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If you’re lost on the road, you usually look for a map. When you’re lost inside a mall, a directory would be a better choice. Different situations call for different solutions, which consequently call for different information to find your solution. Understanding the types of information available in the library will help you determine which types of information will best suit your needs.

Scholarly and Popular Sources

When writing a paper for a class, or conducting any type of research project, it is good to incorporate a variety of information sources and points of view.

Scholarly sources (sometimes called peer-reviewed sources) are written by researchers or experts in the field in order to share research findings with other researchers and scholars.

Pros: peer-reviewed, supported evidence, good for building an argument
Cons: can take a while to produce with the review process, often very lengthy to read and contain jargon specific to the discipline
Examples include scholarly books, journal articles, textbooks, etc.

Popular sources are written by journalists, writers, or bloggers who aim to provide news or summarized information to the general public.

Pros: good for gathering public/general opinion, can usually cover more recent events, good for background information on a topic, usually easy to read
Cons: will need to evaluate for credibility, may not include citations
Examples include newspaper articles, magazines, blogs, Twitter feeds, etc.

Watch this video from UW Libraries to learn more about Scholary and Popular Sources:

Primary and Secondary Sources

Depending on your research topic, you may want to incorporate primary and secondary sources to represent a variety of perspectives, and how understanding of an event has changed over time.

Primary sources provide first-hand accounts of an event or experience and are often made by witnesses or first recorders of these events at the time they occurred (but not always). Examples of primary sources are diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, creative works, oral histories, newspaper articles, reports, blog posts, Tweets, memes, etc.

Secondary sources are created later by people who did not experience the event first-hand, often scholars, journalists, or other professionals who analyze or interpret primary sources. Examples of secondary sources are books, magazine and journal articles, textbooks, biographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, literature reviews, etc.

Watch this video from UW Libraries to learn more about Primary and Secondary Sources:

Check your knowledge!

Are the following citations for scholarly or popular sources?

Wikipedia. 2022. “Michelle Obama.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama.

This website is from Wikipedia, a popular source.

Wharton, Rachel. “Using Food As a Policy Platform, Not a Prop.” The New York Times, vol. 170, no. 59049, 5 May 2021, pp. D1–D7.

The New York Times is a newspaper, a popular source.

Patton-López, Megan M. “Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity.” Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, vol. 54, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 94–95.

This article is from the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, a scholarly source.

Petersen, Anne Helen. “How to Make a Return to the Office a Little Less Stressful.” TIME Magazine, vol. 199, no. 1/2, Jan. 2022, p. 26.

TIME magazine is a popular source.