Nazarbayev University LibGuides: Searching for Information: Types of Information

What is Information?

Many philosophers have long believed that knowledge is power and that knowledge stems from understanding information; information, in turn, is the assigning of meaning to data.

Adapted from https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/285017-data-information-and-knowledge.pdf

Types of Information

What kind of information do you need to answer your research question?

When researching unfamiliar topics, it's helpful to start with secondary sources like magazines, newspapers, and reference materials, as they are written for a general audience.
After that, look for primary literature in journals to find strong scientific evidence to support your research question.

Image adapted from http://www.lisbdnet.com/sources-of-information/

Documentary sources may be defined loosely as records relating to individuals or groups of individuals that have been generated in the course of their daily lives. They supply empirical evidence that can support sociological theories. The golden rule when using such sources is to search out the context and to understand why the document was created.
Non-documentary sources of information are those sources that are not recorded in any form. You may obtain information by interview or by visiting expert organizations (research institutions, societies, professional organizations, scientists, attending conferences, colleagues at work, etc.)

Source Type	Explanation
Reference Material	Example: encyclopedia, dictionary, directories Look up facts, definitions, dates, figures
News Sources	Online and print Current events, obituaries, advertisements, opinion pieces
Magazines	Usually general interest and current events Written for a public audience
Academic Journals	Usually peer-reviewed and include citations Written by experts for experts
Books	Can be fact or fiction Good for in-depth background information and analysis Can take many years to publish so not good for current events
Patents	A document to prove copyright over an idea or invention Useful for background information
Multimedia	Video, Audio, Maps Communication for a general audience

The source types can also have characteristics that are important to understand when using them in your work.

Primary	The results of original research or observation Articles Diaries, speeches, letters, interviews, Autobiographies Lab Notes
Secondary	Analyzes primary works by providing opinion or commentary Textbooks Magazines Criticisms Encyclopedias and Dictionaries are considered tertiary sources
Popular	Written for a general audience and can usually be found alongside advertisements and pictures
Scholarly	Written by experts in the field usually with academic vocabulary
Grey Literature	Material produced outside of traditional publishing Company reports Working papers Technical Manuals

Reference Sources

If you are looking for information about...	Choose
Words	Dictionaries
General information / Overview	Encyclopedias
Names and addresses of people, organizations	Directories
Profiles of people	Biographical Dictionaries
Places / maps	Gazetteers or Atlases
Facts and statistics	Almanacs
Formula, tables, how-to-do-it	Handbooks and Manuals
A person’s work	Reviews or Criticisms
Dates, outlines, historical timelines	Chronologies or Yearbooks
Periodical articles	Indexes or Abstracts
Books	Bibliographies or Guides

Source: https://library.uaf.edu/ls101-reference-services

Information is..

“Data presented in readily comprehensible form to which meaning has been attributed within the context of its use.” (ODLIS)