When accessing databases off campus, you will be prompted to login with your NMC credentials. Those accessing via a Methodist computer will not be asked to login. Use your S1234567 username and current password.
| Information Need | Sources | Where to go |
| Background |
Books Encyclopedias |
Library catalog |
| Current |
Newspapers Magazines Trade Journals Scholarly Journals |
Websites |
| Research | Scholarly Journals | |
| Statistics |
Government Documents Scholarly Journals Industry Reports |
Websites |
| Popular | Trade | Scholarly | |
| Appearance | Glossy pages, lots of ads, illustrations | Glossy pages, illustrations, ads targeted to specific industry interests | Plain cover and paper, black and white graphics (rarely color), few to no ads |
| Audience | General public | Professionals, members of a particular industry | Researchers, professionals, educators |
| Content | News, general interest, personalities, entertainment | Industry trends and news, advice and techniques | Research studies, methodologies, theories, literature reviews |
| Authority | Articles written by staff writers, rarely in-depth, few to no references | Articles written by staff and freelance authors; few to no references |
Articles written by researchers and field experts. Bibliographies contain extensive, scholarly references |
| Accountability | Editorial review | Editorial review | Peer-reviewed/refereed by other experts in the field |
| Example covers |  |
 |
 |
| Example articles |
- Shape |
"Obesity Therapy: Reason for dieting affects dieting behavior" - Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week |
- Psychological Medicine |
| .Gov | .Com/ .Net | .Org | .Edu | |
| Purpose | Inform citizens about legislation and regulations |
Sales Persuade |
Non-profit Persuade Inform Advocate |
Serve an educational community |
| Information type |
Laws Regulations Statistics |
Broad Opinionated Persuasive Commercial |
Hobbies Politics Fundraising Blogs |
PreK-12 Academic Marketing Research Services |
| Use or not? |
SOMETIMES Government agencies (FDA, CDC, health departments, etc.) can be primary sources for data, comprehensive reports, regulations, etc. Be careful to avoid political agenda pages. The government also has its own message to control and is subject to bias, too. |
RARELY The rare exception may be newspapers or if you need to cite factual information from a company’s website (size, revenue, purpose, etc.), but bias is huge, so be alert! Newspapers are businesses, but they can give you inspiration for a topic, alert you to a new study released (look past the headline to the actual study), and take society’s “temperature.” Newspapers & magazines will contain “shallow,” fast information and bias may be present. |
SOMETIMES Anyone can create an .org website. If your site is a research organization, can you trace their funding and affiliates? Is this a pro-GMO site funded by Monsanto? Are they citing scholarly sources that you can access yourself? Is the language factual or persuasive? What is their purpose? Who are the authors? |
SOMETIMES Some universities publish research in digital repositories. These may be published by their own journals or include gray literature (pre-publication, research data, in-progress research). They also contain student papers. Do NOT student papers. Only use articles that have clearly been published in a journal (indicated in header, footer, or bibliographic record). If an article is marked “pre-publication,” try to find the actual journal publication. |
Library staff are available Monday- Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 pm
Schedule an in-person or virtual appointment with a librarian
Call 402.354.7251 or Email library@methodistcollege.edu
