Annals of Library Science and Documentation1981, 28(1--4), 73-76

BASIC INDUSTRIAL INFORMATIONSOURCES-AN OVERVIEW •

In this paper the basic industrialinfo~ation sources are divided into two broadgroups, viz_ (i) Published sources, and (ii)Organisational sources. In the first group,i.e. the published sources attempt has beenmade to provide state-of-the-art report of allmajor; types of published sources. In the secondgroup, aZl institutions involved in or relatedto industrial development are identified anddi vided into sui table groups. In both thecases their general limitations have also beenpointed out.

The types of basic industrial informationoften sought after vary from a very Simple pieceof information such as the address of a wellestablished supplier of machinery and equipmentto information on such complex problems asmarket potential, alternative technology avail-able, types of products, industrial raw mate~rials, manufacturing processes, uses of a pro-duct or the latest data on capacity, productionand demand for a particular product, etc.

However, all the above mentioned infor-mation is not available in published form, spe-cially the up-to-date information on any topic.One has to fill up the information and data gapfrom various unpublished sources. Unpublishedinformation comes in various shapes like mimeo-graph~d reports, unpublished papers read inseminars, reports of meetings, official records,experts advice, and even as written and verbalcommunication. But the generators and holdersof this type of information are so many thatlocating them often becomes a difficult task.Various government offices, export councils,tesearch establishments and associations, trade~ssociations and manufacturing units, etc. areThe paper 1S based on the author's dissertation'Organisations involved in Industrial Develop-ment - A Referral Directory' & project report'Basic Industrial Information Sources - AReference Guide'. submitted in partial ful-filment of Associateship in lnformation Scien~e.lnsdoc.

Vol 28 Nos 1-4 (Mar-Dec) 1981

M.M.S. KARKIPublications & Information Directoro=New Delhi-II 0012

a few examples of the potential sources of un-published information. In the parlance ofinformation science all such organisations/institutions 1!ie calTed organisational sourcesof information.

In this paper only these two above dis-cussed broad groups of information sources,viz. (i) Published sources, and (f i) Organisa-tional sources are dealt with.

. . Before discussing them separately indetall. 1t would be appropriate to discuss afew points about the users of both these sources.Basic industrial information is not only soughtafter by the industrialists or industrial enter-prises but also by the government and otherorganisations enqaged in the promotion anddevelopment of the industry. Therefore, thesepublished and organisational sources of infor-mation are frequently used by a varied bodyof users, including industrialists, prospectiveentrepreneurs, industrial managers, exporters,government policy makers, advertisers and libra-rians and information scientists.PUBlISHED INFORMATION SOURCESThe information pertaining to general aspects,e.g. historical development, definition of thesubject dealt with, classification of the pro-ducts, etc., of any industry is generallyavailable from standard books and encyclopaediasAs such, procurement of such information is not-a big problem. The real problem starts withthe information -about the method of manufactureused, raw materials and their availability,capacity, production, prices, demand and supply,etc. of a particular product in the Indian con-text. Published sources of such informationare diverse and scattered. The stratificationof the Indian industry into large, small andcottage sectors malc<>c;H;ai'ffi cu1t to collect'and compile complete and up-to-date informationon any particular product. Moreover, therastchanging pattern of the Indian industry withrespect of expansion, diversification, changingpolicy. trade practices and f luc tuat ir.q manu-

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BASIC INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION SOURCES

facturing capacities makes the task of presen-ting an accurate picture of the industrial ,scene all the more difficult. These changesmake the information obsolete quickly. As aresult, to give a correct and comprehensivepresentation of the status of an indu~ry in arecorded form becomes difficult, specially whenthe bulk of the production of any particularindustrial product is in the small and cottagescale: Moreover, the information is oftenbroad-based and, hence, difficult to organise.All these factors are perhaps responsible fora scarce or, at best, scattered publishedsources of such information.

For the convenience of discussion allthe available published sources can be dividedunder the broad groups: (i) Encyclopaedias,(ii) Directories, (iii) Handbooks and ~anuals,(iv) Databooks, (v) Yearbooks, Annuals andSpecial Issues, (vi) Reports, (vit ) Journals,and (viii) Dailies. Patents, standards andtrade literature do not fall under the purviewof this paper.

