Gazetteers

Gazetteers are geographical dictionaries or directories. Due to this, the term "gazetteer" can be interchanged with "geographical dictionary." These sources are "usually a list of geographical names or physical features" .^[1] Sometimes these sources can be included in an atlas or published as its own volume.

These sources can be found in a variety of formats: printed, web-based, or a combination of both. Others can also be found in the back of atlases as appendices. Bopp and Smith point out that this latter use is a limitation of gazetteers. While useful for locating "cities, administrative divisions, and physical features," ^[2]  gazetteers aren't able to answer more detailed questions.

Types of Gazetteers

There are two types of gazetteers: locational and descriptive.

• Locational gazetteers are aimed at providing information which precisely locates features in atlases or by latitude and longitude.
• Descriptive gazetteers give some information, but offer more than just base information. There are additional descriptions that may include brief histories, population, altitude, etc of the researched areas.

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^[1] Reference and Information Services – An Introduction, ed. Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith (ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011), 569

^[2] Reference and Information Services – An Introduction, ed. Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith (ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011), 569