By format

Information formats

Information exists in various formats, including:

Primary literature (sources of original research): journal articles, technical reports, theses.
Secondary literature (sources that summarise, interpret, or analyse information from primary sources): books, reviews, textbooks.
Grey literature (unpublished or non-commercially published materials):
- technical reports
- conference papers
- government documents
- white papers
- policy briefs
- dissertations and theses

To find resources based on their format use the pre-search filter or content type filter in Library Search. If you are looking for grey literature, see our list of grey literature databases.

Pre-search filters

Before you start the search, commonly sought content types can be selected using the filter buttons underneath the search box. For more comprehensive searching and selecting multiple content types it is best to leave this on All, and then apply filters when your search results have appeared.

Content type filter

The Content Type facet in Library Search can help you filter resources by format. Many online resources have a similar type of filtering option. Look for terms like resource type, content type, format.

You can filter in this facet for:

Archival Material/Manuscript	Government document	Reference entry
Article	Image	Report
Audio	Journal	Score
Book	Legal Document	Standard
Book Chapter	Map	Text Resource
Book Review	Market Research	Thesis (use for dissertations)
Computer File	Microform	Video
Conference proceeding	Newsletter article	Web Resource
Database	Newspaper
Dataset	Patent	and more.

Searching for common formats

Common formats are described below and links through to sub-pages on this guide for advice on how to search and find each type of information.

Journals
Journal articles provide concise information focused on a topic. As journals are published regularly, they are considered to provide timely research information and are good for identifying trends, new ideas and new discoveries. Many journals are peer-reviewed - their articles are not published until they have been reviewed by a panel of other academics or professionals in the field. This process ensures a high quality of writing and maintains professional standards. Some conference papers are published in journals others may be published as proceedings from a specific conference.
Books
Books provide overviews of topics and disciplines. They may have an historical approach to a topic and are good sources when looking for established information in a field, including protocols and procedures, and background information to begin research.
Research databases and tools
Online resources range across many topics. Some are primary sources, but most are secondary sources of information. The resources can be textual or audiovisual and may come in a variety of file formats. This list provided by the Library includes databases of journals, books, research data sets, video recordings and images. You can browse alphabetically, and filter the list by keywords and type of resource.
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Or go straight to browse the A-Z list.
Audiovisual & Multimedia
Audiovisual formats provide alternative visual and auditory mechanisms for conveying information. Videos, sound recordings and interactive multimedia such as games or tutorials may suit some information or accessibility needs better than text. These formats may be more important in some fields of study such as design, music and arts, but are also valuable in scientific fields where imaging has become critical for conveying information.
Theses & Dissertations
Theses and dissertations are an important primary source of information on a topic. In more recent times Universities have been providing digitised versions available online. Older theses may only be available as a print version, and may have to be copied or digitised to make them accessible to others. They are considered to be ‘unpublished’ even though many are now accessible online. Some theses are later reworked into a book format and undergo a publication process if they are considered to be commercially viable for sale as books.
News Articles
News articles may appear in printed newspapers and more commonly in online news sites. There is a special scope in Library Search to find news articles.