Information Safari
Books
- Give in-depth coverage of a topic.
- Provide historical information or a comprehensive overview of an issue.
- Generally have references, and have been evaluated by an editor.
Scholarly Journals
- Provide in-depth analysis of new research.
- Are written by scholars and academics.
- Have been evaluated by a panel of experts (peer-reviewed).
Popular Magazines
- Give current viewpoints on a wide variety of popular topics.
- They are not considered scholarly material.
- The do not have references but are generally reviewed by an editor.
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries & Reference books
- Give concise background information or quick facts written by experts.
- Can be general or on a specialized subject
- Some have references for finding further information
The Internet
- Gives very current news and a wide variety of information.
- Is not usually evaluated by experts, so you must evaluate everything before including it in your academic assignments.
Newspapers
- Give current daily or weekly events.
- Are not considered scholarly material but are a primary source for historical research.
- Do not have references but are generally reviewed by an editor.
Government Documents
- Give information published by all types of federal, state, and local agencies.
- Include government compiled data and statistics including crime, census data, business, health and more.
- Are published in online and in print
Multimedia
- Can give sound, movies, images, and more.
- Are useful sources of nontraditional information such as interviews, maps, charts, graphs, etc.
- May be covered by copyright.