Sometimes it can be confusing to decide which type of resource should be used for an assignment.
Use this chart as a guide to help you decide which type would work best for you.
The Difference Between Books, Articles and Websites
|
Book |
Journal Article |
Website |
| Length |
Long: Can be 100+ pages. |
Shorter: Can range from 1-30+ pages. |
Varies by website, but website pages are generally brief. |
| Coverage |
Broad scope, high detail and big picture information. |
Narrow scope, high detail and academic interest topics. |
Current events, trends, government publications, interviews or conference reports. |
| Publication Frequency |
Published once, but newer editions can come out later. |
Composed of volumes and issues published on a regular basis (weekly or monthly). |
If the website is maintained, the information can have up-to-the minute information. |
| Advantages |
Books in the medical field are generally great places to look for background information, comprehensive accounts of research and deep analysis of a topic. |
Articles are good for finding information written by scholars and subject experts. Articles found in scholarly journals might have gone through a peer-review process which adds to the quality of the information. Some articles can provide background information while others focus on particular studies. |
Websites can provide the most current news and information from current events, trends and popular topics. They are good for finding time sensitive information. |
| Disadvantages |
The publishing process for books can take years and therefore, the information included is not the best place to look for current topics. |
The peer-review process can take a long time so the articles will not contain up-to-the-minute information, but can be more current than a book. |
Authorship sometimes can be difficult to determine. Anyone can publish on the web and website information can be innaccurate and biased. Sometimes the information can be outdated. There is also a limited amount of scholarly information on the web. |
| Where to Find |
In the library catalog online or book stacks. |
In a library database. |
On the World Wide Web. |
