Reference materials are good starting points for research projects because they can provide background or introductory information on a topic. 

• Reviewing reference resources can also provide you with terminology or additional keywords to use in further searches
• Use the bibliography to find other, more specific materials on a your topic.

Reference sources are available in general or subject specifics contexts and in print or online formats. You need to evaluate each source and determine which are helpful to you and appropriate for you to use.

Examples:

• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Almanacs
• Glossaries
• Handbooks
• Atlases
• Bibliographies
• Indexes

Feel free to visit the Research Center on the second floor of the library and ask a librarian for reference book suggestions, or check out our various online reference resources on the "Get Started" tab. 

Books are a great way to find comprehensive information on a topic. Books tend to be broader in scope, with chapters devoted to narrower subjects. 

• If you are searching for your topic and don't see any results, try searching for a broader subject related to your topic. 
  • Ex.  juvenile justice system instead of adult sentences for juvenile offenders
• Books take significantly longer to publish than newspapers, magazines, or journals, so keep that in mind if you are looking for the most current information on a topic. 

The McQuade Library provides access to a physical book collection located on the second and third floors of the library, as well as a wide selection of digital ebooks and audiobooks. To search for books and ebooks, you can use the NOBLE catalog. For additional information about searching for books, click on the "Find Books, Ebooks, and DVDs" tab. 

Scholarly articles are a great resource for finding in-depth, current information on a topic. Scholarly articles tend have a much more narrow focus than books, so you can try searching for the more specific aspects of your topic. 

• This type of article may also be called peer-reviewed articles, or refereed articles. 
• Scholarly articles are found in journals that are released multiple times throughout the year. Use database search tools to limit results to the publication time range you that fits your topic.
• Scholarly articles are one of the most common types of sources your professors will require you to include in your research. 

The easiest way to find articles on your topic is to search in one of the databases. The McQuade Library subscribes to over 200 databases that range from general to subject-specific.  For more information about finding articles or searching in the database, click on the "Find Articles" tab. 

Magazines, newspapers and news websites are great sources for finding general, current information on a topic. Articles published in these types of sources are intended for a general audience, which can be useful for background information or an overview of a complex current-event topic. 

• While the intent of these types of resources may be to inform, often these types of publications are competing for your attention amongst other news sources. This means you may see flashy headlines or pictures, but the articles themselves may lack substance. 

If you are going to use information from magazines, newspapers, or websites in your paper be sure to evalute your sources carefully to ensure that you are only using the best quality. For more information about evaluating sources, click on the "Evaluate Sources" tab.