Finding relevant information

For you to find relevant information for your studies, you need to understand the following basics about information sources:

1. Primary sources - for example, government records on disease outbreaks, interviews, etc. Primary sources are original materials giving you firsthand accounts of an event or phenomena. 
2. Secondary sources -  for example textbooks, newspapers, review articles, etc. These give you secondhand information about an event. 
3. Tertiary sources - include indexes and abstracts, dictionaries, almanacs, chronologies, etc. They provide you with summarised but organised information from primary and secondary sources. Tertiary sources help with background research and as quick references. 

You also need to know which databases and search engines to use. That is not all, practice how to use recommended databases and search engines. For example, medical students may need to know how to quickly access information from the following databases and search engines:

Databases

1. PubMed
2. MedlinePlus
3. Cochrane Library
4. Embase
5. UpToDate
6. ClinicalTrials.gov
7. Scopus

Search engines

1. ScienceDirect
2. BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)
3. Wiley Online Library
4. JSTOR
5. Google Scholar

If you are not sure on what database or search engine to use, please consult your professors or visit the library where resources can be availed to you on academic writing.