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Chapter 2: Information sources

and resources
Lecture Notes
Key Terms
Article- Piece of writing on a specific topic forming an independent part of
a publication

Bibliographic database-Summary representations of documents, does not

contain the full text document

Dictionary- List of words and their definitions, or words and their

translations

Digital library- Collection of documents in electronic format so that they can

be accessed by computer

Directory- Lists of names of people living in a particular area, organisation

operating in a particular field or individuals in a particular profession

Document- Written, printed or electronic material that provides information

Encyclopaedia- Collection of paper-based or digital knowledge in written

form

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 Gateway- Single point of entry to many information sources

Internet- Network of computer networks that operates worldwide using a

common set of communication protocols

Invisible web- Part of web which is not accessible to general search

engines: deep or hidden web

Journal- Collection of academic reports and articles that is published on a

regular basis and is available in print form or on the internet

Periodical- published at regular intervals: usually keep same title and issue
numbers are consecutive

Publication- Work produced and made available to the public

Text- Written and printed material that forms the main body of a publication

World wide web(WWW)- Part of the internet that a browser can access

Yearbook- Publications that contain current information for a particular

year: also called annuals

The internet, world wide web and digitisation of content

What is the internet:

Network of computer networks that operates worldwide using a

common set of communication protocols: TCP/IP

Internet protocols offer various services:

Communication services

Information services

What is world wide web?

Websites that contain web pages

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 Type of websites:

Corporate websites:

provide information about the company, institution or

organisation

created, funded and maintained by the organisations,

institutions and companies and, as a result, the information
provided is often biased.

Personal websites

Individuals or small groups create them and often do so purely

for pleasure.

Digitisation projects
Optical character recognition and content management systems convert
print publication into digital formats and store it- digitisation

Books
Printed books:

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 UNESCO states a publication must be at least 49 pages to be defined
as a book

a book is defined as having pages and a cover. This definition excludes

magazines and journals.

E-books:

Not printed- available in electronic format

Many different electronic formats

People use e-readers

Periodicals
Published at regular intervals, issues are numbered consecutively

Journals:

Scholarly publication containing articles written by experts in a field

Usually report original research designed to increase the body of

knowledge of a specific discipline

Have reference lists

Longer then articles in magazines

Peer reviewed-before an article is published, experts in the field review

it.

Open Access(OA):

Authors of research articles make content freely available in addition to

publishing the articles

Can do this 2 ways:

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 On the internet before it’s published

after it has been published

Making your own articles available is known as ‘OA self-archiving’ or

‘green OA’

Publishing in an open access journal is known as ‘gold OA’.

‘gratis OA’ (free online access) and ‘libre OA’ (free access plus
additional usage rights).

OAIster is a database of open access resources, supported by the

Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC) and made available through
WorldCat.

Has impacted copyright issues- no restrictions on the number of copies

of the article that can be made

Still can’t use the work without restrictions- author has rights to the
content

Magazines:

Aimed at the general public and cater for popular opinions and interests

Not necessarily written by experts nor peer reviewed

More attractive graphic and shorter than academic journals

There are some magazines, such as Nature and Science, that are
accepted as authoritative. However, in general, magazine articles are
not subjected to the same strict reviewing process as journal articles
and in an academic environment you should use them with caution.

Newsletters:

Short publication produced at regular intervals containing news for a

specific organisation or activity

Limited audience

Newspapers:

Contains news, advertisements, opinions etc.

Article in newspapers are regarded as primary sources

Paper and digital

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 Reference works
Provide factual information

Encyclopaedias:

Collections of knowledge

Cover range of topics

arranged alphabetically or hierarchically, starting with a broad topic and

working down to more specific topics.

Purpose- provide accurate information on the subjects covered

Dictionaries:

alphabetical list of words with definitions, or a list of words with

translations in one or more languages.

Some provide history of word and its pronunciation

Printed and digital

Thesauri:

List of synonyms and antonyms

Bibliographic database:

No full texts- provides details of the title

Allow you to decide whether the document is relevant to your needs

Bibliographies:

Compiled lists of publications

do not exist for every possible topic

Directories:

Lists of names of people living in a particular area

Printed and electronic

Yearbooks:

current information of a specific year

Almanacs:

Annual publication that lists events for the next year

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 Spatial and geographic sources
Maps:

Abstract representations of the surface of the earth

Types:

Orthophoto: Aerial photograph that is correct so there are no

distortions

Relief map: Shows geographical features of an area

Distribution maps: focus on particular subjects and can show how,

where and when they occur.

Topographical maps: illustrate topographical features

Street maps: lot of detail and are used to navigate small areas

Road map: less detailed than street maps and are used to navigate
larger areas

Atlases:

Collection of maps

Geographical information system (GIS):

creates and manages spatial data using a computer system.

Additional sources of information

Conference proceeding:

Published records of conferences

Usually the full text of the papers presented at a conference is

published.

Diaries:

Personal accounts of events

record progress of experiments

Government publications:

official publications published by a government’s printing facility.

Printed copies of government publications are stored in national and

parliamentary libraries,

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 but most government departments make relevant documents available
on their websites.

Grey literature:

Grey literature stands for manifold document types produced on all

levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and
electronic formats that are protected by intellectual property rights, of
sufficient quality to be collected and preserved by libraries and
institutional repositories but not controlled by commercial publishers

Reports:

written description of a completed research project or an interim

description of progress made towards the completion of a research
project

Theses and dissertations:

an academic report or treatise that is written as part of a higher degree

or diploma

Services that enable interaction, collaboration and information

sharing
Go to website and read webpage and click on link but can’t interact in any
other way- Web1.0

Web2.0- allows online interaction, collaboration and sharing

Asynchronous- communication does not happen at the same time

Synchronous or near-synchronous- communication occurs at same time

Email:

Asynchronous

One-to-one or one-to-many

Bulletin boards:

Similar to emails but bulletin boards and groups must be ‘pulled’. This
means that, if you want to access a bulletin board or a group, you need
to go to a repository on the internet.

Blogs and vlogs:

Blog- web log

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 Vlog- video blog

Creates a discussion forum or a virtual community

Wikis:

Mediated public spaces open to participation

Microblogging:

Short messages one can post

allows users to send messages, audio or video clips, and even attached
files.

Social media and social networking:

Social networking- process of establishing and building online

relationships with others

User-controlled rather than computer controlled

Photo sharing:

Publishing or transferring of digital photos online, allowing them to be

shared with others

Video sharing:

Website or software that allows users to distribute their video clips

Podcasts:

Both audio and video recordings

Social bookmarking:

web-based service where people share internet bookmarks

Interpersonal communication services:

Applications, websites in social media that allow us to communicate

live, or in real time

Really simple syndication(RSS):

way to automatically feed your web pages, blogs, audio, video and
photographs to people who subscribe.

Social libraries:

Allow users to keep track of their collections, books or records etc.

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 Data
data collected by the researcher(s) and analysed and summarised in the
article or book

widely acknowledged that data can be reused.

can also be used for the validation of previous research results.

Data repositories are often created as institutional data repositories and are
set up and maintained by the institution where the research has taken place

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