Source Types
Differences between Sources
| Academic | Trade | Popular | |
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| Content | Original research and experimentation | Industry/trade trends, products, and news | Current events, opinions, and general information |
| Look | Plain, long articles, may contain charts and graphs | Glossy, contains photos and industry/trade related advertisements | Glossy, contains color photos and everyday product advertisements |
| Authors | Experts in their field | Industry specialists or staff writers | Journalists/reporters, staff or freelance writers |
| Audience | Professors, researchers, students | Members of the particular industry or trade | Anyone |
| Language | Academic and technical | Jargon of the industry | Written in a language for anyone to understand |
| Documentation | Footnotes or bibliography | Occasionally contain cited sources | References may be mentioned in text |
Peer Review Process
Finding Research
Production
- PennState ExtensionFrom: Penn State
A modern educational organization dedicated to delivering science-based information to people, businesses, and communities.
- Agricultural & Environmental Science Database This link opens in a new window
Includes AGRICOLA, TOXLINE, Environmental Impact Statements, and Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management. - eBook Central This link opens in a new window
Authoritative, full-text e-books in a wide range of subject areas along with powerful tools to find, use, and manage the information.
Competition and Industry Information
- National Agricultural Statistics ServiceFrom: USDA
The National Agricultural Statistics Service is the statistical branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.
- Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Database of private and public business data, industry news from Key Business Ratios and First Research reports, and job search tool. - ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new window
Millions of full-text items across scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, market research reports, dissertations, books, videos and more.
What is Summon?
Summon is a "Google-like" tool that searches many DelVal databases (and the book catalog) simultaneously. This single-search option is a nice time saver, and it often uncovers resources that you might otherwise have overlooked. You'll get lots of results, so take advantage of the limiter options on the left side of the results screen.
- Summon This link opens in a new window
A research tool that searches all DelVal databases simultaneously. Contains books, ebooks, dvds, online videos, journals, magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, and more.
Getting Help
RefWorks
RefWorks is a new way to collect, manage, and organize research. You can read, annotate, organize, and cite your research as well as collaborate by sharing collections.
From simple bibliographies to papers formatted with in-text citations or footnotes, RefWorks handles it all. To learn more about RefWorks, use our RefWorks research guide.
To create a RefWorks account:
- Go to the link below and click Create account
- Fill in your information, making sure to use your DelVal email address.
- Go to your inbox and click the email link to complete the activation process.
Already have an account? Just go to the link below and click "Log In"
- RefWorksCitation generation service covering hundreds of styles including Chicago Scientific (Author-Date), Journal of Animal Science, and Council of Scientific Editors (Name-Year).