Source Types

The CCC Library has many great print reference books. Remember that encyclopedias are usually about broader topics (such as prisons), so use more general words to search for print encyclopedias (rather than specific ideas like "prison discrimination in California").

Articles are written for different audiences, which may affect how useful those articles are for your research.

Scholarly articles or academic journals are written by experts in the field like professors and contain more complex, technical language. Some examples would be the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Psychiatry and the International Journal of Computer Engineering Research. Another name for this kind of article is peer-reviewed.

Popular articles like ones from newspapers and popular magazines are written for general audiences and tend to use less complex language and more pictures. Some examples include Time, Vogue, The New Yorker, National Geographic and The New Yorker. 

In the sciences, primary (or empirical) research articles:

• are original scientific reports of new research findings. Please note that an original scientific article does not include review articles, which summarize the research literature on a particular subject, or articles using meta-analyses, which analyze pre-published data.
• usually include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References
• are usually peer-reviewed (examined by expert(s) in the field before publication). Please note that a peer-reviewed article is not the same as a review article, which summarizes the research literature on a particular subject

Cornell University Library

Use these tips to help locate primary sources on historical people, places, and subjects:

• Search by author: If your topic is a historical person, try searching for that person as an author. For example, if you want to find letters or speeches written by Frederick Douglass, type "Douglass, Frederick" in the AUTHOR field.
• Important keywords: Add words like "letters," "correspondence," "diaries," "papers," or "archives" to your search terms. For example searching for "Abraham Lincoln correspondence" will help you find letters written by or to Abraham Lincoln.
• Limit your search: Some databases allow you to restrict your search to certain types of documents. Look for fields like "Material Type" or "Document Type" where you can ask for particular kinds of documents like letters, manuscripts, or archives. 

The Internet is an essential tool for accessing information. While it can be difficult to sift through the vast amounts of information available online, websites and other Internet resources are a fantastic complement to the research you do in the library. 

Why use websites for research?

• The Internet is available 24 hours a day
• Websites can be updated very quickly, making online information some of the most current, up-to-date available
• Many newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedias have content available online
• The Internet contains every kind of media--images, audio, video, etc. 

Keep in mind that anyone can create a website or contribute online content. This is both an amazing and challenging feature of the Internet. It is amazing in that it allows many different voices, including your own, to be heard online; it is challenging because authority can be difficult to determine. Every website must be carefully evaluated for reliability and credibility. 

Not all sources of information, whether print or online, are equally valuable or reliable. You want to make sure that any web pages you use are HIGH-QUALITY and contain a lot of good, useful information. There is no way to tell instantly if a web page is high-quality or not. You just need to look at it very, very carefully.

It's helpful to understand the difference between a "web page" and a "web site." When we say "web page," we mean one specific document or article, almost always part of a larger web site. Its URL includes characters after the domain such as .com, .edu, .gov,.org, and so on. Example: a web page containing information on the treatment of cancer, https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment. A web site is the "umbrella" the web pages fit into, and its URL ends with the domain. Example: the National Cancer Institute, https://www.cancer.gov