Different Information Sources

Books

provide an authoritative and in depth coverage of a subjectprovide citations and bibliographies which can be used to

identify other resources

Due to the lengthy publication process, books can become out of date. This is more important in some subjects than others.

Journals

a collection of articles usually written by scholars in an academic or professional field

usually ‘peer-reviewed’, i.e. they have been rigorously assessed and evaluated by experts in the field to ensure that the research and conclusions are valid

published regularly (e.g. weekly, monthly, and yearly)

Articles in journals can cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.

Newspapers

published regularly (usually daily)

contain articles on international, national and local news eventsSince there is at least one in every city, it

is a great source for local information.They are useful for information about current events and developments.

Reference material

Reference material consists of a range of different types of material providing background information such as facts, definitions, figures, statistics, standards and dates. This material can either be general or related to specific subject areas.

Reference material: dictionaries and encyclopaedias

Dictionaries are useful to find definitions of terms, subjects or topics. Subject-specific dictionaries provide definitions of specialist terms.

Encyclopedias provide a collection of concise overviews

often written by different contributors who are

knowledgeable about the topic. Subject encyclopedias

contain in-depth entries focusing on one field of study.