This UNCG University Libraries set of research tutorials was created to assist you in all stages of the research process. These tutorials are all connected to the research process, and connect to the UNCG University Libraries Research, Outreach, and Instruction (ROI) information literacy student learning outcomes. These tutorials and modules do not have to be taken in any order, and all end in a quiz, which produces a certificate of completion. You will need to login with your UNCG email address and password in order to create the certificate, but you can also take these tutorials and modules as a guest. Please contact the Online Learning Librarian slharlow@uncg.edu with any questions about these tutorials.
Librarians and professors often forget that the words we use to talk about the research process may need to be defined! Even if you are already familiar with a term in the list below, it can help to understand how it is used in the context of research. This is list of commonly used terms and definitions should help you become more familiar with the research vocabulary!
 |
Database A searchable collection of information sources. The library has many databases. Some databases contain only articles. Others contain other types of information, such as data, images, and videos. |
 |
Catalog The library's database of books. Our book collection includes print books and e-books. You can find specific books by searching for an author or title, or find books on a topic by searching with keywords. |
 |
Scholarly Source A piece of information written by someone with academic expertise, such as journal articles and some books. Many scholarly sources are peer-reviewed. Scholarly sources are great places to look for in-depth analysis, theory, and empirical evidence. |
 |
Peer Review An editorial process used by scholarly journals and academic book publishers. When an author submits an article or book, independent experts in their field review the work, then notify the editor of whether or not they think it should be published. |
 |
Popular Source A popular source is a piece of information written by a journalist for the general public, such as a magazine or newspaper article. Popular sources provide background information, real-world examples, and describe new developments in different topic areas. |
 |
Journal Article A type of scholarly source. Journal articles can be found in many databases the library subscribes to. They are often available to download as a PDF file. |
 |
Website A source format that can be found using a Google search. Websites include all kinds of information source content, such as news, online stores, government information, entertainment, personal blogs, social media sites, etc. |
 |
Call number A unique string of letters and numbers that represents the location of a print book in the library. Use the library's location chart to help you figure out how to locate a book once you have a call number. You can find a library book's call number in the catalog. |
 |
Permalink A permanent or static hyperlink assigned to a journal article or other digital resource, also called a stable link or document URL. Permalinks are used by databases to help users navigate back to an article or ebook. |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
"Scholarly" and "popular" are two categories of information sources commonly used in academic assignments. If your instructor wants you to use particular types of sources, it can be helpful to be able to distinguish between them based on the characteristics in this chart. However, both scholarly and popular sources play important roles in research! While the content, purpose, and creation process differ in many ways, both types have the potential to be credible and relevant sources of information and evidence for your research.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