Apart from serving as a ready referencetool, an industrial encyclopaedia constitutesa depository of knowledge and a more or lessofficial record of the industrial developmentof a country up to a particular time. In theIndian context only 'The Wealth of India' (CSIR,New Delhi), comes under this category. As theindustrial information becomes outdated verysoon, the entire series of 'The Wealth of India-:ndustrial Products' has become almost obsolete,therefore, it warrants a revision. However,'The Wealth of India - Raw Materials', whichdeals with a less dynamic field, contains morerelevant informatlon. Moreover, its revisioni~ in progress.

The industrial directories give the listof manufacturers, organisations, materials,products, equipment and other similar data.In spite of the fact that the informationcontained in the directories is very dynamicwhich necessitates the frequent revision of suchpublications, at present, barring a few, alldirectories are very much back dated.

Some important general directories are:(i) 'A.I.M.O. Directory of Indian Manufacturers'(All India Manufacturers' Organisation, Bombay),(i i) 'Directory of Industrial Units (1974)'(DGTD, New Delhi), (Iit ) 'Handbook and Directoryof Industry' (Giriraja Kumar, Agrawal, Bombay),(iv) 'SIRI Directory - Industries in India 1977-1978' (Small Industry Research Institute, Delhi)(v) 'Thapar's Indian Industrial Directory andExport 3 Import Directory of the World' (IndianIndustrial Directory, Bombay), and (vi) 'TheTimes of India Directory & Yearbook includingWho's Who 1980-81' (Times of India Press,Bombay). Of these, only last two are up-to-date.

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The state of handbooks and manuals isworse than the directories. A few importanthandbooks are not revised for years, e.g.'Build Machine - Build India' (DGTD, New Delhi),

which gives important information on machineryindustry, has not been revised since 1972.'The Handbook of Industrial Data (1975)' is theother example of this category of publicationbrought out by the same oroanisation. Simi-larly, 'India - Handbook of Commercial Infor-mation' (Department of Commercial Intelligenceand Statistics, Calcutta), has not appeared inany form after 1963. The 'Guidelines for Indus-tries 1979-80 Part II - Scope and Prospects'(Dept. of Industrial development, New Delhi)carries information up to 1978.

The worth mentioning comparatively up-to-date handbooks avai lable are: (i) 'Handbookof Indigenous Manufacturers of EngineeringStores' (DGTD, New Delhi), and (ii) 'Handbookof Statistics 1980' (Association of EnoineeringIndustry, New Delhi).

The present status of the major indus-trial databooks, which are out-dated and someare having a backloq of as many as 5 years, isa sad reflection onfhe data generating aqenc tes ,The 'Annual Survey of Industries' (CSO, Calcutta)is the best example in support of this statement.The Guidelines for· Industries have alreadybeen covered in previous paragraph. Thereis a backlog of about 2 years in the'Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India'(Directorate General of Coemerc ie lTnte lltqenceand Statistics, Calcutta). In case of 'MonthlyStatistics of the Production of Selected Indus-tries of India' (CSO, Calcutta), December 1979is the latest issue in the series. The infor-mation contained in 'Small Scale Industries inIndia - Handbook of Statistics' (DevelopmentCommissioner, Small Scale Industries, New Delhi)is up to March 1977. The latest 'StatisticalAbstract, India' (CSO, Calcutta) relates to1978 and the information covered under ·it isup to 1977.

Among the well known databooks only the'Statistical Outline of India~ (Tata ServicesLtd, Bombay) is up-to- mte.

In the field of yearbooks and annualsonly 'The Times of India Directory and Yearbook'(Times of India Press, Bombay) deserves a men-tion. However, there are a number of privatepublishers who from time to time bring outannual numbers of their publications devoted todifferent themes, Such publications are gene-rally informative and up-to-date, The 'Chemi-cal Weekly Annual Number 1980~ (Sevak Publica-tions, Bombay), 'Commerce Yearbook of PublicSector 1980-81' (Commerce Pub1ications Ltd,.Bombay), 'The Hindu Survey of Industry 1980'

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(M/s Kasturi and Sons Ltd., Madras) and 'KhadiGramodyog Annual Number 1980' (Khadi and villageIndustries Commission, Bombay) are a few exam-ples of this category of publications.

