What is a credible source?
Credible sources earn your trust by relying on evidence to support claims. You can trust that the ideas expressed are the author’s (or are attributed to the actual author) and the ideas are supported by evidence. The definition of a “credible source” may vary depending on the discipline and the purpose of the writing. If in doubt, ask your instructor.
Introduction to InfoKat Discovery
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InfoKat Discovery can be a good place to start your research, as you can search for all types of information there (articles, books, and much more). If you click on Advanced Search search to the right of the search box, you can search InfoKat Discovery as the "Library Catalog." This will help you find library materials UK owns, such as books, videos, maps, music, and much more. The InfoKat Discovery Guide is helpful for learning how to use this powerful tool. This video provides a two minute overview for searching InfoKat Discovery. |
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InfoKat Discovery Library Catalog Search
Find Scholarly Articles
UK Libraries subscribes to a huge number of article databases. If you're not sure where to start, use a Research Guide for your subject, Ask Us for suggestions, or try Academic Search Complete (search box below), a good general academic database.
It's a good idea to check the box to limit to Peer Reviewed journal articles if you were asked to find peer reviewed/scholarly articles.
Sample search terms for databases:
"college campuses" and "student activities"
crowdsourcing and business
"public spaces" and "social values"
universities and basketball arenas
Academic Search Complete
Scholarly/Peer Review
Learn how to identify the characteristics of scholarly articles in Introduction to Scholarly Articles in this six minute tutorial.
What is a Primary Source?
Primary sources are the raw materials of history. They are the original documents/creative works which contain or demonstrate the firsthand knowledge or experience of the creator(s) of an event or creative work. Some examples of primary sources:
- Artifacts (clothing, furniture, tools, buildings, paintings, artwork)
- Experiments
- First–person accounts (including newspaper accounts)
- Government publications (statistics, court reports)
- Historical documents including maps
- Internet resources (especially digitized versions of historical documents)
- Lab reports
- Draft copies of manuscripts
- Journals
- Diaries
- Ledgers
- Correspondence (i.e. written or electronic letters, email)
- Photographs
- Observations/Field notes
- Official government or corporate papers
- Audio Recordings (e.g. radio programs, speeches, oral histories, music)
- Film/Video/Digital Visual Recordings
Types of Sources
Not sure of the differences between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources? This guide provides definitions of each with examples.
How to Get Full Text
When searching for journal articles, you will notice the View Now button on many of your search results. Clicking on the View Now button will lead you to the article itself, links to the full text of the article, or it will let you know that we do not have full text of the article.
If the full text is not available, you can search InfoKat Discovery for a print copy of the article. If we do not have a print copy, you can request an interlibrary loan (ILL). For articles, these usually arrive pretty quickly.
Have questions? Ask Us for help.
What are those icons?
Google Scholar
It's a good idea to check Google Scholar along with other databases. Follow these instructions to connect Google Scholar results to UK's full text holdings.