When you research, you generally need 3 basic sources (books, articles, and websites). This is due to the way they are published.
- Use books for background and overview information: they give a history and look at multiple aspects of a topic. But they take time to write and publish, so the information is usually 2-3 years older than the copyright date.
- Use articles for specific, recent information and studies: they take 6-8 months to publish, but due to space, they cover one small aspect of the topic.
- Search for articles on OneSearch (on the left, limit Resource Type to articles)
- Use websites for local information and statistics, but check credibility! .org, .com, and .net sites are not necessarily credible. Is the info biased? Check where the money is coming from and what their mission is. Usually credible: .gov, .edu, and .mil. To search specifically for these domains, add "site:gov" to your keywords on Google.
