Research Process: A Step-by-Step Approach: Step 2 - Find Information Sources
Guide to help students familiarize themselves with the research process and useful library tools.
Find Information Sources
Identifying Resources
- Information Publication TimelineReview of how resources are produced following and event.
- Popular vs. ScholarlyReview a list of differences between popular and scholarly journals
- Choosing the Right DatabaseThe type of research you are doing will help you determine which database to use.
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Nash Library FAQs
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Choosing Your Research Tool
Books provide you with a good general overview of a topic, but are generally not as up to date as the other sources and can be found by using the library catalog,
Journal articles from scholarly journals and magazines tend to deal with more specific topics than books, and are usually more up to date. The library has numerous databases providing access to full text articles.
Web pages - All kinds of information can be found on the Internet. The currency and quality of the information varies greatly.
Where to locate resources by publication type
| Publication Type | On the Web | Nash Library Website |
| Web/News Media | Internet Search Engine | |
| Newspapers | Newspaper website | Gale OneFile: News |
| Popular Magazines | Magazine website *limited full-text access |
Databases: |
| Scholarly/Trade Journals | Publisher website *limited full text access |
General Database: Academic OneFile (Gale) Discipline-Specific Databases: |
| Books | Google Books | Print: Library Catalog
eBooks: Ebook Central & EBSCO eBooks |
| Reference Materials | Online Public encyclopedias have content limitations |
Library CatalogGale Resources |