Find tabs above for Credo & Other Encyclopedias, a General Library Search, & for Journal Article Databases. Selecting the best information resources from these databases to answer your research question depends on the depth of the information you need and the time frame you wish to explore. Ask yourself what kind of information you need:
Use the table below to help select the type of source that will best serve your purpose. Remember that you will probably want to use more than one type to locate the wide variety of information that fully covers your research topic.
TYPE OF INFORMATION |
PURPOSE |
TYPE OF SOURCE |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION |
Broad overview of a topic, defines terms, provides context |
Books, reports, encyclopedias, dictionaries, government documents |
CURRENT INFORMATION |
Recent events, news reports, statistical data |
Newspapers, magazines, government documents, web sites |
SCHOLARLY INFORMATION |
Research studies, in-depth analysis |
Scholarly journal articles, books |
Online Databases
You'll find journal articles from a wide variety of publications by searching online databases. Some databases are more general, and other databases are subject or publisher specific. How do you decide which database indexes journals that are related to your topic?
Our research guides can provide encyclopedias specific to your subject field.
A - Z Databases provides a list of the library's databases for finding articles and more.
Research Guides can direct you to the best databases for your subject field.