LibGuides: ENGL 01A Flatt: Types of Sources

The Information Cycle

Knowing about the information cycle can help you make more informed decisions about where you might look for information and what kind of information may be available on a topic.

It's important to know that library databases contain academic and non-academic sources, which may be surprising to you as college student who is often asked to use databases. Databases house content that is not found for free online, and while a lot of scholarly sources are behind paywalls, news and magazine content is also not always free. Because it takes time to create academic content, when a new topic emerges, such as the outbreak of a disease, news and magazine content may be the best or only places to find information initially, so it is important for college libraries to provide a mixture of source types.

Watch the Video

Explore "...the differences between popular and scholarly sources in the context of the information cycle" in the video below.

"Popular and Scholarly Sources: The Information Cycle" (3:56) by PfauLibrary is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Reference Sources

Reference sources provide definitions, key figures, dates, terms, references to learn more, etc.
Using reference sources, which can include print and electronic encyclopedias, manuals, handbooks, dictionaries, etc., can help you learn context related to a topic before diving into more specific research.

Example

The following is an electronic and print encyclopedia available through the library that may be helpful for your essay. You can find more reference sources through OneSearch, EBSCO eBooks, Gale eBooks, Salem Press, African American Experience, Asian American Experience, American Indian Experience, and Latino American Experience.

Race and Racism in the United States by Charles A. Gallagher (Editor); Cameron D. Lippard (Editor)
Call Number: Available as an eBook & in print for in-library use in Merced: Reference 305.8 RAC
ISBN: 9781440803451
Publication Date: 2014-06-24
How is race defined and perceived in America today, and how do these definitions and perceptions compare to attitudes 100 years ago... or 200 years ago? This four-volume set is the definitive source for every topic related to race in the United States. In the 21st century, it is easy for some students and readers to believe that racism is a thing of the past; in reality, old wounds have yet to heal, and new forms of racism are taking shape. Racism has played a role in American society since the founding of the nation, in spite of the words "all men are created equal" within the Declaration of Independence. This set is the largest and most complete of its kind, covering every facet of race relations in the United States while providing information in a user-friendly format that allows easy cross-referencing of related topics for efficient research and learning. The work serves as an accessible tool for high school researchers, provides important material for undergraduate students enrolled in a variety of humanities and social sciences courses, and is an outstanding ready reference for race scholars. The entries provide readers with comprehensive content supplemented by historical backgrounds, relevant examples from primary documents, and first-hand accounts. Information is presented to interest and appeal to readers but also to support critical inquiry and understanding. A fourth volume of related primary documents supplies additional reading and resources for research.

Watch the Video

Learn how reference sources can help you in the initial stages of a research project in the following video.

"5 Reasons to Use Reference Sources" by U of G Library (2:41) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Scholarly Books / Book Chapters

Use scholarly books or book chapters when you need more depth on a topic.
Remember that a chapter is a source; you don't have to read an entire book for it to be useful.
Use the table of contents (near the front of the book) and the index (at the back of the book) to see if there are any chapters or particular pages that may discuss a particular aspect of your topic.

Example

This is an example of an eBook available through the library that may relate to your essay. You can find more scholarly books through OneSearch and EBSCO eBooks.

Reconstructing the Dreamland: the Tulsa riot of 1921: Race, Reparations, and Reconcilation by Alfred L. Brophy; Randall Kennedy (Foreword by)
Call Number: Available as an eBook
ISBN: 9780195146851
Publication Date: 2002-02-14
The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot was the country's bloodiest civil disturbance of the century. Leaving perhaps 150 dead, 30 city blocks burned to the ground, and more than a thousand families homeless, the riot represented an unprecedented breakdown of the rule of law. It reduced the prosperous black community of Greenwood, Oklahoma to rubble. In Reconstructing the Dreamland, Alfred Brophy draws on his own extensive research into contemporary accounts and court documents to chronicle this devastating riot, showing how and why the rule of law quickly eroded. Brophy offers a gut-wrenching portrait of mob violence and racism run amok, both on the night of the riot and the morning after, when a coordinated sunrise attack, accompanied by airplanes, stormed through Greenwood, torching and looting the community. Equally important, he shows how the city government and police not only permitted the looting, shootings, and burning of Greenwood, but actively participated in it. The police department, fearing that Greenwood was erupting into a "negro uprising" (which Brophy shows was not the case), deputized white citizens haphazardly, gave out guns and badges with little background check, or sent men to hardware stores to arm themselves. Likewise, the Tulsa-based units of the National Guard acted unconstitutionally, arresting every black resident they could find, leaving Greenwood property vulnerable to the white mob, special deputies, and police that followed behind and burned it. Brophy's revelations and stark narrative of the events of 1921 brings to life an incidence of racial violence that until recently lay mostly forgotten. Reconstructing the Dreamland concludes with a discussion of reparations for victims of the riot. That case has implications for other reparations movements, including reparations for slavery.