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There are different types of articles, and each type serves a different purpose.
Books are good for in-depth and background information on a topic. Books are not peer-reviewed and can take years to be published, so some scientific information may be out-of-date compared to a recent journal article.
There are two types of books:
These resources focus on the basic facts or background information of a topic. They are a good place to start if you are learning about a topic for the first time.
This includes videos, images, audio and other types of non-textual sources of information. Media is especially useful for the arts and certain social and scientific subject areas.
Websites can be created by anyone and can contain information that is factual or false. For most college assignments, it is best to avoid using websites since it can be difficult to tell what is true and what is not. For certain types of information, such as government information, a website may be your best resource.
You may dive straight into searching TWUniversal or a library database, but often it is helpful to look for a subject guide or course guide that provides search tips and resources for a specific subject or course assignment.
If there is a library course guide for your course, this is the best place to start. A course guide is a customized research guide created by a librarian to help you complete research assignments in that specific course.
A subject guide is a collection of resources and search tips for doing research on a particular subject. Start here if there is no course guide for your class. In some cases, you may want to visit more than one subject guide.