Quick Start to Research

Understanding source types can help you determine where you need to search for your research.  Below is a list of commonly used resources with brief descriptions of the information they can provide.

   Books and Ebooks

• Cover virtually any topic, fact or fiction.
• Useful for the complete background on an issue or an in-depth analysis of a theory or person.
• Can take years to publish, so may not always include the most current information.
• Find these sources by using ICC's library catalog found on our homepage

   Reference Sources, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

• Offer introductory overviews.
• You can find background information to help you select a topic and place it in the broader context of the discipline.
• Include facts, figures, addresses, statistics, definitions, dates, etc.
• Find ICC's reference source list on the A-Z Database List.

   Scholarly Peer-Reviewed/Academic Journals

• Contain articles written and reviewed by experts in the discipline.
• Topics are usually more narrowly focused.
• Articles must go through a peer review process before they're accepted for publication.
• Articles tend to have a narrower focus and more analysis of the topic than those in other types of publications.
• Include cited references or footnotes at the end of research articles.
• Use Journal Search to find specific academic journals. 

   Popular Magazines

• Written for general audiences and are meant to entertain, inform, or present an opinion.
• Include articles on diverse topics of popular interest and current events.
• Articles typically written by journalists or professional writers.

   Newspapers

• Available in print and online and one of the first mediums to report on an event.
• Provides very current information about events, people, or places at the time they are published.
• Useful for information on current events or to track the development of a story as it unfolds.
• NewsBank and Newspaper Source are popular databases to search for news articles. Find them on the A-Z Database List.

   Video databases

• Available through the library and provide scholarly coverage in a variety of disciplines.
• Users can create playlists and create clips that can be embedded into other documents.
• Video databases such as Films on Demand and Kanopy can be found through the A-Z Database List.

   Websites

• Provide ready access to information of all kinds.
• They often provide valuable information, but you must carefully evaluate the credibility and reliability of web sources.