Types of resources
A variety of resources are available online or through our local library. Determining what type of resources you are trying to find will help you in your internet search and your library search. Below is a list of resources and a brief description of the types of information found within each resource.
Books
A book is a collection of printed or manuscript pages bound together and then published by a publishing company. A variety of book types exist as demonstrated in the following chart.
| Book Type | Description |
|---|---|
Fiction |
Many of the books published today are fictitious stories. They are in-part or completely untrue or fantasy. An example of this type of writing would be a Novel. Fiction books are further broken down into subcategories or Genres:
|
Non-fiction |
In a library, a reference book is a general type of non-fiction book which provides information as opposed to telling a story, essay, commentary, or otherwise supporting a point of view. Examples are Almanacs and Encyclopedias |
Encyclopedias and Almanacs
Almanac
An almanac contains brief factual information on a broad range of subjects and is usually published annually. Typical information would be statistics, historical events, weather, geographical facts, awards, people, astronomy, economic facts, etc. An almanac may contain brief information on just about anything and is a good place to begin almost any search. Almanacs often cite the resources used, which will lead you to other specific resources.
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia contains information about a broad range of topics or one special topic. Entries are generally longer than in an almanac, directory, or dictionary. Encyclopedia entries (articles) are in alphabetic order. General encyclopedias are multi-volume with an index volume to help locate information on topics that do not have a separate entry. Not all information in an encyclopedia has its own entry, but instead may be covered in another entry and accessed only by using the index.
Other Basic Types of Resources
Atlas: an atlas contains maps. Special subject atlases are also available on history, astronomy, archaeology, the environment, etc.
Bibliography: bibliographies are lists of relevant resources for specific topics. These may be a list of references at the end of an article or a whole book.
Dictionary: dictionaries list the words in a language or subject alphabetically, giving definitions, pronunciation, and etymology (where the word came from).
Directory: directories give only brief information about people, organizations, companies, or institutions. Information may include addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, and web sites.
Gazetteer: a list of geographical places and locations.
Handbook: a handbook generally pertains to a specific subject, e.g. chemistry or physics, and contains quick facts, tables, statistical information, and perhaps lists organizations connected to the subject.
Periodicals: periodical publications are ongoing publications that are published periodically, such as newspapers, magazines, or journals. Also called a serial. Magazines often contain popular information, have more advertising, and are written largely by the magazine staff. A journal is often a scholarly publication with longer articles contributed by professionals in a field and is more research oriented than a magazine
Yearbook: yearbooks are annual publications that pertain to the happenings of one specific year. A yearbook may be general, about all the happenings of one year, and is often published to supplement a general encyclopedia. Many professions also publish yearbooks with information about events, statistics, and people connected with the profession.
Try it yourself!
Make a Table of the types of resources and how many of each you want to target for your research project.
Make a table as show in the following example; you will need this list for Section 2 activities. (Your list will vary depending on your subject)
Example of List
| Resource Type | Name of Resource/Author | Source Type |
|---|---|---|
| Periodical - article | ||
| Periodical - article | ||
| Periodical - article | ||
| Periodical - article | ||
| Periodical - Journal | ||
| Periodical - Journal | ||
| Periodical - Journal | ||
| Encyclopedia | ||
| Dictionary |
Definitions from Wikipedia Web Site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Now that we have our search strings and we know what type of resources we are looking for we now need to learn a little about the reliability of resources from the Internet. This is covered in Section 2.