Finding information
When searching for information for an academic assignment, think about what you need find out. There are many different types of information sources and you need to identify and select those that will meet your needs. You may want a factual explanation of a topic, or a piece of research evidence to support your own arguments, or a way to gauge current opinion of a particular issue.
Primary sources
The term primary source refers to an item you might wish to study. This could be one of several things:
- an original creative work such as a novel, or a poetry anthology, or a film, or a work of art, or a music score or recording
- a piece of legislation, such as an Act of Parliament, or
- a treaty case law, referring to an actual lawsuit
- an original historical document, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or the Magna Carta
- statistical data
- audio or video recordings of events or speeches
Secondary sources
This term refers to any item – published or otherwise – that is about a primary source. This could be:
- a book or journal article about the work of a writer, poet, movie director, artist, music composer, etc.
- a review of a film, a novel, a painting, a computer game or a piece of music
- a web page devoted to the study or celebration of a specific person
- an unpublished dissertation or thesis
- an article about a piece of legislation or case law