
 SECONDARY REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Reference material whose chemical composition is assigned by
comparison with a primary reference material of the same chemical
composition, or with several such primary reference materials.

4. USES OF REFERENCE MATERIALS
 Reference materials play an important role within a broader quality
assurance programme.
 They serve as an important tool for implementation of numerous
aspects of quality measurements.
 It is mainly for the validation of methods, calibration, estimation of
measurement uncertainty, training and internal quality control, as well
as external proficiency testing or inter-laboratory testing
 Reference materials are used to support measurements concerned with
chemical composition, biological, clinical, physical, engineering
properties and with various fields such as taste and odour.
 They may be characterized for their "identity" (e.g. chemical
structure, fibre type, microbiological species), or "property values"
(e.g. the quantity of specified chemical entity,hardness.

5. ADVANTAGES OF REFERENCE BOOKS
 It supplements the classroom learning
 It facilitates pupil’s self study habits and spirit of self effort.
 It helps the pupils to workout assignments.
 It stimulates scientific thinking and inculcates elements of
scientific attitude.
 It leads students to new vistas of knowledge.

6. MAGAZINES
Magazines are publications, containing various articles of
relevance to the community. Usually there will be a theme for every
issue of the magazines. Informative write-ups on advancements in science
and technology are given in such magazines. These magazines also
provide space for science fictions, stories, etc. The language used in these
magazines is attractive and intelligible to the readers, and the articles are
supported by suitable diagrams and illustrations.
Some important science magazines are:
1. Eureca,Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Kochi
2. Sastra Keralam, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Kochi
 Magazines are publications, usually periodical publications that
are printed or published electronically. (The online versions are called online
magazines.)
 They are generally published on a regular schedule and contain a variety of
content they are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by
prepaid subscriptions, or a combination of the three.
 At its root, the word "magazine" refers to a collection or storage location.
Advantages:
 More targeted: specific magazine titles appeal to specific target groups more so
than a newspaper advert.
 Long Life: magazines have a longer “life” than newspapers; they sit about in
doctor’s waiting rooms, magazine racks and with collectors.

7.  Pass-on readership – people may pass magazines on to their friends and family
which will increase exposure of your advert.
 Status – some magazine titles are well respected in their field, so an
advertisement in these will increase your product/service’s prestige by
association.
Disadvantages
 Deadlines months in advance – magazines often require the ads to be submitted
weeks or months in advance.
 It also means that testing adverts can be a lengthy process!
 Cost of testing – color artwork can be more expensive, so small tests are often
uneconomical.
 Regional testing – can’t often be done as magazines area often national.
 Graveyard – your ad runs the risk of being shoveled into the graveyard of ads in
the back of the magazine unless you pay for premium positioning.

8. NEWSLETTER
 A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication that is generally about
one main topic of interest to its subscribers.
 Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters.
 Newsletters are published by clubs, churches, societies, associations, and
businesses—especially companies—to provide information of interest to
members, customers, or employees.
 A newsletter may be considered "grey literature".
 Newsletters delivered electronically via email (e-Newsletters) have
gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in general has gained
popularity over printed correspondence.
 Some newsletters are created as money-making ventures and sold directly
to subscribers.
 Sending newsletters to customers and prospects is a common marketing
strategy, which can have benefits and drawbacks.
 Public organizations emit newsletters in order to improve or maintain
their reputation in the society.
 General attributes of newsletters include news and upcoming events of
the related organization, as well as contact information.
ADVANTAGES
Newsletters help you to promote your business. Basically a newsletter
motivates customers to buy from you.

9.  A general newsletter contains articles and an appropriate vision
and mission of the business. This information helps customers to
understand your business.
 Newsletters are an effective communication tool.
 Creative newsletters can be appreciated by the clients and hence
increase the communication between businesses and clients.
 As mentioned above, a newsletter is a cost effective tool, but it can
be used as a source of income by putting advertisements in it.
DISADVANTAGES
 To receive a newsletter client must provide their email address,
which in some cases people reluctant to do so fearing that their
email address could be passed to other organizations, resulting
hundreds of junk emails.
 In some cases a newsletter may not be received by the recipient.
Reasons for this could be the spam filters used by many

10. ENCYCLOPEDIA
 An encyclopedia or encyclopaedia (alsospelled encyclopædia,)is a type of
reference work or compendium holding a comprehensive summary
of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch
of knowledge.
 Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries, which are usually
accessed alphabetically by article name.
 Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in
most dictionaries.
 Generally speaking, unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic
information about words, encyclopedia articles focus
on factual information to cover the thing or concept for which the article
name stands.
 Four major elements define an encyclopedia: its subject matter, its scope,
its method of organization, and its method of production.
 Encyclopedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field
(the English-language Encyclopedia Britannica are well-known examples).
 General encyclopedias often contain guides on how to do a variety of things,
as well as embedded dictionaries.

