The Information Landscape. Sources of Information
The research process is time consuming because information comes in many different formats. Knowing what type of information you require and where it can be found is essential, i.e., you have to use the appropriate information for your need.
Reference materials
Encyclopaedias: excellent sources of facts and background information, use them to familiarise yourself with a new topic.
Dictionaries: for finding definitions of unfamiliar terms, subject specific dictionaries are of more use when researching in a specific field.
Directories: use to find contact names and addresses.
Books
Key textbooks for your subject can be useful in gaining a general focus. Books provide an in-depth view of a topic but are not the best source for current ideas and innovative practices.
Journals
The scholarly journal provides articles on current research, news and debates in specific subject disciplines.
Popular Magazines and Newspapers
Popular magazines and newspapers are good for an overview of a topic and essential for very topical information but are not as in-depth as scholarly articles.
Bibliographies
For finding additional information on a specific topic. At the end of journal articles and book chapters you will find a bibliography that gives details of resources used in the work produced. You can use this information to follow wider arguments and pick out key authors and works in the field.
Internet/WWW pages
The Internet is a good source of information of all kinds especially very current material. However, you may be able to gain large amounts of data very quickly but there is the potential to retrieve lots of irrelevant material. Evaluation of each resource for authority and validity is crucial.
Conference papers
Collections of papers from individual subject specific conferences are excellent sources of new ideas and thinking. Use these if you are looking for cutting edge research material.
Official publications
A range of government related facts and information can be found in government reports, yearbooks and statistical surveys.
Dissertations/Theses
The work of masters and doctoral students offers in-depth and quite detailed analysis of individual research projects.
Reports
The report literature is a specialised form of publishing where the research results are presented to the organisation funding the research.
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