Resources Used in Research

1. Resources Used in Research Research Methods and Data, College of Advancing Studies Brendan Rapple

2. Information Explosion No longer just a 4 walled library The world of global material

3. Information Produced by Academic Institutions • Research universities and colleges are major producers of knowledge. Information Produced in the Private Sector • Commercial newspapers • Magazine and book publishers • Film and television industry • Corporate laboratories • Business research firms • You and I and everyone – posting to the web!

4. Print Material in Libraries For most research papers in most disciplines, it is still necessary to use the physical library and consult some traditional print material. Print still lives!

5. Journal Articles General Interest Magazines Time Newsweek Car and Driver Vogue

6. Industry and Trade Magazines Advertising Age ComputerWorld

7. Peer Reviewed Journals • Also referred to as "scholarly", "professional" or "refereed journals". • Contain articles written by experts. • Professionals from the field, (the author's peers), review the articles to ensure that the information and research methods are correct.

8. How to Determine if a Particular Journal is Peer Reviewed? • Some databases permit one to limit one’s results to peer reviewed journals, e.g. Academic OneFile • These limits are not always fool proof, but will help you narrow your search significantly.

9. If a Database Doesn't Permit One to Limit to “Scholarly" or “Refereed" Journals? Check the following: • Are the author's credentials listed? Is the author even listed? • Is there any information about the author(s) to help determine the knowledge or expertise in the subject about which he is writing? • What is the intended audience for this particular article – scholars, children, general audience, etc.? • Is there a list of reference, citations or a bibliography of sources used by the author(s)? Are there footnotes or endnotes?

10. Is there an abstract or "author's abstract" at the beginning of the article? • Is there a bibliography/sources/references/citations/endnotes section? • Does the journal have a "serious" look to it: • Few, if any pictures, and fewer still in color? • Does it have graphs, charts or tables? • Few advertisements?

11. If you locate the journal in print format, look at the first few pages. • Journals will indicate their selection and editorial process there. • In addition, you can consult the "Ulrich's Periodicals Directory" which usually indicates if the journal is scholarly. • Still, bear in mind that there are different levels of “scholarly”!!

12. Electronic Journals BC Libraries E-Journals Database ScienceDirect Project Muse and many others

13. Newspapers and News Services • Many different types of newspapers • Scores of national and foreign newspapers are now available online • See the database PressDisplay: • Same-day access to more than 2200 newspapers from the U.S. and more than 97 other countries (54 languages represented). All papers are exactly as they appear in print. Issues remain available online for 60 days.

14. Useful Newspaper Indexes, Databases, and News Services LexisNexis Academic: A vast resource of news sources: newspapers, magazines, wire services, newsletters, journals, company and industry analyst reports, broadcast transcripts, and abstracts. Reuters(http://www.reuters.com) CNN Interactive (http://www.CNN.com/) BBC

15. Other News Databases • Boston Globe • NY Times • Ethnic Newswatch • etc.

16. Zines Self-Published Online Periodicals e.g. Quantum Muse http://www.quantummuse.com./

17. Scholarly Books and Monographs A Database Indexing Tens of Millions of Books: WorldCat

18. Conference Papers/Proceedings

19. Working Papers • Disseminate preliminary research results quickly. • Usually issued in series by research institutes and university departments. • Example: ArXiv.org– a repository of almost half a million e-prints in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology and Statistics

20. Microforms • One of the most stable mediums used to store information for long periods of time. • Microfilm • Microfiche

21. Bibliographies Why reinvent the wheel?

22. Book Reviews For example: • Book Review Index • Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals • Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals • Current Book Review Citations • Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities • National Library Service Cumulative Book Review Index • New York Times Book Review Index. • See the guide: Finding Book Reviews

23. Encyclopedias • Atlases -- Many specifically focused indexes, e.g. Atlas of the Classical World.

24. Biographical Information Numerous print and online resources: Online/Print Biography Index Biography and Genealogy Master Index Dictionary of Literary Biography American National Biography Current Biography Dictionary of American Biography Who's Who in America

25. Dissertations ProQuest Digital Dissertations

26. Statistical Information

27. Archives and Manuscripts e.g. the database ArchivesFinder

28. Media Sources Visual, Sound Recordings etc. Photographs Advertisements Posters Magazine illustrations Cartoons Films Fossils Museum collections Art gallery collections may all constitute important research materials for researchers/ scholars.