11.  There are also encyclopedias that cover a wide variety of topics but from a
particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective.
 Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated
knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopedia of medicine,
philosophy etc.
 Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion,
depending on target audient.
 Some systematic method of organization is essential to making an
encyclopedia usable as a work of reference.
 There have historically been two main methods of organizing printed
 Four major elements define an encyclopedia: its subject matter, its scope,
its method of organization, and its method of production.
ADVANTAGES
 Encyclopedia easy to use and learn.
 Wikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher
to create a new edition or update information
 People located in different parts of the world can work on the same
document
 The wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it's a simple
process to revert back to a previous version of an article.
 Widens access to the power of web publishing to non-technical
users
 The wiki has no predetermined structure - consequently it is a
flexible tool which can be used for a wide range of applications.

12.  There are a wide range of open source software wiki's to choose
from so licensing costs shouldn't be a barrier to installing an
institutional wiki
DISADVANTAGES
 Anyone can edit so this may be too open for some applications, for
example confidential documentation. However it is possible to
regulate user access.
 Open to SPAM and Vandalism if not managed properly.
 There are easy ways to restore a page however, and on Wiki
Educator you must be logged in to edit pages so this reduces
vandalism by automated spam bots.
 Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate, but technologies to
produce print versions of articles are improving
 The flexibility of a wiki's structure can mean that information
becomes disorganized. As a wiki grows, the community plans and
administers the structure collaboratively.

13. JOURNALS
 Journals are periodical publications that consist of various authentic
articles regarding the concerned subject.
 These articles may be theoretical or reports of research studies.
 They throw light on innovations and novel particles in the subject.
 The value of journals lies on the reputation of its publishers.
 The authenticity of the article is characterized by exact references of
citations and sustaining data.
 Usually an abstract of the article is provided at the beginning of the
write-up.
 The periodicity of journals varies and they are published either
fortnightly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually.
 Today in the e-world most of the journals are available through web sites
and portals.
 Also there are some journals published exclusively in electronic media,
known as ‘e-journals’.

14. Some important journals in science are:
1) School Science, NCERT, New Delhi
2) Science Reporter, CSIR, New Delhi
3) Junior Scientist, Association for the Promotion of Science education,
Chennai
4) Science for Schools, National Science Development Board, manila.
 A journal is a book or computer file in which monetary transactions are
entered the first time they are processed.
 This journal lists transactions in chronological sequence by date prior to a
transfer of the same transactions to a ledger in the process of bookkeeping
 Narrations or equivalent to a ship's log, as a record of the daily
run, such as observations, weather changes, or other events of
daily importance
ADVANTAGES:
 Portable and easy to read.
 Inexpensive, flexible and have added valve with a large
amount of supporting data.
 There is no possibility of any transaction being omitted from the
books of account.
Since the transactions are kept recorded in journal, chronologically

15. with narration, it can be easily ascertained when and why a
transaction has taken place.
 For each and every transaction which of the two concerned
accounts will be debited and which account credited, are clearly
written in journal.
 there is no possibility of committing any mistake in writing the
ledger.
Since all the debits of transaction are recorded in journal, it is not
necessary to repeat them in ledger.
 As a result ledger is kept tidy and brief.
 Journal shows the complete story of a transaction in one entry.
 Any mistake in ledger can be easily detected with the help of
journal.
DISADVANTAGES
 The journal relays opinions and feelings.
 it is likely that the content covers only one person's perspective as
oppose to giving a big picture of the topic covered, perishable citation as
website change their URLs.

16. CONCLUSION
Familiarize themselves with the different reference materials
available in the library. Develop the basic information-seeking skills can
perform effective and efficient access and retrieval of informations. This
information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Reference
works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather
than read beginning to end. The writing style used in these works is
informative keeping them in the library assures that they will always be
available for use on demand. Other reference-only books are books that
are too valuable to permit borrowers to take them out. Reference-only
items may be shelved in a reference collection located separately
from circulating items. Some libraries consist entirely or to a large extent
of books which may not be borrowed; these include national libraries and
many special libraries.

17. REFERENCE
 JESSY MATHEW, (2008), Teaching of Natural Science; Theory,
Perspectives & Practice; St. Mary’s Training College, Karikode,
Kottayam.
 GLARY BLAKE and ROBERT W. BLY,(1993); The Elements of
Technical Writing, pg. 113. Macmillan publishers, New York:
 R C SHARMA, (1996); Modern Science Teaching;
Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi.
 The University of Chicago Library. "Types of Electronic Resources".
Retrieved 3 May 2012