1. Ready Reference Sources
Sajjad ur Rehman

2. Almanacs, Yearbooks & Handbooks: Nature
Concise factual information
Fastest and easiest way to retrieve factual information
Current and historical events
Focus on governments, organizations, events, things
Statistical presentation of factual data

3. Almanacs
17th/18th Century tools, primarily for weather, other forecasts and some handy information
19th century: American papers started publishing them
Content: calendar, political, historical and current events of popular interest
Broad in geographical and subject coverage, sports, entertainment and practical information

4. Almanacs (2)
Present tabular data on matters of common interest: sports, diet and nutrition, demography, environment, political events, etc.
Annual publication
Available in print and electronic formats
Household Items

5. Important Almanac Titles
World Almanac and Book of Facts
Information Please Almanac
New York Times Almanac

6. Yearbooks Information and data about the preceding year
Yearbooks issued by encyclopedias supplement them
Statistical data about countries, brief biographical accounts of celebrities, sports news, and articles about the events of the year

7. Yearbooks (2) Index personal names
Longer description of events and analyses as compared to almanacs

8. Important Yearbook Titles
Britannica Book of the Year
Europa World Yearbook: 2 volumes
Statesman’s Yearbook
CIA World Factbook

9. Handbooks & Manuals Information about people, events and trends
Subject handbooks contain handy data about procedures, guidelines, formulae
Compressed information
Contain examples and illustrations
Manuals focused on procedures

10. Handbook Examples Guinness Book of World Records Famous First Facts
NYPL’s Desk Reference
Manuals of Style
Physicians Desk Reference Annual
Legal Researcher’s Desk Reference
Handbook of Chemistry

11. Criteria for Evaluation
Accuracy
Indexing
Documentation
Comprehensiveness
Uniqueness
Format
Currency

12. Electronic Sources
Almost all yearbooks and almanacs are available in CD
Electronic versions of many sources available through IPL
Have search advantages
Current
More reliable