Information can come from virtually anywhere — media, blogs, personal experiences, books, journal and magazine articles, expert opinions, encyclopedias, web pages, and more — and the type of source(s) you need for your assignments will change depending on the question you are trying to answer.
The Consortium Library provides free access to these types of sources for the UAA and APU communities and to in-person library visitors:
For other specialized sources, follow links to related guides on the left.
Scholarly (or academic) journals contain articles written by researchers who are experts in their field. Authors are usually employed by colleges, universities, or other institutions of education or research. Articles are submitted to the editors of the journals who decide whether or not to publish. The most prestigious journals use the peer review process. In this process, an article is reviewed by experts in the field (peers) who suggest changes and recommend whether the article should be published.
For help identifying different kinds of magazines and journals, see the Scholarly vs Popular guide.
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Magazines contain articles written by people who are usually employed by the publication for which they write. They cover news and current events, profiles of people or places, and/or political opinions.
For help identifying different kinds of magazines and journals, see the Scholarly vs Popular guide.
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Trade and professional publications contain articles written by people working in a specific discipline, industry, or field of work. Articles focus on news in the field, brief reports on research, and opinions about trends and events.
For help identifying different kinds of magazines and journals, see the Scholarly vs Popular guide.
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Dissertations and theses are lengthy works completed in pursuit of a university degree or professional qualification that present an author’s original research or creative work. A dissertation is typically part of doctoral or PhD studies, while a thesis is generally part of a master's degree.
Dissertations and theses are scholarly sources because they are supervised by a committee of scholars or a faculty supervisor. However, they are not peer reviewed in the same way as a peer-reviewed journal. If you are required to use peer-reviewed sources, ask your instructor if you can use a dissertation or thesis.
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Newspapers contain articles on current events usually written by journalists who are employed by that newspaper. They are often published daily or weekly, and many have a corresponding website. They can be international, national, local, or a combination of all three. Some are very general while others focus on specific topics.
For help finding newspapers, see the News Sources guide. Also see our Fake and Misleading News guide.
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A database is a collection of information organized to provide efficient search and retrieval. Library databases contain information about articles in magazines, journals, newspapers, and other types of media. Some databases only contain abstracts or brief summaries of articles, while others include complete, full-text articles. Databases can be general or subject-specific, but no single database has everything.
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QuickSearch allows you to search most of the Consortium Library's online and print resources using a single search box. Think of it as Google for library research. It does not include the content of some of the library’s specialized databases but does include the library catalog, our ebook collections, and about 80% of the library's journal articles. Because it searches so many items along with the full text when available, QuickSearch is a great place to start.
For more information and a tutorial, see the QuickSearch guide.
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Books cover virtually any topic, fact or fiction. For research purposes, you will probably be looking for books that synthesize much of the information on one topic to support a particular argument or thesis. For this reason, subjects covered in books are usually broader than in journal articles.
A book may be a physical object (print) or an ebook. For more about ebooks, see the Ebooks @ the Consortium Library guide.
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A library catalog allows you to search for books, videos, music, some ebooks, and other materials (excluding journal articles) available locally. Because the Consortium Library shares a catalog with numerous other libraries in Alaska, most items found elsewhere can be requested and sent to your local library free of charge.
For step-by-step instructions, see the Using the Library Catalog guide.
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Encyclopedias are collections of short, factual entries often written by different contributors who are experts on the topic.
There are two types of encyclopedias: general and subject. General encyclopedias provide concise overviews on a wide variety of topics. Subject encyclopedias contain in-depth entries focusing on one field of study.
Wikipedia, an online crowd-sourced encyclopedia, can be helpful for a basic overview or to consult the references at the end of each page but is typically not an acceptable source for academic research.
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Search engines (like Google or Bing) allow you to search a vast sea of information contained on websites. They can be a great place to start your academic research but are rarely enough on their own. Since anyone can create a website, the quality and reliability of information varies drastically. No matter what type of source you use whether online or off, be sure to evaluate before using it. Also see our Fake and Misleading News guide.
Much of what the library has cannot be found through Google or other search engines. When found, there is often a fee to view the full text. However, the library pays for access to carefully selected materials and makes them freely available to the UAA/APU communities and in-person visitors.
Note that if your instructor says not to use websites or the internet in your research, it is still ok to use online library resources.
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This guide is maintained by Ruth Terry.
This work by UAA/APU Consortium Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Note that linked content is covered by its own licenses.
We encourage you to license your derivative works under Creative Commons as well to encourage sharing and reuse of educational materials.
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