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| No, dictionaries and encyclopedias generally provide basic facts and brief overviews of a topic. |
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| No, journals articles are usually best for latest research. |
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Quick Quiz 1
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| QUICK QUIZ: |
| Subject dictionaries and encyclopedias: |
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provide a variety of perspectives on a topical subject |
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provide definition, facts and brief overviews |
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include the very latest research |
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always require expert knowledge to understand |
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| Correct! Journals are sometimes referred to as serials or periodicals. |
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| No, Journals are not books. |
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| No, monographs are books. |
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Quick Quiz 2
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| QUICK QUIZ: |
| Journals are also referred to as: |
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serials |
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e-books |
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monographs |
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all of the above |
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 What sources can I choose from?
You may have heard about journal articles by now. Being something new, it's easy to imagine that they can provide all the information that you'll need.
But beware, they have their limitations. You still need a variety of sources, including:
I. Academic books
II. Scholarly journals
III. Specialist internet sites
These three kinds of information sources can supplement the list of references in your course handout. |
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 Subject dictionaries
Use Biology or Biochemistry subject dictionaries to find definitions of key terms.
Example: Oxford dictionary of biology |
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 Subject encyclopaedias
Covering a broad discipline, subject encyclopedias explain concepts in greater depth. They often have references to additional sources listed at the end of each entry.
Example:
Encyclopedia
of Life Sciences |
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Monographs
Monographs are non-fiction books. These are likely to be your major information source for this assignment. You'll find monographs on medical sciences by searching the UNSW Library Resources Database (LRD). |
1:25 mins |
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 Hints & Tips 1
Reference collection
The newest dictionaries are usually Not For Loan. They're held
in the library's Reference collection (Main Library Level
3) so that many people can access them. Their call number
prefix is MBREF.
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Hints & Tips 2
Very new terms
As subjects develop, new terms are created. If you're looking for a very new term, be sure you're looking in a recently published dictionary. It's possible that terms may be "too new" to be included. |
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Hints & Tips 3
Electronic access
Always access electronic books through the UNSW Library web site. Electronic encyclopedias must be purchased, then made available to UNSW staff and students only. |
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What is a journal?
A journal is a publication that is produced on a recurring basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc) and may contain articles, reviews and letters. Journals are sometimes called Serials or Periodicals.
Characteristics of journal articles
Compared with books, journal articles are more up-to-date as they take less time to publish. Journal articles focus on a very narrow and specialised subject area. They often require familiarity with scientific terminology and complex concepts.
Finding them...
To find relevant articles you need to search a library database. For further details see Module 4 - Finding journal articles. |
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Specialist Internet sites are written by subject experts, often in educational or research institutions. They may include overviews or background information for some topics.
 The Web contains millions of sites that are not suited to University studies. To find suitable Internet sites see Module 6 - Finding and using Internet resources.
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