BLIE 228 Solved Guess Paper 2026 for IGNOU Information Products and Services (BLIS Programme)

Literature search and the subject approach

Question: Define literature search. Discuss the techniques involved in the subject approach of literature search step by step, with examples.

Literature search. Literature search simply means searching the literature related to a particular topic. This literature comes in many forms, such as journal articles, books, theses, patents and standards. Since no one can read all the journals of the world, we use abstracting, indexing and reviewing periodicals. There are two approaches, subject and author, and the subject approach is the one normally followed.

Step 1, Request for literature search. The request may come in person, by e-mail, SMS, letter or telephone. First check the purpose and the scope of the query. For a lecture a few textbooks are enough, for research a thorough search is needed. Scope has five points.

The five scope points are these. Topic: understand the term clearly, since "airways" may mean aviation or a passage to the lungs, so use a dictionary, encyclopaedia or a reference interview. Period: ask how many years to cover, for example the last 15 years for pesticide poisoning.

Geographical area: "Flora of Himachal Pradesh" has a fixed area. Languages: ask whether all languages are needed, as Chemical Abstracts covers 50 languages. Forms of documents: articles, books, conference papers, patents, standards and theses.

Step 2, Compile the bibliography from secondary sources. First check whether a published bibliography already exists, consulting Besterman's A World Bibliography of Bibliographies, Bibliographic Index, Index Bibliographicus and Kalia and Jain's Bibliography of Bibliographies on India.

If one is found, copy it and update it if old. If none is found, trace secondary sources through Walford's Guide to Reference Materials and abstracting services. For a multifocal topic such as "pesticide poisoning of birds", search Chemical Abstracts, Pubmed and Biological Abstracts together.

Step 3, Search for the latest literature. A bibliography built from secondary sources is always a few months or years old, so now search primary sources with the help of the Internet. About 60 to 70 per cent of entries come from a few primary periodicals, so scan their latest issues. Locate conference proceedings and festschrift volumes through DELNET and OCLC, US research reports through NTIS, patents through the Derwent World Patents Index, and Indian theses through University News.

Conclusion. The subject approach moves in three clear steps: understand the request, compile from secondary sources, then add the latest primary literature. Following this path saves time and gives a complete bibliography.

SDI service, history, components and steps

Question: What is SDI service? Give an outline of its history and discuss its two basic components. Describe the steps involved in providing it.

Selective Dissemination of Information. Hans Peter Luhn advanced the idea of selective dissemination of information in 1958. In CAS a user scans the whole bulletin himself. In SDI the institution does that job and sends only the matching items, without any effort or loss of time on the user's side.

History. In 1958 Luhn gave the idea. In 1959 the first mechanised SDI system, based on Luhn's design, started at the Advanced Systems Development Division of IBM Corporation, Yorktown Heights, New York. Its success made the system spread all over the world.

Two basic components. The two components are the user and the document, and for each one a profile is created.

The user profile carries the name, address with e-mail, and the keyword or keywords showing the user's interest, for example the Head, E&T Division, NISCAIR with the keyword "Internet Use". It is kept in a user profile file and updated from time to time. The document profile carries full bibliographical details of each document along with subject keywords. No cataloguing code is needed and adding an abstract is optional.

Steps in providing SDI. Matching: the user profile file is matched with the document profile file, usually by computer, and a match shows the serial number of the document. Notification: the user is informed by e-mail or other means.

Feedback: a feedback card goes with the document and the user ticks fully relevant, partially relevant, irrelevant, backdated or already received. Feedback analysis: irrelevant items mean the keyword needs changing, for example "Internet Use" to "Internet Resource Use", while backdated items point to delay in processing or dispatch. Profile modification: the user profile and the thesaurus are changed, for example adding "Web Use" as a related term, and this continues as a regular process.

SDI at local level. Where the number of users and periodicals is small, SDI can be run manually, the librarian informing the user as soon as a matching article is spotted.

Conclusion. SDI sends the right document to the right user through profile matching, and regular feedback with profile changes keeps the service accurate.

