Start by thinking about what types of information you need to complete a piece of work. Do you need a book, a journal article, data and statistics, a newspaper article, market research, official information (e.g. from a government department), a dissertation or thesis?  And there's much more out there...

Your tutors will want you to provide evidence in your work from a range of reliable, academic, current and authoritative sources. Reading lists are a good starting point but you need to go beyond these and find other original sources to get good grades.

The nature of the work you are trying to complete will determine which sources will be most appropriate for you to use. There are a number of key questions you should ask yourself to understand your information needs and then select suitable types of information to meet your needs.

• How much time do you have to research your topic?

• How recent or up to date does your information need to be?

• What type of information are you looking for? For example, do you need proven facts, scholarly arguments, the historical background or general knowledge of a subject?

• How much information do you need?

• What level of information do you need, i.e. high-level academic discussion, general background information or basic statistics?

• What is the purpose of your research?

• How is your final piece of work to be presented?

• Is there a reading list or specific resources you have been told to use?

When you have identified the types of information you need, you will be ready to create your search strategy ...