Depending on the need for information, it is important to choose the appropriate type of document and identify the most effective search tool to locate this document.

The professor often provides a list of documents to be consulted.  By reading these references, it is possible to identify the type of document in question. It is then easier to take the appropriate actions to obtain and consult it.

Objectives

• Know the main types of documents and their usefulness.
• Identify the most effective search tools according to the type of document desired.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOCUMENTS

• A commentary with its informative value;
• An example of a reference;
• The most effective tool(s) to spot it.

 

 

Informative value

Proceedings are the collection of papers presented at congresses, symposia or scholarly meetings, by researchers or specialists. Each paper, often confused with a journal article, contains a detailed summary of the presentation made by one or more researchers.

This type of document addresses the latest research findings on very specific topics. This content often precedes that published in articles.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

 Specialized databases

 Google Scholar

 KOHA

  Google

 

 

 

Informative value

Archives are the preferred sources for documenting the past.

Whether personal, administrative, financial or technical, they are essential materials for history. They can also provide information on the causes of an event or a present situation (e.g. old construction or development plans).

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  BNF (National Library of France)

  France archives

  Specialized databases

 Google

 

 

Informative value

It provides factual, political and statistical information on local, national and international current events.

Topics are often treated from an informative rather than analytical point of view.

Newspaper articles update data, present various facts, provide information on the latest political, cultural or scientific developments, for example, and provide timely information that may be more difficult to find in other sources of information, as is the case, for example, with certain statistical information.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

   Google

 KOHA

 

 

Informative value

Journal articles offer specific information, with a variable level of analysis but usually deeper than a journal article. Its content is often more current than in books.

To distinguish the types of journals, consult the Journals in Review table  in the Analyze Information module.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

 Google Scholar

 KOHA

 

 

Informative value

A patent is a legal document issued by governments for new products or processes with industrial applications.

The patent provides access to technical and strategic information not found in scholarly journals.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

   Espacenet Patent Search

   Specialized databases

  Google Scholar

  Google

 

 

 

This type of document helps to visualize the reality of a territory. The multiple forms of representation help to understand and situate the phenomena of physical geography as well as social, political, economic, etc. phenomena.

These may include topographical, geological, climatic, ecoforestry maps, plans (land use or other), aerial photographs, etc.

  Map library

  Specialized databases

 KOHA

  Google

 

 

 

Reference books to consult at the beginning of the research because they provide factual information.

Encyclopedias contain articles that take stock of major topics (general or specialized) and are usually written by specialists. .

For an overview of dictionary types with suggestions for good dictionaries, see the Useful Resources page of the Writing Your Work module  of Infosphere.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  KOHA

  Google

 

 

These documents of historical and artistic value are not only a source of testimony to document a work, but are also the object of analysis at the cinematographic level.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

 Library

  Specialized databases

   Google

 

 

This type of information makes it possible to describe qualitatively and quantitatively a current situation. In addition to statistical data, financial, marketing and geospatial data can also be used.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Eurostat

  Specialized databases

 Google

 

 

Informative value

The images, illustrations, photos, engravings, etc. bring a dynamism to the text that favors its reading. Its visual elements can sometimes better express concepts that are much more difficult to translate into words or can document an event. Finally, images and other visual productions are also the object of analysis in arts disciplines.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

   Google

 

 

We consult the books to take stock of our subject, find arguments and support the ideas we want to formulate.

In general, books deal with a subject in some depth and often refer to well-known people, events, research, past or contemporary facts. However, some books such as novels, stories, short stories, etc. are the subject of literary analysis or criticism.

Sometimes only part of a book is retained for work. The reference is then made only to this part. This is commonly the case with book chapters.

In the field of education, books are designed for didactic purposes and are given the name "Textbooks". Among the manuals, there are "handbooks" that give quick and convenient access to basic information and the state of the art of certain practices in specific disciplinary areas. They contain, for example, factual information, statistics, graphs, tables, equivalencies or procedures.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

   KOHA

  Google

 

 

Legal collections present the legal aspect of a fact, situation or event. They are varied in nature: laws, regulations, conventions, jurisprudence, treaties.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

  Google

  KOHA

 

Standards rarely have the force of law, but the precepts they contain enshrine best practices in a professional field. For example, standards may describe important features of a product, service or system. They are intended, among other things, to ensure a certain uniformity for trade between nations that do not necessarily have the same regulations.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Specialized databases

  KOHA

   Google

 

 

A preprint presents content equivalent to that of scientific articles but whose peer review is not completed. This allows research results to be communicated more quickly to speed up access to new research results and stimulate the work of other experts in the field. It is then important to validate afterwards that the peer review confirms the results of the prepublication.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

   Google Scholar

 

Government and international publications (IMP) consist mainly of official documents of ministries and public agencies. It contains a variety of documents ranging from simple brochures to a wide variety of reports. The most common reports are commission reports, technical and scientific reports, and annual reports.

Other legal entities produce annual reports and scientific and technical reports such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), companies, associations or pressure groups.

Technical or research reports often contain up-to-date information that will not be found anywhere else. They study a well-defined reality in time, synthesize the opinions expressed and propose recommendations, following specific mandates, often governmental or international organizations.

Annual reports provide a portrait and balance sheet of an organization or business for a given year. They provide information on the management and finances of companies and provide information on the strategic directions of companies or organizations.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

  Government sources

  International Organizations

  Specialized databases

   Google

  KOHA

 

 

 

Tests are instruments for measuring or evaluating subjects. In the context of UQAM, they are particularly used in research concerning education, vocational development, psychology and sexology.

According to Rénald Legendre's Dictionnaire actuel de l'éducation (3rd edition of 2005, p.1375), there are two main categories of tests:

• tests related to teaching disciplines such as diagnostic, ranking, performance, proficiency tests
• tests related to general development such as tests of aptitude, intellectual functioning, personality, attitudes, social functioning, interests, physical worth factors (PPF)

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

   Specialized databases

   KOHA

 

 

These research reports are specifically written in the context of university graduate studies and present the authors' findings.

These documents contain unpublished information that brings together most of the literature on a problem and exposes the different points of view of the author's reflection.

What is the most effective tool to spot them?

   Specialized databases

  KOHA

  Google Scholar

 

Bear in mind

• Google is not always the most effective search tool. It really depends on the type of document you are looking for.

• By knowing how to distinguish the types of documents, it is easier to identify those that will be useful for the realization of a particular research work.

 

• Use the worksheet feuille_de_travail the characteristics of the documentation to use.docx to  use to identify its needs.
• National Library of France (BNF)
• France archives
• Publications Office of the European Union

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infosphère / https://infosphere.uqam.ca