State-of-the-art report against trend report

Question: Differentiate between state-of-the-art report and trend report. Explain the process of preparing a trend report.

State-of-the-art report. Saracevic describes it as a review concentrating on the most up-to-date information and literature in a given subject or topic. These reports are a category of reviews, timelier than traditional reviews, and they work mostly as a current awareness tool. They are informal, produced on demand, high priced and they become obsolete fast. Three common forms are the state-of-the-art of a technology, market reports and statistical reviews.

Trend report. A trend report provides an exposition of a subject, giving an account of the general direction of research in that subject based on a review of recent literature. It gives a systematic overview of new developments and current research trends.

Difference. On focus, the state-of-the-art report carries the most up-to-date information on a topic while the trend report shows the general direction of research. On purpose, one describes the very recent situation and the other shows new developments and research patterns.

On use, the first is a current awareness tool for technology, business and commerce, while the second saves the specialist reader time and research effort. On nature, the first is informal, on demand and quickly obsolete, while the second is a systematic documentation service with title page, abstract and index.

Qualities the compiler needs. Familiarity with the components of the subject, knowledge of the exact subject needs of the specialist user, command over the technique of compiling a trend report, rapport with that user, and knowledge of the sources of information in the subject.

Three planes of work, Gopinath 1971. On the idea plane, choose the specific subject, collect ideas from documents, arrange them in a helpful sequence and integrate them into an organised text. On the verbal plane, use homonym-free and synonym-free terminology and express ideas in simple yet effective language. On the notation plane, use expressive notation to show the level of ideas and structure the text as planned on the idea plane.

Parts of the final report. Title page, contents page, brief informative abstract, index, and an appendix with definitions of technical terms.

Conclusion. A state-of-the-art report tells the latest position of a topic, a trend report shows where the research is moving.

Packaging and repackaging of consolidated information

Question: What do you mean by packaging and repackaging of consolidated information? Explain the concept.

Concept. Restructuring deals with the contents or substance of information, while packaging deals with the form of its presentation.

Packaging. Packaging is the physical recording, arrangement and presentation of information in a given medium and format. The medium may be print, microform, audio-visual, electronic or oral, and format is the arrangement of information within that medium.

The important media are print media such as books, brochures, posters and newsletters; audio-visual media such as films, audio and video; electronic media, meaning computers and allied technologies; and interpersonal contact, that is personal communication used as a medium.

Selection of media should be user oriented. Rural people prefer oral communication, children respond to a story line, and people who cannot read learn better through audio-visual media.

Repackaging. Repackaging is rearranging the media or the form so that the same information can be presented to another group of users. Its aim is to reach those for whom the usual format is a barrier. For example, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research produced 44 documentary films for farmers on topics such as sheep rearing and honey production. Saracevic and Wood in 1981, and Bunch in 1984, were the first to use the term repackaging.

Conclusion. Packaging gives information a suitable medium and format, repackaging reshapes the same information for a new user group so that everyone can use it.

Features of wikis

Question: Discuss various features of Wikis.

Wiki. A wiki is a type of website where the content is created and maintained by users in collaboration with others. Wikis are editable websites, and users edit pages live through a web browser using a simple markup language or a WYSIWYG editor, that is What You See Is What You Get. No knowledge of HTML is needed. Wikipedia is the most popular wiki, and WikiEducator, Wikitravel and wikiHow are others.

Uses. To create collaborative websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, for corporate intranets and for knowledge management systems.

Features. Versions: multiple versions of a page are stored and the administrator can revert to an older one. Tracking: any change made by a person can be tracked. Simple formatting: WYSIWYG editing, hyperlinks inside and outside the site, and embedded images.

E-mail alerts: changes can be notified by e-mail. Permissions: page permissions allow user level authorisation. Backlinks: the wiki lists all pages that link to a given page. Export: content can be exported in XML format. Wiki pages are linked by hyperlinks and can hold images, tables, audio and video.

Conclusion. Wikis let many users build shared content easily, and version control, tracking and permissions keep that content safe.