Books are the resource that most people look for first when doing research. Many books have chapters and an index at the back, which can help you find information contained within them more quickly. They may provide a general overview on a topic, or may contain more in-depth research; this varies depending on your subject area. You will find both print books and e-books through the Library Catalogue.
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Journals are a collection of journal articles, and may also be referred to as periodicals or serials. They are published at regular intervals, meaning that they are likely to contain more up-to-date research than books. Many journals are now published online. You can use the "Find online resources" option and the databases to search for journal articles on a particular topic, or you can locate a journal to find a particular article within it, or to browse recent issues, through the Library Catalogue.
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Websites may contain resources such as documents or statements which could be useful for certain assignments. It is essential to remember that anyone can publish anything on the internet (and make it look authentic), so you must assess the website before using anything from it in your work; who has created this resource, and what is their aim in doing so? Is the resource trustworthy?
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Reports may contain a variety of different types of information, from statistics to analysis, and can be a useful resource for some assignments and subject areas. Some can be found in the databases while others, such as government reports, may be found on online portals and webpages. Your subject guide will highlight where to look for reports within your discipline.
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Audiovisual media includes videos, television programmes, films and sound recordings. Some of these resources may be found on websites, but the Library has a number of databases which contain them too – you can find a list of suggested databases on the Library webpages.
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What else??
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There is not usually any one, definitive answer to this question! Sometimes your tutor or the assignment brief may specify a desired or required number of references (check the information on your Weblearn module), but usually it is left to your own judgement.
Broadly speaking, the longer the length of your assignment, the more resources you will need to use, but this can vary depending on what you are being asked to do for your coursework.
Remember that you should not be just finding resources for the sake of obtaining a certain number of references for your reference list at the end; you should be using the information that you find to provide evidence for your arguments, and to demonstrate the solid knowledge of your topic that you have developed from your reading. The answer is, then, that you need to find as many different resources as required for you to be able to achieve these things.