Need research or homework help and cannot come to the library? No problem! Type your question in the chatbox below, call the reference desk, send a text, or email and a library professional will respond to you shortly after, during our normal hours. If you submit your question outside of regular hours, we will respond as soon as possible when we return the following business day. Our subject-specific research and study guides can be very helpful,l as well.
Check out our list of subject librarians if you have a subject-specific question and want to contact a librarian directly, who also often respond even after the regular chat and text hours. However, this is not guaranteed. The faculty and staff at CSU Libraries can be fairly flexible in meeting you virtually or one-on-one to assist you in your academic goals and pursuits.
Need research or homework help and cannot come to the library? No problem! Type your question in the chatbox below, call the reference desk, send a text, or email and a library professional will respond to you shortly after, during our normal hours. If you submit your question outside of regular hours, we will respond as soon as possible when we return the following business day. Our subject-specific research and study guides can be very helpful,l as well.
Check out our list of subject librarians if you have a subject-specific question and want to contact a librarian directly, who also often respond even after the regular chat and text hours. However, this is not guaranteed. The faculty and staff at CSU Libraries can be fairly flexible in meeting you virtually or one-on-one to assist you in your academic goals and pursuits.
This page is designed to help you figure out which source of information you may want to use to find the information you may want to consider using. You can use the box right below this one to go directly to the section of the page you are interested in, or you can scroll the page to browse the information.
Before you can start any research on your topic, you must have background knowledge of it. Books and websites can provide you with that knowledge.
This is important because:
Yes, it is ok to use Wikipedia to gather background information. Just don't use it as authoritative information or cite it as a source of information. Wikipedia can be also useful in finding sources of information too. Look at the article's citation if you find information that would be useful to your research. Then go directly to the source cited. Looking at the article's reference list is also very helpful in finding sources as well. Below is an example of how to to use Wikipedia for citations and information sources.
This database includes thousands of articles from the printed Encyclopædia Britannica, including thousands more that are not found in the print set. The resource also includes year-in-review articles from recent yearbooks, The Britannica Student Encyclopedia, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus. Most articles are brief or of moderate length and discuss people, places, institutions, things, or concepts. Longer articles are divided into separate sections for easier access and more accurate searching.
Covers numerous topics in management theories and applications, such as aggregate planning, benchmarking, logistics, diversification strategy, non-traditional work arrangements, performance measurement, productivity measures, supply chain management, and much more.
This book provides detailed, comprehensive information on a wide range of industries in every realm of American business. It covers manufacturing, agriculture, mining, utilities, construction, wholesale, retail, transportation, information, finance, insurance, real estate, public administration, and service industries. Classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), this edition includes an essay for every one of the 1,057 2017 NAICS codes.
CSU Libraries has subscriptions to several subscription-based dictionaries that provide definitions, a thesaurus, and subject-specific searching capabilities within the dictionary itself.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words, past and present from across the English-speaking world. Search its business-specific areas such as Economics and Commerce and Manufacturing and Industry.
Not all information sources are created equal for your research projects. Different types of research and writing projects will require different types of sources. Some disciplines will require you to use mostly primary sources of information. Some research or writing assignments will require secondary sources such as a book review or literature review. The following are definitions are the different types of information sources.*
Primary sources contain first-hand information, meaning that you are reading the author’s own account on a specific topic or event that s/he participated in. Examples of primary resources include scholarly research articles, books, and diaries. Primary sources such as research articles often do not explain terminology and theoretical principles in detail. Thus, readers of primary scholarly research should have the foundational knowledge of the subject area. Use primary resources to obtain a first-hand account of an actual event and identify original research done in a field. For many of your papers, the use of primary resources will be a requirement.
Examples of a primary source are:
Secondary sources describe, summarize, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source; meaning the author, in most cases, did not participate in the event. This type of source is written for a broad audience and will include definitions of discipline-specific terms, history relating to the topic, significant theories and principles, and summaries of major studies/events as related to the topic. Use secondary sources to obtain an overview of a topic and/or identify primary resources. Refrain from including such resources in an annotated bibliography for doctoral-level work unless there is a good reason.*
Examples of a secondary source are:
A tertiary source is a distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources. Examples are:
*Definitions of primary and secondary sources are from the Research Process Libguide at Northcentral University Library.
