Types of resources

Resource type	What are they good for?	What else do I need to know?	Where can I find them?
Books and eBooks	Good for theoretical and background information Present information systematically Authoritative	Books take a long time to publish so may be less up to date Use the index and contents pages to find information in books eBooks are available off-campus You can search inside eBooks using the search box eBooks can usually be downloaded to read on your own device	You can borrow books from the college library Use the library catalogue to search for books in the library Here is a guide to finding and using books from the college library eBooks are available in the Online Resources section of the library course in CCGOnline
Academic Journals	Current research Highly focussed content Most articles written by academics or specialists in the field of study	Peer-reviewed (checked by subject experts) Scholarly articles, written in a formal style that assumes readers already have some knowledge about the subject Most journal articles charge for access unless your college or university has a subscription	The college subscribes to some excellent journal databases. You can find these in the Online Resources section of the library course in CCGOnline You can find other articles by searching online but most will ask for payment to access the full-text, but there is an increasing number of open source articles that are free
Trade and popular magazines	Topical Current trends and new ideas	Relevant to specific industries or subjects Written in an informal style Attractive presentation	You can borrow magazines from the college library Use the library catalogue to find out what is available The Resources for Your Course section on the library course in CCGOnline has a guide for each curriculum area which includes a list of the magazines available
Websites	Government information Company information Statistics News Social media Images, video and audio	Need to search effectively Need to exercise caution as anyone can publish a website (see the evaluating information section in this tutorial for advice) Wikipedia can be a useful site to get ideas but you should always check the information in a reliable source.  Anyone can edit the articles there and you should not quote from Wikipedia in your assignments.	Online
Online resources	General and specialist resources	Online resources aimed at specific industries, areas of cultural interest or academic study, e.g. Childlink, Digital Theatre Plus, Statista Use limited to subscribers	The Resources for Your Course section on the library course in CCGOnline has a guide for each curriculum area which includes a list of the targeted online resources available

(This information is adapted from https://anglia.libguides.com/informationskills/planningwhatinformation but also with thanks to colleagues at Crawley College.)

Primary and secondary sources

"Information can come from a variety of sources from eye witness accounts of events to textbooks, technical reports and literature reviews. Information sources can be divided into primary and secondary sources. So what are the differences?

Primary sources are original materials which provide first-hand accounts of events, original research, discoveries or ideas. They are created by people who experienced the events or conditions written about and their accounts have not been filtered through interpretation by others. Examples include news reports, diaries, letters, photographs, artwork and experiments or research data.

Secondary sources are usually analysis or interpretations of primary sources. They are produced after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. Examples include textbooks, biographies, commentaries and reviews.

Examples comparing primary and secondary sources

Primary	Secondary
Piece of artwork	Book about an artist
Novel	Secondary criticism or review
Letters, diaries, blogs	Article analysing letters, diaries, blogs
Photographs	Biography of photographer
Report of results of experiment	Critique of experiment
Speech	Commentary on speech
Newspaper article	Analysis of newspaper articles
Act of Parliament	Law textbook
Film or performance	Film or performance review
Journal article reporting results of experiment	Literature review
Statistics	Forecast analysing statistics

Caution!

• Sources can sometimes be both primary and secondary e.g. newspaper articles (primary when reporting events, secondary when commenting on an event).

• Whether something is primary or secondary often depends on your discipline e.g. journal articles reporting original research in the sciences are considered primary but usually secondary in arts, humanities and social sciences.

• The use of a source can also define whether it is primary or secondary. For example, extracting statistics from a journal article and making your own interpretations makes it a primary source. Drawing on the analysis of the statistics by the author makes the article a secondary source." (Anglia Ruskin University)

(Reference: Anglia Ruskin University. (n.d.) What information do you need? Retrieved from https://anglia.libguides.com/informationskills/planningwhatinformation)

Your own research e.g. a survey, questionnaire or interview is also a primary source.

Citing and Referencing

Remember you will need to reference all your sources. There is more information about this later in this tutorial.

Searching online

Get some tips about searching online, click on the link on the right