This document provides guidance on identifying your information needs when conducting research. It explains that having a clear understanding of what you are looking for will help you search efficiently. It then outlines different types of information and the best sources to find each type, such as using encyclopedias for introductory overviews, journal articles for latest academic research or in-depth studies, books for broader historical perspectives, archives for primary sources, and news sources for media reports and contemporary viewpoints. The document stresses that different tools and approaches are needed to search different materials, and identifying your specific information needs upfront helps focus your search in the most appropriate places.

1. Identifying your information need

2. Knowing what you want to find will help you decide the
best place to look for it.
Durham University Library & Collections provides
access to a huge range of resources, but having a clear
idea of what you are looking for can make sure you use
your time efficiently to look in the right places!
Briefly considering your topic, question, research brief or
assignment can help you reflect on what you want to
achieve (and what is manageable).
This (very) brief guide is aimed to help direct your self-
reflection, to ask yourself what information you really
need to achieve your aims.
Introduction

4. An overview of a new topic you are unfamiliar with?

5. An overview of a new topic you are unfamiliar with?
Encyclopaedias or review articles in journals may offer some of the
following;
• An introductory overview to key themes,
• A summary of key terminology
• A more detailed review of a topic area highlighting the key published
research in a field
• Suggested areas requiring further research.

6. The latest academic research?

7. The latest academic research?
Recent journal articles will usually be more up-to-date
than books.
Academic blogs may not have gone through a
rigorous peer-review process, but may provide
information about very recent research activity.

8. A broader or historiographical
perspective or narrative?

9. Books can set out the development
of a subject area in broader terms
than a journal article, and in more
detail than an encyclopaedia entry.
A broader or historiographical
perspective or narrative?

10. In depth, detailed research into a specific topic?

11. In depth, detailed research into a specific topic?
Journal articles will normally
give a detailed look at a
specific topic, research
question or experiment.

12. In depth, detailed research into a specific topic?
Journal articles will normally
give a detailed look at a
specific topic, research
question or experiment.
If a journal article offers too
focussed or narrow
perspective, a long-form
publication such as a
research monograph or thesis
might be more appropriate.

13. Media reports and/or
contemporary perspectives
on events?

14. Media reports and/or
contemporary perspectives
on events?
There is a wealth of material available
in our physical and digital archives, and
elsewhere online;
• Newspaper articles, popular
magazines and pamphlet collections;
• Blogs and Social Media;
• Newsreels, documentaries and other
audio-visual materials.

15. An official or institutional
point of view?

16. An official or institutional
point of view?
Government reports or statistical
publications,
Supra-national or non-governmental
organisations such as the United Nations,
Amnesty International or the National
Health Service.
Remember, some will represent a very
narrow political perspective.

17. Other primary source material

18. Other primary source material
Archives, both physical and online, will
provide access to often hidden primary
materials not published or easily accessible
elsewhere;
• diaries,
• log-books,
• letters,
• official records and personal materials
They may be hidden away in public or
private collections, and may or may not be
catalogued in a way that enables ease of
discovery.

19. You will need to use different tools and
approaches to locate different materials:
• Many academic databases will locate
journal articles, but not books.
• Databases and search engines may
search the full text of a publication… or
just the title or abstract (if there is one).
• A Library catalogue may know the titles of
books… but not the chapters within them.
• An archive may index materials by author,
collection or format… but not what
individual items they contain.

20. Having considered what information you
hope to find, you are better placed to
identify where to start your search, and how
you might approach the task ahead of you.

21. Identifying your information need
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