LibGuides: Family and Consumer Sciences: Finding Sources

Choose the Right Sources

Assignment requirements—what does the professor want you to cite?
Learn about your topic -- You may want to use a reference book like an encyclopedia (print or online) to start out with if you don't have a clear understanding of your topic yet.
Time—the more current the topic, the less will be found in scholarly journals or books, which take longer to get published. Recent events will be covered on the Internet, in newspapers and magazines, as well as in the media.
Depth of coverage and/or the topic—scholarly journals and books cover topics in more depth than magazines and newspapers. Some topics are not covered by the popular press, e.g., research that would not be of interest to the average consumer.
Quality of the resource

Type of Information You Need	Try These Resources
Does your topic cover current events?	Newspapers, magazines, Internet
Do you need general information on a specific topic, written in a non-specialist style?	Newspapers, magazines, Internet
Do you need in-depth information on a specific topic, written for the college student and above by authorities in the field?	Scholarly journals
Do you need more detail and/or has the topic been written about for awhile?	Books
Do you need an overview, quick facts, statistics on a topic?	Reference books, Internet

Watch this video to learn how to navigate OneSearch to find materials available through the University Library.