{"id":200,"date":"2022-07-15T15:44:17","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T15:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/?page_id=200"},"modified":"2026-02-19T20:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:42:13","slug":"select-the-best-information-source","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/select-the-best-information-source\/","title":{"rendered":"Select the Best Information Source"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The information on this page will help you determine which sources are best for finding the type of information you need for your research project. To learn more about <em>when<\/em> these types of sources are published on an event or topic, see the <a title=\"Information Cycle\" href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/the-information-cycle\/\">Information Cycle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/libapps.s3.amazonaws.com\/accounts\/55708\/images\/Select_The_Best_Information_Source.png\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Select the Best Information Source<\/h3>\n<p>Information is available via a wide variety of resources. Use the guidelines below to determine if a particular source is likely to meet your information needs.<\/p>\n<h4><strong><a title=\"Newspapers\" href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/find-articles-guide\/#newspapers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newspapers<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Daily local, national, and international news, events, and editorial coverage<\/li>\n<li>Statistics and photojournalism<\/li>\n<li>Record of events and quotes from experts, officials, and witnesses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>General audience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Authors usually not experts<\/li>\n<li>If a story is breaking, corrections to initial report likely<\/li>\n<li>Editorial bias of a publication<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a title=\"Popular Magazines\" href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/find-articles-guide\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Popular Magazines<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Current information<\/li>\n<li>Short, easy to understand articles (including analysis, interviews, opinions, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Photographs and illustrations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>General audience, or those with a specific, recreational interest (e.g. sports, fashion, science, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Authors usually not experts<\/li>\n<li>Sources aren&#8217;t always cited<\/li>\n<li>Editorial bias of a publication<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a title=\"Professional\/Trade Magazines\" href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/find-articles-guide\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Professional\/Trade<br \/>\nMagazines<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Current information<\/li>\n<li>Specialized articles related to a particular discipline or profession (including context and analysis)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Professional organizations or professionals\/scholars with similar interests<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Articles vary between short and easy to lengthy and highly specific<\/li>\n<li>Sources aren&#8217;t always cited<\/li>\n<li>Has characteristics in common with both popular magazines and scholarly journals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a title=\"Scholarly\/Academic Journals\" href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/instruction\/i-need-to-2\/find-articles-guide\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Scholarly\/Academic<br \/>\nJournals<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In-depth research on a topic<\/li>\n<li>Focused, peer-reviewed articles written by experts<\/li>\n<li>Data, statistics, charts, and graphs<\/li>\n<li>Bibliographies of other sources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scholars, researchers, professionals, and university students in particular field<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Terminology and\/or data may be difficult for novices to understand<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a title=\"Books\" href=\"https:\/\/i-share-uiu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/search?vid=01CARLI_UIU:CARLI_UIU&amp;lang=en\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Books<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comprehensive overview of topic<\/li>\n<li>Background and historical context<\/li>\n<li>Bibliographies of other sources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Varies (general audience through scholars)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dated information<\/li>\n<li>Bias (dependent on author, publisher, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Websites<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>News<\/li>\n<li>Government information<\/li>\n<li>Company information<\/li>\n<li>Alternate points of view<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Intended Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>General audience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watch For\/Consider<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Credibility and accuracy cannot always be assured<\/li>\n<li>Bias (dependent on author, publisher, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Sources not always cited<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The information on this page will help you determine which sources are best for finding the type of information you need for your research project. To learn more about when these types of sources are published on an event or topic, see the Information Cycle. Select the Best Information Source Information is available via a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"parent":284,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-200","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200\/revisions\/1728"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/tlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}