Page 90 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
P. 90
Unit 11: Evaluation of Information Sources in Social Science
Is the content appropriate for your research topic y Check the table of contents or scan the Notes
or assignment? subheadings
y Scholarly vs. popular y Read the preface, abstract, introduction,
y Fact vs. opinion and/or conclusion
y Format/medium (e.g., book, journal, y Look for footnotes or endnotes and/or a
government report, web site, etc.) bibliography
y Subject coverage y Look for reviews
y Language Magazines for Libraries
y Time period Ulrich’s International Periodicals Direc-
y Geographical area tory
y Audience Book reviews
y Primary (e.g., raw data, diaries, literature, Internet Scout Report
photographs, first-hand accounts of an
event, research reports, etc.) vs. secondary
(information that has been analyzed and
interpreted, e.g., literary criticism, most
books, review of an art show or play,
etc.) vs. tertiary (sources that compile,
analyze and digest secondary sources, e.g.,
encyclopedias, CQ Researcher)
Source: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/findarticles/credibility.html
Notes Classification of primary, secondary and tertiary sources of information.
Primary Sources Secondary Sources Tertiary Sources
y Autobiographies y Biographies. y Chronologies
y Correspondence: email, Encyclopedias, dictionaries, y Classifications
letters handbooks y Dictionaries
y Descriptions of travel y Textbooks & monographs y Encyclopedias
y Diaries. on a topic y Directories
y Eyewitnesses y Literary criticism & y Guidebook and manuals
y Oral histories interpretation y Population registers
y Literary works y History & historical statistics
criticism
y Interviews y Fact books
y Personal narratives y Political analyses y Abstracts
y First-hand newspaper y Reviews of law and
and magazine accounts of legislation y Indexes
events y Essays on morals and y Bibliographies
y Legal cases, treaties ethics y Manuals/Guide books
y Statistics, surveys, opinion y Analyses of social policy
polls, y Study and teaching
y Scientific data, transcripts material
y Journal articles
LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 85
