Research Skills: Information types

When you are searching for information, there are different levels of information that you may come across 

• Primary Information is original content where the created information has now been reviewed or re-interpreted by someone else yet such as raw data or a diary entry 
• Secondary Information is primary information that has been interpreted, such as a researcher’s interpretation of a historical diary or events 
• Tertiary Information contains both primary and secondary information, such as an entry in an encyclopedia. 

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There are also different sources of information; some of which may not be appropriate for your assignments. If you’re not sure if you can use something in your assignment; ask you teacher for guidance. 

• Scholarly sources are information written by experts in that field, supported by research.
• Peer-Reviewed sources are articles published in journals that have been reviewed by subject specialists who approve the content 
• Non-scholarly sources are those which are not based on research, but instead report on current events and trends such as newspapers, blogs and magazines. 

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