Topical information
Topical information addresses recent developments and is designed to keep you informed of what is currently going on in a particular field. You can find this information in newspapers, magazine articles and on websites. These sources are good at keeping up with and describing the latest developments. It is important that you pay attention to reliability.
A good source for news is the Nexis Uni database. You can find international and national newspapers and see if any news has been published on your topic.
Background information
It is important to know exactly what a field of study entails and what relevant terms and theories mean. This is background information that can be found in (text) books. Knowledge of a subject makes the search process easier (see orientation).
Books are increasingly available in digital form. You can find these through CataloguePlus, or search a database of e-books.
Factual information
Sometimes you just need to know facts, for example to supplement your report. This can be data about a company, statistical data, or concrete facts. You can find this information in databases, encyclopedias and dictionaries.
A number of databases contain specific, factual information. OECD iLibrary is from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for Europe, and includes statistics for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Statline contains data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), and Nexis Uni also contains business information. An encyclopedia can also be a handy start.
Research results
Research results can be results of experiments, but also descriptions, theoretical calculations, models and computer simulations, and reports of practical applications. Results should be objective and independent.
Research results are mainly found in scientific journal articles but also in books, dissertations and reports.