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English 132: Cultural Encounters in the Age of Empire

Quick Overview of Major Types of Library Materials

Content Type

What They Are

Use Them When You Need...

Reference Sources

Summaries of facts, definitions, histories, statistics, and other types of information on large subject areas, organized for quick lookup.

Examples: Encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and yearbooks
  • Basic overviews of new subjects when you're getting started.
  • Quick lookup of factual info.
  • Recommendations for more detailed sources (like books and articles).

Books

Long works providing in-depth analysis of a subject.

Examples: Novels, scholarly books, textbooks, dissertations
  • Comprehensive information that covers multiple techniques or sub-fields, long time spans, or multiple points of view.
  • Analysis of broad implications and "big picture" issues.

Articles

Short works providing news or analysis on narrowly-focused topics, published as part of some larger work.

Examples: Journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles
  • Narrowly focused analysis..
  • Detailed findings from individual studies.
  • The latest information on a topic.
Reference Sources What They Are Use Them When You Need...

Summaries of facts, definitions, histories, statistics, and other types of information on large subject areas, organized for quick lookup.

Examples: Encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and yearbooks
  • Basic overviews of new subjects when you're getting started.
  • Quick lookup of factual info.
  • Recommendations for more detailed sources (like books and articles).
Books What They Are Use Them When You Need...

Long works, usually 100 pages or more.

Examples: Scholarly books, textbooks, dissertations
  • In-depth research on large topics.
  • Analysis of an issue's context and consequences, comparison of multiple views, or broad interdisciplinary approaches to a topic.
  • Historical information.
Articles What They Are Use Them When You Need...

Short works, anywhere from a paragraph up to about 30 pages, published inside a larger work.

Found in: Academic journals, magazines, newspapers
  • Narrowly focused analysis.
  • Detailed findings from individual studies.
  • The latest information on a topic.