Report of any kind issued by organisa-tions associated with industrial developmentmay serve as an important source of industrialinformation. However, under this paragraphonly the present status of the annual reportsof the Directorate General of Technical Deve-lopment, Ministry of Industry; Ministry ofPetroleum, Chemicals & Fertilizers; Ministryof Steel and Mines and Small Industries Deve-lopment Organisations (SIDO) are discussed.These reports are very good sources of infor-mation. Since 1975-76 the DGTD has not issuedany report. After 1979 SIDO has also not brou-ght out any annual report. Other ministries,mentioned· above, have been regularly bringingout their annual reports.

Though there has been an exponentialincrease in the rate of dissemination of know-ledge in various disciplines of science andtechnology, and more and more primary andsecondary journals and other publications havecome into existence, there is still a dearthof standard industrial periodicals. In thepresent context, only periodicals general inscope are taken into consideration.

Generally, much sought after informationlike future scope of the industry, marketpotenti a 1 of vari ous products or thei r pri ce ,latest techno-economic data, industrial manage-ment etc. is missing or at best finds scantycoverage in these publications.

All these journals can be classifiedinto following groups: (i) Business, financeand trade journals, e.g., Capital, Calcutta;Commerce, Bombay; Indian Trade Journal, Calcuttaetc., (ii) Techno-economic journals, e.g..f;conomic Scene, Bombay~Eastern Economjs t ,t!ew Delhi and Economi c Trends, New Delhi,nii) News Journa 1s e.g. Chemi ca 1 Indus try News,Bombay. Chemical Times, Bombay; Economic and· .CQiTlTIercialNews , New Delhi.i Engineering Times,Calcutta; and Industrial News Digest, New Delhi,and (iv) Technology journals, e.g. Researchand Industry, New Delhi; and Chemical Age ofIndia, Bombay. However, this grouping is nota water-tight compartmentalisation. This is,in fact, not possible due to overlapping scopeof these publications.

Ephemeral publications llke commercialand economic newspapers playa vital role. inthe dissemination of indu~trial information.In fact, these are the only sources whichpresent the status of the Indian industries

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frequently. Papers fallin9 in this categoryof publications are 'Business Standard', r.al-cutta; 'The Economic Times', New Delh~; and'The Financial Express', New Delhi.

Guide to Published ~ources - As mentionedearlier, the published industrial informationsources are scarce and scattered. In thesecircumstances unless knowledge of the varietiesof information sources, their scope and limi-tations, reference characteristics, ease ofuse, etc. is available, selection of a rightinformation source becomes difficult. In sucha situation, a sourcebook or a guide to thesescattered sources may prove useful. It is need-1ess to say that such gui de shoul d be we 11 indexeckeeping in view all sorts of queries. There .is no such publication available in the countryat present.

Limitations - In the process of thisintroductory survey of the published 'sourcesof industrial information some drawbacks andlimitations have emerged. Most of the usefulpublications are backdated by 3-5 years. More-over, information on a particular item reportedin two different publications often do nottally, thus adding to confusion.ORGANISATIONAL SOURCESA variety of organisations are involved in orrelated to the development of industries inIndia. They are actively generating/collecting/disseminating or distributing industrial infor-mation and thus serve as important sources ofinformation.

There are a large number of organisationswhich are directly or indirectly related toindustrial development. To discuss all thesediverseorganisations with sweeping scope ina limited space would be a difficult task.In this paper only selected and important orga-nisations are discussed .

In the absence of any standard classi-fication practice for this type of work theevolution of some suitable classification orgroupino for these organisations is necessaryfor the convenience of discussion. Besidesnational organisations, some internationaland regional organisations are involved inthe industrial development of a country. It,therefore, proved handy to divide all theorganisations into two broad groups: (i) Inter-national Organisations, and (ii) National Orqa-nisations. Further subdivisions within thesegroups can be done on the basis of the scopeand functions of the organisations (most ofthe organisations serve more than one purpose,therefore, a water-tight compartmentalisationis not possible).

