Identifying Different Resource Types
Choosing Your Sources
Once you have an idea about what you'd like to research, it's time to see what information is available. At Touro, we have over 120 databases and thousands of information sources to choose from. So... where do you start?
Different types of information sources will provide you with different types of materials:
- Popular sources (such as news and magazine articles) are a good place to get ideas when choosing a topic and to become familiar with general, basic information.
- Reference sources (such as encyclopedias) will give you a wide overview of your topic, including facts, statistics, and comprehensive background information. These can be helpful for narrowing down your topic.
- In-depth sources (such as books) will add further detail, examples and variety to your research.
- Narrow-focus sources (such as scholarly journal articles) will add depth and fine detail to your research, including expert opinion and results from scientific research.
Beginning Your Research
QuickSearch
Find: All library resources.
Best for: Beginning research, evaluating topics, finding articles from citations.
Touro Library Article QuickSearch
Catalog
Find: Books, eBooks, Streaming Video, Video recordings, Journals.
Best For: Locating books, ebooks, and videos.
Databases
Find: Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, and Scholarly Journals; Some eBooks and Streaming Video.
Best for: Later stage research, finding articles on a specific topic.
EBSCO multi-search This link opens in a new window
Search articles in many EBSCO databases at once. Encompasses ERIC, Professional Development Collection, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Newspaper Source, MasterFILE Premier, MEDLINE, Business Source Complete, Academic Search Complete.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Provides access to millions of full text articles from thousands of scholarly journals, hundreds international newspapers, nearly 30,000 full text dissertations, and concise business information from nearly 9,000 market reports.
