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Types of Library Materials

This guide will help you distinguish between different types of library materials, including reference sources, books, and eBooks, trade publications, and scholarly journal articles

What Kind of Sources Do You Need?

Always follow your instructor's guidance regarding sources! If you have multiple options- use this chart to determine what information sources best suit your need. 

Choosing Your Information Sources

Source

Best For

Intended Audience

Watch For/Consider

News articles

 News articles are best for:
  • Daily local, national, and international news, events, and editorial coverage
  • Contextualized statistics and photojournalism
  • Record of events and quotes from experts, officials, and witnesses
 News articles are intended for a general audience When using news articles, you should watch for and consider that:
  • Authors usually aren't subject matter experts, though they may consult experts (search for these experts in databases to find scholarly works)
  • Breaking stories are often fragmentary and conflicting, corrections are likely to follow
  • There is often an editorial bias.

Popular Magazines

 Popular magazines are best for:
  • Current information
  • Short, easy to understand articles (including analysis, interviews, opinions, etc.)
  • Photographs and illustrations
 Popular magazines are intended for a general audience, or those with a specific, recreational interest (e.g. sports, fashion, science, etc.) When using popular magazines, you should watch for and consider that:
  • Authors aren't usually experts
  • Sources may be cited informally (these can be used to find better sources)
  • If there are no sources, you should be cautious (watch for informal citation).
  • There is typically an editorial bias.

Professional/Trade
Magazines

 Professional/Trade Magazines are best for:
  • Current information related to a profession or trade
  • Specialized articles related to a particular discipline or profession (including context and analysis)
 Professional/Trade magazines are intended for members of a profession or professional organization, for example; Variety magazine, Legal Week, Ad Week, Booklist, Billboard, or Roll Call. When using professional/trade magazines, you should watch for and consider that:
  • Articles vary between short and easy to lengthy and highly specific
  • Author expertise varies, pay attention to this
  • Sources may be cited informally
  • If no sources are cited, be cautious
  • Has characteristics in common with both popular magazines and scholarly journals
  • There may be bias

Scholarly/Academic
Journals

 Scholarly/Academic Journals are best for:
  • Recent research on a topic
  • Focused, peer-reviewed articles written by experts and reviewed by experts
  • Data, statistics, charts, and graphs
  • Bibliographies of other sources
 Scholarly/Academic Journals are intended for scholars, researchers, and practitioners in a particular field. While college students can learn from journal articles the primary audience has a high level of expertise and familiarity with specialized vocabulary. When using Scholarly/Academic Journals, you should watch for and consider that:
  • Terminology and/or data may be difficult for novices to interpret, allow yourself time to process and ask a librarian for help.
  • There may be a bias, as with all information, so read critically.
  • Not all research is created equal; predatory journals churn out low-quality literature for $$. 

Books

 Books are best for:
  • Comprehensive overviews of a topic
  • Background and historical context
  • Bibliographies of other sources

Popular books are intended for a general audience and are often written by journalists, pundits, or professional writers.

 Scholarly books are written by subject matter experts and are often detailed and discipline-specific in their language and approach.

Here is a chart to help you determine the differences between scholarly and popular books.

 When using books, you should watch for and consider that:
  • The author's level of expertise on a topic matters- determine why you should trust them
  • Some information is timeless, but sometimes the date of publication matters
  • There is always almost bias, what is it, and how does it influence the writing?

Websites

 Websites are best for:
  • Government data and information
  • Company information
  • Open Access resources
  • Quick answers to general info questions
  • News articles
 While the vast majority of websites are intended for a general audience. Some are intended for expert audiences; PubMed or PubChem for example.  When using websites to get information, you should watch for and consider that:
  • If you cannot determine who is responsible for the information and why you trust them- don't trust them. 
  • If a website fails to cite sources—don't trust them.
  • There is almost always a bias; what is it, and how does it influence the information?

Adapted from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign resource, Select the Best Information Source