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Thus, the 'International OraanisaLions'can be divided into: (i) UN Aqencies, e.g.UNCTAD, UNDEP, UNIDO, etc., (ii) Organi~-tionsfor Economic Development, e.g. ESCAP, O~CD andWorld Bank Group, (iii) R&D Orqanisations, e.g.Intermediate Technol09Y Development Group Ltd.,International Tin Research Council, Internatio-nal Wool Secretariat a~diTropical ProductsInstitute, (iv) Inforwation Services/Centres,e.g. INDIS, INTIB, ISONET, FID Conmi ttee onInformation for Industries, and World Federa-tion of Engineering Information/Committee onEngineerin~ Ipformation, (v) Or~anisations forStandards and Patents, e.g. ISO, INPADOC, Inter-natjonal Patent Institute, and WIPO, (vi) TradeCentres, e.q. International Trade Centre andWorld Trade Centre, (vii) Chambers of Commerceand Trade Associations, e.g. InternationalChambers of Commerce.

Similarly the 'Nationnl Orqanisationscan be subdivided into (1) Planning, Policy-making and Executive Bodies, (2) State Direc-torates of Industries, (3) Industrial Develop-ment Corporations, (4) Quality Control Organi-sations, (5) Institutions for Industrial Finan-cin~, (6) Commodity Boards and Other Bodies,(7) Export Promotion Or9anisations, (8) Statis-tical Organisations, (9) Research Organisations,(10) Technology Transfer Centres, (11) Ruraland Appropriate Technology Centres, (12) TestingCentres, (13) Consultancy Orqanisations, (14)Training Institutions, (15) Technoloqical Ins-titutions, (16) Libraries, Information Servicesand Centres, and Museums, (17) Trade Centres,(18) Small Industries Service Institutes, (19)Productivity Councils, (20) Chambers of Commerceand (21) Industrial Associations.

Because of the overlappino, or dualfunctions .of the orqanisations fallinq under it,the first chapter, viz , 'Planning, Policy-makingand Executive Bodies' is made a very broad one.It will cover all the ministries and theirdepartments and organisations, including pro-motional, regulatory and advisory offices,concerning with industries, besides, Ministryof Finance, Planning Commission, etc.

Under the 'Quality Control Organisations'apart from ISI, oroanisations like the CentralDrugs Standard Control Organisation, Directorateof Marketing and Inspection, Research, Designsand Standard Organisation, etc. can come.

A variety of organisations can be putunder the 'Export Promotion Organisations'.Important among them are: export promotioncouncils, Export Inspection Council of India,Indian Institute of Foreion Trade, Indian Insti-

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tute of Packaging, MMTC, STC, Trade DevelopmentAuthority, and Trade Fa~r Authority of India.

Apart from coverina all the institutions(e.g. C.S.O., Directorate General of CommercialIntelligence and Statistics) involved purelyin statistical or data work, the 'StatisticalOrganisations' may cover DGTD, State Directo-rates of Industries, SIOO, export promotionorganisations, manufacturers' associations, etc.

Research Organisations can further besubdivided into a number of groups such asCentral government organisations, State govern-ment organisations, Private oraanisations, R&Dcentres of industries, etc. -

Training institutions and technologicalinstitutions can come under one group. However,it is more appropriate to deal with academicinstitutions separately. Other groups are self-explanatory.

Guide to Organisational Information -Information regarding above mentioned organi-

~ations is not only widely scattered but inmany cases awfully inadequate. In view of theimportance of these organisations as sourcesof information, there is a crying need for adirectory which could provide the particularsof these organisations. At present, no suchdirectory is available in the country whichcovers all these organisations.

At the end, it will be pertinent to drawattention to the 'generation gap' that we facein the Indian Industrial information scene.Though a number of organisations are involvedin generating, gathering and df ssemtnatj nq suchinformation, almost all of them issue onlyprinted products. Most of the published· sourcesdiscussed in the first part of this paper arebrought out by one or the other organisationfalling under the scope of the second part ofthe paper. As discussed earlier, by the time

'they are available in print, most of the infor-mation contained in them becomes back-dated.With the growing demand for industrial infor-mation and increase in the i~formation that need.to be gathered, sifted, and communicated to theright users, it becomes necessary that we inIndia adopt the latest information technologies,such as computerized information storage, on-line interactive search techniques, etc. Nodoubt we have the expertise both in computertechnology and in communication technology. Infact, in tAe fields like agriculture and nuclearscience, we have already made a beginning inthis direction. A little effort can also bringthe expertise available to work on a national -programme for modernizing the industrialinformation activities of all the major organi-sations involved in the industrial development.

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