| If You Need... | Consider This Type of Source |
|---|---|
| up-to-the-minute-news | web news source; broadcast media |
| current daily information | newspapers (print or online); web-based news site; broadcast media |
| in-depth, thorough treatment of a subject | books |
| background information | encyclopedias; especially subject encyclopedias |
| statistics and data | reference books (statistical manuals); government or agency websites |
| research on a focused topic | scholarly journals |
| historical information | books, archived newspapers |
| popular and cultural news and events | magazines, broadcast media, websites |
| primary or original research | scholarly journals |
| editorials and opinions | newspapers; blogs |
| broad overview or introduction to a subject | encyclopedias |
This page needs to be re-written to include types of websites:
blogs,
.org, .gov, .edu (like from the evaluating website tutorial...)
As a source, websites are varied and numerous. There are millions of trustworthy informative websites; there are also millions of untrustworthy sites.
As a tool, some websites provide access to other types of information. The library's web site, for example, is such a web site. Through the library's website you can access databases that are not available to you anywhere else.
You instructor may say, "Find four sources, but don't use websites." That means you can't use the web as a source, but you can use it as a tool to locate articles in library databases, e-books, and e-reference articles, for example.
The list of uses for websites is nearly endless, but the following are some common ways to use websites in research:
CNN. FOX News Channel. Dateline NBC. CBS 20/20. ABC Nightline. Discovery Channel's A Haunting. NPR's All Things Considered. PBS Online News Hour.
Many people get at least some of their daily information from television and radio. From a research standpoint, a good news program can:
Some shows are archived on the internet and/or available for purchase.
As a rule, broadcast media does not provide a permanent record of events.
A well-documented news story can add interest or a unique perspective to a research paper. Exercise caution, though, if you want to use information from broadcast media:
Newspapers provide a daily record of events. Most are published daily. Almost every city has its own newspaper to keep track of local information.
Newspapers, like journals and magazines, are called periodicals because they are published on a regular, or periodic, basis, usually daily.
Many newspapers also publish websites the supplement or complement the print version. The online copy of a newspaper may have different articles than the print copy.
Clark Libraries has access to several databases that provide access to many newspapers. On the list below, the best place to start your search for newspapers is ProQuest.
A magazine is a collection of articles and images about diverse topics of popular interest and current events. Magazines, like journals and newspapers, are called periodicals because they are published at regular intervals (usually weekly) throughout the year.
Features of magazines
A journal is a collection of articles written by scholars in an academic or professional field. They are also called academic journals or scientific journals
Like magazines and newspapers, journals are called periodicals because they are published at regular intervals, usually month
Some journals are peer-reviewed or refereed, which means a panel of scholars (people with academic credentials in a specific field of study) reviews articles to decide if they need to be revised, rejected, or accepted for publication.
The library has many databases with access to academic journals on a variety of disciplines. Use the Databases A-Z List to access databases for your subject.
Books cover virtually any topic, whether fact or fiction. For research purposes, you will probably be looking for books that synthesize all the information on one topic to support a particular argument or thesis. Libraries organize and store their book collections on shelves called "stacks."
College libraries purchase many of their books from academic publishers and university presses. Many students, however, erroneously believe that books count as peer-reviewed sources. Not true. Peer-reviewing is a concept generally associated with scholarly journals.
Clark Libraries also has many full-text ebooks that you can view online, or, in some cases, download for a limited time.
Clark Libraries and/or Summit Consortium Libraries:
Reference Books are specific types of books that can be useful to your research. Reference books can be general, such as the Encyclopedia Americana or Webster's Dictionary, or focused on a specific subject, such as The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture or Black's Law Dictionary.
You can find print and online reference books using the search box on the Clark Libraries home page.
Clark Libraries also has many online reference books accessible through these databases: