Books and periodicals like encyclopedias, newspapers, scholarly journals and magazines provide general information and in-depth analysis on various topics. Websites from government, educational, organizational and business sources also contain specific information, current statistics and advocacy perspectives. Library materials are available in various formats, evolving from print to multimedia and electronic resources. Information must be accessible through author, title, subject or keyword access points regardless of format.

1. Basic Types of Information Resources
Books/Encyclopedias:
General information and
overviews on topics
Periodical articles:
Newspaper: Current stories about
the topic
Scholarly Journals: Scholarly
studies
Magazines: articles with in-depth
analysis
Websites:
Specific websites on topics
Government statistics, current
information
Websites for govt, educational,
organizational and businesses
Organizational and advocacy
perspectives on issues
Library materials include print and non-print formats. The formats have evolved from primarily
print materials, such as books and periodicals, to include multi-media materials (e. g. videotapes,
audiocassettes, slides) and, more recently, electronic resources such as CD-ROM and Internet-
based databases. No matter what the format of the information happens to be, however, it always
has to be made accessible to the researcher.
Accessibility is usually achieved in one or more of four major ways, or access points: by who
wrote or compiled it (author); by what it is named (title); by what it is about (subject); or by an
important word or words that appear somewhere in the document (keyword).
From: Santa Monica College: Formats of Library Resources
http://www.smc.edu/AcademicAffairs/Library/Pages/Part-One-Formats-of-Library-Resources.aspx