SPECIAL MATERIALS LIS-12 BY: ROMEL U. RELLON

Special collections  Some libraries segregate from the general collection rare books, manuscripts, papers, and other items that are:  (1) of a certain form,  (2) on a certain subject,  (3) of a certain time period or geographic area,

 (4) in fragile or poor condition,  or (5) especially valuable. Such materials are not allowed to circulate and access to them may be restricted.

SPECIAL MATERIALS  Include government publications, technical reports, maps, proprietary company publications, company and trade literature, patents and trademarks, audiovisual, and related miscellaneous materials.

audiovisual (AV)  A work in a medium that combines sound and visual images, for example, a motion picture or videorecording with a sound track, or a slide presentation synchronized with audiotape.

video recording  A generic term for an electronic medium in which visual images, usually in motion and accompanied by sound, are recorded for playback by means of a television receiver or monitor.

slide  A small transparent, positive still image in color or black and white, produced on film or glass, usually mounted in a rigid cardboard or plastic frame of standard size (2 x 2 inches), for projection one at a time on a screen using a slide projector, with or without recorded sound (modern stereographs, such as Viewmaster reels, are also included in this category).

microfilm  The use of 16mm or 35mm photographic film to store miniaturized text and/or microimages in a linear array consisting of a single row or double row of frames that can be magnified and reproduced only with the aid of specially designed equipment.

 Microfilm is available in color or black and white (negative or positive) and is used  (1) in continuous rolls mounted on open spools or in enclosed cartridges and  (2) in unitized format in jackets or aperture cards.

 Stored under suitable environmental conditions, its longevity can be measured in centuries.  For this reason, it is used for the preservation of paper documents at risk of deterioration.

microform  A generic term for a highly reduced photographic copy of text and/or images stored on a translucent medium (microfiche or microfilm) or on an opaque medium such as card stock (microopaque or aperture card).

 Microforms can be original editions or reproductions.  Reader-printer machines are required to view and make hard copies.  Digital storage media such as magnetic tape and disk, CD-ROM, etc., are superseding microforms in information storage and retrieval, but the transformation is far from complete.

microfiche  A small card-shaped sheet of photographic film designed for storing miniaturized text and/or microimages arranged sequentially in a two- dimensional grid (see this example).

 Microfiche is available in color or black and white (negative or positive).  Various formats exist, but ISO recommends 75 x 125 mm (48 frames in four rows of 12) or 105 x 148 mm (60 frames in five rows of 12).  Although each sheet usually includes a title and/or index number in a heading across the top that can be read without magnification, the text itself can be read and copied only with the aid of a microform reader-printer machine

Non-book  A collective term for library materials that have physical form but are not bound in codex form like a book, including, but not limited to,  maps and other cartographic materials (except atlases),  graphs, prints, pictures, photographs, slides, filmstrips, motion pictures,  videorecordings, sound recordings, kits, models, realia, etc. The category does not include electronic resources

realia  Three-dimensional objects from real life, whether man-made (artifacts, tools, utensils, etc.) or naturally occurring (specimens, samples, etc.), usually borrowed, purchased, or received as gifts by a library for use in classroom instruction or in exhibits.

cartographic materials  Any systematic representation of part or all of the surface of the earth or another celestial body (real or imaginary) on any scale. 

 The category includes two- and three- dimensional maps and plans; nautical, aeronautical, and celestial charts; atlases; globes; block diagrams, sections, and profiles; views; remote sensing images (including aerial photographs with cartographic purpose); cartograms; etc

kit  A set of related materials in more than one medium designed to be used as a unit with no single medium predominating, often stored in a container to keep the parts together.  The category includes laboratory kits and packages of curriculum materials.

filmstrip  A length of 35mm or 16mm black and white or color film consisting of a sequence of related still images, with or without text or captions, intended to be projected one at a time at slow speed using a filmstrip projector.