What Sources Should You Use?

For most research, a good starting point is getting background information from an encyclopedia or other reference source. After obtaining an overview, you'll most often need to look for more detailed information.

...while others may require information from books, reference resources, magazine and newspapers from online databases, popular magazines, or even the internet.

Do You Need to Use Primary Sources?

In most cases, you will use secondary sources such as books and articles. However, sometimes your assignment may require you to use primary sources such as diaries, interviews, letters, or raw data.

Do You Need Information in a Particular Format?

In addition to using print materials, your assignment may require you to use other types of sources such as visual/graphic sources (art prints, slides, maps) numeric sources (statistics), audio sources (mp3s, CDs), or electronic sources (listservs, computer files, the Web).