Written by a researcher or scholar for a specific field, reviewed by peer scholars before publication. Although some scholarly journals are still published in printed form, the emphasis is shifting towards online publication, i.e. e-journals / e-journal databases.
Journals in a specific field, aimed at professional practitioners and professionals
Written by a journalist for a mass-market audience.
Newspapers offer information about current events and developments in the world.
Saxion Library has subscriptions to the main Dutch newspapers. In the Nexis Uni database you can search for newspaper articles by keyword.
The Guardian is an English newspaper that can be accessed for free on the internet.
Encyclopedias (print and online) are used to find information quickly. If you use Wikipedia, remember that the quality of the information varies and the information may not be 100% reliable.
You use dictionaries (both in print and online) to look up terminology, concepts that relate to your subject.
Monographs are published in printed form, but more and more monographs are being published in digital format as e-books.
(Book) (E-book)
A handbook is a synthesis of the current knowledge in research, in a particular research area or in a research sub-discipline.
A (full text) library database is a searchable collection of research literature. These databases may be multidisciplinary (covering a range of subjects) or subject-specific (covering one subject only).
| Multidisciplinary examples: | Subject-specific examples: |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
You use statistics when you need figures to back up your report or research. Examples of statistics databases:
Research results of students and lecturers
Publications by government organizations, think-tanks and companies are useful sources of information in many fields of research.
Images, movies and videos.
Human sources. Lecturers and professionals.
You can find many different types of information sources on the internet including social media, blogs and vlogs. You need to assess whether this information is suitable for your assignment.
