During your course, you are likely to come across:

• Textbooks (these are written to explain and provide a broad overview of a subject; for that reason, textbooks are best read when you start a new topic or module)
• Monographs (like textbooks, monographs are also books - printed or electronic - but they do not aim to present all the relevant points of view on the subject; monographs are likely to advocate a particular point of view, often based on research done by the monograph's author or other researchers)
• Academic research (these include scholarly journal articles, conference papers and similar publications reporting on the outcomes of research into problems, theoretical questions, and their solutions)
• Market research (these include market reports and similar publications discussing the performance of products, companies, industries, and economies)
• Trade publications (professional newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs are important for understanding how our current knowledge is applied in professional practice; in this case, trade means a profession or industry, so these are publications for professionals written by other professionals)
• Various other websites, blogs, web-hosted videos etc.

Looking at this list, you may have already noticed that information sources are created for different purposes:

• newspapers - to report on events;
• textbooks - to be a fair and balanced entry points to new subjects; and
• monographs and scholarly publications - to present research findings and advocate a certain point of view.

This has practical implications for learning: depending on what you are looking for, it is always helpful to know where the information you need may be published. Sometimes you will need news reporting, while on other occasions you may need academic research, or other types of information (and therefore other types of information sources).