Finding and using academic sources will form a key part of your research activity for all your assignments and projects. You may well want to use other types of sources to suit the needs of particular assignments or research projects.
You may want to
draw on company or governmental information
include or critique images in your work
listen to lectures or case studies from leading experts in the field for an up to date 'real business world' perspective on a topic
analyse news coverage of a particular person, organisation or topic.
You can use the Database Types drop down menu in the A-Z to quickly and easily access many of the different types of online databases.
This can be useful for identifying Images, News or Official Publications database etc.
News sources can be very valuable research resources
They could form the basis of a research project or assignment, or provide additional insights or perspectives to a topic you are researching.
Use the online Using News Sources for research tutorial to learn more about the available news sources, and for hints and tips on effective news searching.
For quick access to news resources, use this News databases list. Choose your newspaper title or collection and login to start searching /browsing.
Try our Finding Company Information tutorial for guidance and tips on how to successfully locate in-depth company and financial information.
Divided into three main sections, the tutorial looks at how to make the most of Exeter's digital resources to find company documents, data and analysis.
Whether you are looking for copies of annual reports, detailed financial ratios or objective analysis of a company's performance, the Finding Company Information tutorial will help to point you in the right direction.
Whether you are looking for information on industries in the UK or globally, the university has a number of resources that can provide access to market research information.
Databases such as Mintel and GlobalData Explorer offer insight into areas such as consumer behaviour, market trends and market forecasts. Information is presented in various formats, including industry reports, statistics, Swot and Pestel analyses.
Use the online Finding Market Research tutorial to learn more about the available resources, and for hints and tips on effective searching.
TV, film, and sound recordings and broadcasts sources can all be important research resources.
For example, you may want to analyse an interview from a politician, watch news recordings of current or past events, or listen to leading experts presenting their views on their specialist topics.
Use the Database A-Z List to discover the Audiovisual databases that are available to you.
A few highlights include:
You may also want to explore the TED resources. TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). Explore the topics or search for relevant videos.
The latest and most popular talks are available from the TED homepage.
TED talks can be a great way to keep up to date with live issues in your area of research/study
You may want to use images in your assignment for illustration and/or analysis.
The Images LibGuide provides guidance on selecting and using images in your work, and highlights a selection of image websites that provide images with reuse licences.
You can also access educational image databases via the A-Z List.
It can be tempting to use Google Images to find images for your research and assignments, due to it's vast subject coverage and ease of use.
However, just because something appears in the search results does not mean you have permission to include these images in your work. In almost every case, you will need to check the copyright license.
You should be particularly careful if you want to reuse company logos or design material as it is unlikely that these are available for free reuse.
Official publications can be broadly defined as the documents and materials produced by the government and governmental departments during the course of government business.
Content ranges from statements of law and policy to government reports and statistics.
These publications can be a valuable primary research source and are especially useful to those researching in law, politics and history. However, they are of relevance across all subjects as they address all aspects of governmental work such as science, education, law, agriculture, transport, health etc.
To find out more about finding and using official publications, take a look at the Official Publications LibGuide.
View the list of Official Publications databases in the Database A-Z List
Statistics is the science of collecting, analysing and presenting numerical data and can be a vital source of information for your studies.
Statistical data can be found on a huge variety of subjects including:
A wide range of data and statistical sources are available to you via the Data section of the A-Z Database List. Many organisations and governments also make statistical data freely available.
Use the Finding Statistics: Quick Guide for more information.
University of Exeter LibGuide is licensed under CC BY 4.0