Official government/business legal records and documents (including meeting minutes)
Original fiction (including novels, plays, poetry, short stories, and so on)
Personal diaries, letters, journals, blogs, and papers Photos, posters, or other images
Recordings (audio-only or audio/visual presentation, speech, event, or musical/artistic performance)
Compiled or gathered information (such as the results of questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations, ethnographic research, polling, etc.)
Ephemera (cultural artifacts giving a time-capsule snapshot of a moment in history such as ticket stubs, old calendars, playbills, toys, and matchbooks.
*This is an excerpt from Researching 101: 36 tips to propel your college research and help you find the authoritative information your professor will love By Ellen Metter
Secondary sources describe, summarize, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source; meaning the author, in most cases, did not participate in the event. This type of source is written for a broad audience and will include definitions of discipline-specific terms, history relating to the topic, significant theories and principles, and summaries of major studies/events as related to the topic. Use secondary sources to obtain an overview of a topic and/or identify primary resources. Refrain from including such resources in an annotated bibliography for doctoral-level work unless there is a good reason.
Examples of a secondary source are:
* Adapted from North Central University - Primary and Secondary Resources Libguide
| Source | What are they? | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scholarly (peer-reviewed) and popular articles. They contain reports, statistics, and e-books, as well as other information related to the discipline. |
They are discipline-specific. Contains authoritative, peer-reviewed publications. |
Some very recent articles may not be available due to the time it takes for the peer-review process. The articles contain very specific and narrow topics. If you are looking for more general information sources, consider looking in encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries. |
|
| Interdisciplinary Databases | Find databases in other subject areas by looking at our other LibGuides in the sciences, social sciences, arts, fine arts, and humanities. |
Good for if you are unsure of which discipline your topic falls in. Good to use if you are not finding information in a discipline-specific database. You can see how other disciplines cover the topic. |
Some very recent articles may not be available due to the time it takes for the peer-review process. The articles contain very specific and narrow topics. If you are looking for more general information sources, consider looking in encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries. |
| Think Tanks |
Institutions that are typically affiliated with universities, government agencies, advocacy groups, foundations, non-government organizations, non-profit organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations that perform research advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. |
Great for topic development and information to support your thesis. These reports typically do not go through the peer-review process so the information is more current than in scholarly publications. Great for discovering how institutions are looking at and solving national and global problems. |
Think tanks can sometimes have a political agenda. Use these carefully and check who, or which organization, researched and published the report. |
|
Statistics & Data Polling Data & Public Opinion |
Resources that compile information and/or data and publish statistics on many topics and disciplines. Organizations such as universities, government agencies, businesses, research groups collect data in a variety of different methods and use it to create a report or prediction of election outcomes, public opinion on issues, or a variety of other outcomes on social, economic, or political issues. |
The use of statistics and polling information can be very helpful in supporting your thesis. | Similar to Think Tanks, there can be bias or data manipulation so look carefully on who and how the information was compiled. |
| News & News Papers | Newspapers, news websites, blogs, videos, and any other source that writes broadcasts, or reports about current issues. | They are very current and trending issues that are reported quickly, sometimes in real-time. | There is no peer-review process so analyze these sources with caution. Especially in the fake news era, many publish information that is either false, misleading, or inaccurate. |
| Government Information | Primary source information published by the U.S. government or international governments. Government information can be in the form of a report, statistics, research, legislation, legal documents, and much more. | You will find original legislation, legal documents, and other forms of information which is very important for political science, public policy, and public administration topics. | Sometimes government reports require supplemental information to provide context for the information. It is a good idea to use government information with scholarly articles. |
| IGOs & NGOs | Reports, policy information, and data from non-government organizations. | This type of information is very up-to-date. | These sources do not go through the peer-review process. Evaluate these sources carefully and look for any potential bias, agendas, or data manipulation. |
| Source | What are they? | Pros | Cons |
