"I need to find my subject readings"
You should be able to find these in your LearnJCU subject site. You can access them via the "Readings" tab on the Library searchbox on our homepage, and also available via your LearnJCU subject portal.
"I need to find the latest research."
You should look for journal articles - the latest research is discussed in the journals long before it is published in a book.
"I need to find well-known, established facts."
You should look for books - particularly textbooks and reference books. Try to keep it current; the older the book is, the more likely it is that someone has discovered something "new" since then. Another good place to start is Credo, which is an on-line reference library.
"I need to find a definition."
You should look for dictionaries and encyclopedias. You could use Wikipedia if you only want to find out information for yourself, but don't use Wikipedia if you want something you can put in your assignment. Again, Credo is a great place to start.
"I need to find out what people are doing in the field or the 'real world'."
You can use non-scholarly journals for this. Trade journals and popular magazines can be useful.
"I need to find popular opinion and general knowledge."
Definitely Wikipedia and newspapers, popular journals/magazines, websites, blogs...
"I need to find statistics."
You'll find these on websites for agencies - like the Australian Bureau of Statistics or the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Check out our Statistics Guide.
"I need to find some background information to understand what I'm researching."
Try the readings your lecturer has set for the subject. Text books and reference works such as Credo are also useful resources.
A wide range of resources is available when looking for multimedia for your assignment however, any multimedia that you use must be correctly attributed. Check your referencing guide for instructions on how to reference different types of multimedia.
Below are a list of resources to help you when looking for multimedia although visit the Open Education Resources (OER) Guide for further details.
IMAGES
ICONS AND CLIPART
AUDIO AND MUSIC
Remember - just because it's "free" doesn't mean you don't have to acknowledge the creator or cite it properly. Always find and follow any instructions regarding usage.
To keep going through the InfoSkills Toolkit, you can jump to:
We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and acknowledge Traditional Owners of the lands where our staff and students, live, learn and work.
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.