Understanding types of information sources

This is the Australian National University Library And this video is about understanding  types of information sources. When you start to do research at university,  whether as an undergraduate or a postgraduate, there are a lot of confusing  terms that get thrown around, especially in relation to online resources. This is because a lot of the language that is used by libraries and publishers in relation to research and information is left over from when most resources were physical items on a shelf rather than online.

This can make it hard to work out what  type of source you are looking at, which makes it hard to reference it correctly. In this video, we will break down  some of those terms so that it’s clear exactly what we are talking about  when it comes to research and resources. Think of the structure of most  online resources as a family tree.

So, let’s start at the top and  work our way down from there. The first level is the database level. A database is a collection  of electronic information.

In Library terms, a database is a system managed  by a company that collects scholarly information. Most databases will have a subject focus, for example Medline is a medicine database while Taylor and Francis is a  database for social sciences. These databases collate online scholarly resources so that they are better organised for  those looking for discipline specific sources – which can include Journals,  edited books and authored books.

An academic journal is a periodic publication in  which research articles written about a particular discipline are published. Back in the olden days, a journal was a physical, printed book that  contained a number of academic articles. When you went to a library, you would  find these journals sitting on a shelf.

While that is not the case so much  anymore, the way we organise this information and the language we use  to discuss them hasn’t really changed. Nowadays, most journals are published  primarily online, and are hosted on databases. Once upon a time, these journals would be  published as quarterly “issues” – similar to a magazine, but academic in nature.

Sometimes journal issues have a particular theme, like feminist film studies or malaria  epidemiology, sometimes they can be random. Libraries and researchers would subscribe  to receive physical copies of these issues as they were published. When a year’s, or a few years’, worth of issues had been published, they  would be collected into a larger “volume”.

So when you are referencing an academic article,  you probably have seen something that looks like this – a journal title, and then a number in  brackets and another number beside it, like this. Those numbers are the issue  number and the volume number. This is how you know it’s a journal article.

A book or a book chapter will not have an issue  number or a volume number in its citation. Journals are still organised into issues  and volumes, even though they are rarely published into physical, print copies anymore. Instead, a journal might look like this.

It’s important to understand that this is  how journals are structured, in case you are trying to find a particular article. If you have the issue and journal number, you can navigate through the  journal to locate the article. That is why it is so important to  include the journal name, issue and volume number in your citations as well.

It will help someone who is trying to find that information to locate the  correct article you are referring to. But journals and journal articles are not the  only sources that are collected in databases. Many databases also include eBooks.

Now we all know what a physical book is – and we’ve probably had some  experience with eBooks as well. But in the academic publishing world, there are two types of book – an  authored book and an edited book. An authored book is a book written about  a topic that has all been researched and written by the same person, or sometimes  two people, but rarely more than that.

These researchers have done all the  research and all the writing themselves, so the book is published under their names. The book is usually all on  the same subject or theme. An edited book is a book in which each  chapter has been written by someone different.

They are all usually on the same subject area, but typically each chapter will  have a slightly different focus. Each chapter will be a short essay or  article by a different writer or writers. Then, an editor has collected those chapters  and published them together in a book.

The editor’s name will usually be the one on  the cover and be included in the citation list. It is important to be able to tell the  difference between and authored book and an edited book, because you will  need to reference them differently. So how do you tell the difference?

Well, just like a hard copy book, eBooks have a cover page, and then a page  that contains the publication details. This is where you will find all the publishing  information you need to cite the source: • The name of the publisher • When and where it was published The front page of an edited book will say “Edited  by” and include the editor or editors’ names, whereas an authored book will just  say “By” the author or authors’ names. Another way to check is to look  at the chapter titles themselves.

Is each chapter by a different person?  Then it’s definitely an edited book! Learning how to identify different types of  online sources can be tricky at the start, but it’s really important to understand so you  both cite correctly and are able to quickly find information sources for your assignments.

Unless  you know what sort of source you are using, it is impossible to correctly reference them, and then  you are likely to lose marks on your assignments. Remember, if in doubt, it is always best to check with your lecturer or supervisor Look for more resources on researching, writing and using the Library? We have an amazing collection of online materials and guides available through the ANU Library website as well as workshops and videos.

Having trouble? The ANU Library is here to help. If in doubt, reach out to our friendly staff at the desk or on chat.