Information Literacy Content

Characteristics of Resources Video Introduction

Check out the video below for an introduction to the Characteristics of Resources section of the Information Literacy Content Hub!

What are different kinds of resources I might use?

Have you ever had an assignment ask you to find primary sources and wondered what that meant? Have you been told you can't use Wikipedia or other tertiary sources for a research assignment and wondered what a tertiary source is actually good for? In this module, we will take a close look at what primary, secondary, and tertiary sources are, where they come from, how to use them, and how to think critically about your resources and how they fit into these categories.

This module is broken down into the following three sections:

Defining Resource Levels

In this section you will explore:

• The definitions of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources
• Examples of resources often found at each of those resource levels

Comparing Resource Levels

In this section you will compare and contrast several important aspects of resource levels, including:

• How primary, secondary, and tertiary sources are created and who created them
• Factors impacting the preservation and availability of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources
• The importance of context when evaluating primary, secondary, and tertiary sources
• The appropriate use of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in research

Resource Levels in Context

In this section you will explore:

• How the content of a resource type can indicate the resource level
• The influence of your research question on the resource level of a specific resource