This completely revised edition of Scientific and Technical Information Sources is essentially a new book based on the framework of the 1977 edition and covering material published as recently as 1986.

This book focuses on current practices in scientific and technical communication, historical aspects, and characteristics and biblio­graphic control of various forms of scientific and technical literature. It integrates the inventory approach for scientific and technical communication.

Information Sources in Science and Technology: A Practical Guide to Traditional and Online Use presents a selection of traditional and online methods of using information sources in science and technology, including people, organizations, literature, hosts, and databases. This text serves as a reference book that helps the reader choose sources of information and their guides, includes a routine for finding and using information, and offers tips on searching and obtaining literature in a usable form. This book is comprised of nine chapters and begins by explaining how to choose type(s) of information source that is likely to be most helpful. The chapters that follow present guides on people, organizations, and literature as sources of information. A chapter on information services focuses on those organizations that supply information or references to information that could be helpful. These services range from answering telephone queries to supplying collections of relevant documents, and from broadcast television information to direct connection with computer databases. The next chapters discuss ways of searching the literature and computer databases, obtaining literature in a usable form, and organizing and presenting information. This book concludes by considering current awareness or keeping up-to-date with information about recent developments. This monograph is intended for librarians and information officers, especially for those working in scientific or industrial environments, practicing scientists and engineers, and students associated with these professions.

Intended to introduce readers to the breadth of information sources in the fields of science and technology as well as to their applications, this book offers in-depth coverage and a clear presentation of the structure of the literature. It covers all types of reference materials-from abstracts, dictionaries, and indexes to biographical directories, dissertations, and government documents. Descriptive and evaluative annotations define the scope of each work, its intended audience, and its special features. Critical comments allow users to compare sources and make choices between similar titles. Two major changes have been made in this edition. First, the range of publications has been updated to cover newer material. Second, myriad electronic-especially WWW-sites have been added. In general, works published before 1991 are not included, making this a current and selective guide. Valuable as a textbook and a guide to the literature, this book is also useful for collection development.