TYPES OF READING MATERIAL

Types Information Uses Examples

Magazine A magazine is a • to find • National
collection of articles information or Geographic
and opinions about • Ebony
images about diverse popular • Sports Illustrated
topics of popular culture • People
interest and current • to find up-to-date
events. Usually these information
articles are written by about current
journalists or scholars events
and are geared • to find general
toward the average articles for
adult. people who
Magazines are not necessarily
may cover very specialists about
“serious” the topi
material, but to find
consistent scholarly
information, you
should
use journals.
Academic journal A journal is a • when doing • Journal of
collection of articles scholarly Communication
usually research • The Historian
written by scholars in • to find out • Journal of the
an academic or what has been American Medical
professional studied on your Association
field. An editorial topic • Lancet
board • to find
reviews articles to bibliographies
decide whether they that point to
should be accepted. another relevant
Articles in journals can research
cover very specific
topics
or narrow fields of
research.

Database A database contains • when you want to • Academic

citations of articles in find articles on Search
magazines, journals, your topic in Complete (a
and magazines, general
newspapers. journals or database)
They may also contain newspapers • Compendex (an
citations to podcasts, engineering
blogs, videos, database)
and other media • ABI/Inform (a
types. business
Some databases database)
Contain abstracts or
Brief summaries of

Material Adapted by Rpofessor Yidis Flores/ Bibliographical Source English Composition I, Lumen Learning
1
 the articles, while • to find current • Roanoke Times
other Information about • New York Times
databases contain international, • Suddeutsche
complete, fulltext national and local Zeitung
articles. events
• to find editorials,
commentaries,
A newspaper expert or popular
is a collection of opinions
articles
about current events
usually published
daily. Since there is at
least one in every city,
it is a great source for
Newspapers local information.

Books Books cover virtually • when looking • Nash, Gary B.

any for lots of ed.
topic, fact or fiction. information on a The American
For topic People: Creating a
research purposes, • to put your topic Nation and a
you in Society, 1990.
will probably be context with other • Silverstone,
looking for books that important issues Roger,
synthesize all the • to find historical ed. Visions of
information information Suburbia,1997.
on one topic to • to find summaries • Smith, J. T.
support a of Roman
particular argument or research to support Villas: A Study in
thesis. n Social Structure,
argument 1997

Encyclopedia Encyclopedias are • when looking • African-American

collections of short, For background Encyclopedia
factual entries often information on (subject
written by different a topic encyclopedia)
contributors who are • when trying to • Encyclopedia
knowledgeable about find key ideas, Americana
the topic. important dates or (general

Material Adapted by Rpofessor Yidis Flores/ Bibliographical Source English Composition I, Lumen Learning
2
 There are two types of concepts encyclopedia)
encyclopedias: • World Book
general and subject. (general
General encyclopedia
encyclopedias found
provide concise online)
overviews on a wide • Gale
variety of topics. encyclopedia of
Subject genetic
encyclopedias disorders (subject
contain in depth encyclopedia
entries found
focusing on one field online)
of
study.

Web sites The Web allows you to • to find current • www.loc.gov/

access most types of information (The
information on • to find information Library of
the Internet through a about companies Congress)
browser. One • to find information • wikipedia.org
of the main features of from all levels (awiki)
the Web is the of government • www.vt.edu
ability to quickly link to – federal to local (VirginiaTech)
other related • to find both
information. expert and popular
The Web contains opinions
Information beyond • to find information
plain text, including about hobbies and
sounds, images, and personal interests
video.
The important
thing to do when using
information on
the Internet is to know
how to evaluate it!
Passage Technically, • to present a Reading
a passage is simply a carefully curated passages:
portion or section of a excerpt that can be •City Life
written work, either perceived as •Education and
fiction or non-fiction. containing some •Student Life
Some hold that sort of greater The Global Village
a passage can be as meaning
short as a sentence, • presents as a
but most consist of at thesis or claim in a
least non-fiction passage
one paragraph and or a contained
usually several. story in a fiction
piece

Material Adapted by Rpofessor Yidis Flores/ Bibliographical Source English Composition I, Lumen Learning
3