The services provided vary from library to library but usually include a wide range of government publications with market statistics, a large collection of directories with information on domestic and foreign businesses, and a wide selection of magazines, newspapers and newsletters. The number of Web and social media sites, along with mobile apps, offering health information about complementary and integrative health approaches often called complementary and alternative medicine grows every day. If you don't know where he lives, but have his first and last name, then you type his name in your web browser and … start from there it's free. Links An informational Web site in which all the hyperlinks are broken might not be a very reliable resource. What can you trust about it? One big tip for using interlibrary loan: the librarian will need full and specific information to order the material. It is relatively easy to verify or refute a statement if you have the documentation and it is easy to get the information as well.
A book can have a great title but then can be full of tangential ideas or take an approach that simply may not add to your study. Biographical Dictionaries Biographical dictionaries contain short articles about people's lives. Then look up those book or articles in the library catalog and begin the critical analysis process all over again. How do you know if the information is accurate? For example, if you're doing on a paper on airline safety since deregulation, it's a safe bet that you can find statistics on airline safety problems in one of these reference books. Credible sources are published in peer-reviewed journals, scholarly books with lists of references, or. The site may use the logos of legitimate news organizations or similar names and Web addresses. Keep this list handy and add to it as you learn more about the topic.
There are hundreds of journals devoted to different fields of scientific research The journals include papers that describe in detail the methods, results, and conclusions from scientific studies A hallmark of primary literature is that the papers are reviewed by other scientists before they are pubished This so-called peer review helps ensure accuracy and reliability As a student, you might not go to primary literature as a first step You might seek out information in popular terature amed at nonscientists. Does the site sell advertising? In particular, current or recent events are likely to be covered in a much more timely fashion by Internet newspapers or by the web sites of countries or organizations involved with a certain ongoing problem than is possible with books or journals in the library; there is simply too long a lead time in the publication process for us to expect the library to have information on events in the past few months. Crime National Criminal Justice Reference Services A database of articles about issues pertaining to the justice system, including court cases, crime prevention, drugs, etc. Primary sources refer to documents or other items that provide first-hand, eyewitness accounts of events. Though many search engines rank material according to their idea of what is relevant, that doesn't mean the material is relevant to want you want or is reliable. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. The Statistical Abstract of the United States provides tables and graphs of statistics on the social, political and economic conditions in the United States.
Don't overlook your bank as a resource. For example, how current is the author's analysis? Finding Sources--explanation Using sources to support your ideas is one characteristic of the research paper that sets it apart from personal and creative writing. Information from sites within this domain must be examined very carefully. There is no easy way to answer that question, but by carefully approaching both the text and the argument you can feel more confident about the source. While you might never find a whole article devoted to the specific issue you wish to cover, you can still find peer-reviewed academic sources that will give you a solid historical, cultural, scientific, or global background. Companies will not showcase their competitors' products.
For college research papers, you will need to use sources available in academic libraries college or university libraries as opposed to public libraries. As such, you must hold your sources to a higher standard as well. If so, the credibility of the information is connected to the originating sites. The one catch is that it may take 3-4 weeks' time to get the source from another library. The problem with Wikipedia and other Wikis is that anyone can write them. Almost 20 percent of smartphone owners had at least one health app on their phones in 2012.
This document may be copied for educational purposes only. You can be relatively sure that if a university press published the book, it has been held to a high academic standard. For example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will provide only that information which supports their cause, whereas the U. Also, look for a comments policy on the Web site, such as. The the Internet will probably serve up dozens or hundreds of news reports, magazine articles, and corporate public relations materials surrounding a current event or an emerging technology. To do this, you must use some printed texts, whether they are primary documents or secondary sources that analyze primary sources. All you have to do is ask.
Bibliographies Bibliographies lead to other information sources. Internet Resources The Internet provides access to a lot of information. If there is no documented medical explanation for the remission, then some may accept the remission as evidence of a miracle. Does the document contain links to these professionals or to the respected Web sites? Someone else could read your Wiki online and write a research paper about Spielberg as president. When you start any subject, you have to do a lot of memorizing. As you are reading a book, journal article, or newspaper article, you should keep the following questions in mind, which will help you understand how useful the book will be to you.
Rather, you are trying to understand the context in which the book was written so you can better analyze its content. Doe has bought Web space for a personal Web page. There are hundreds of journals devoted to different fields of scientific research The journals include papers that describe in detail the methods, results, and conclusions from scientific studies A hallmark of primary literature is that the papers are reviewed by other scientists before they are pubished This so-called peer review helps ensure accuracy and reliability As a student, you might not go to primary literature as a first step You might seek out information in popular terature amed at nonscientists. But if you persevere, and even if you just play around with it, the Internet can offer some gems of information in a quick, easy way. Documenting Evidence Back up your claims by quoting reputable sources. Websites — Websites are sources you should approach with caution.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Remember to keep in mind the language used during the time period you are researching, as those words will allow you to find materials that you might not otherwise locate using modern terms. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. A large part of using reference sources well is choosing the right one for your needs. Click here to see an example and to work more with using quotations. When trying to determine reliability of information given in any medium, you want to have some idea of what the author's credentials are.