Tertiary literature
Learning objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to
identify different types of tertiary sources
find reference works in the University Library
find online reference works
critically assess the accuracy of online reference works
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find review articles using Google Scholar.
What are tertiary sources?
These are sources that summarise, abstract or index the information derived from primary or secondary sources. These sources can assist you to find background information on your topic (such as definitions, names and dates) or take you to relevant books and general articles.
Examples of tertiary sources include:
encyclopedias
dictionaries
atlases
handbooks
chronologies
indexes
review articles.
Tertiary sources are usually another step removed from the original information. This doesn't mean that they are necessarily less accurate than secondary sources. Academic publishers generally take great care to ensure that their reference works are as reliable and authoritative as possible. But, be aware that reference materials published by some commercial publishers are not always consistent in quality.
The Devil is in the detailsThe difference in quality between printed reference works can be surprising. To demonstrate this fact, let's take the example of the French painter best known as Balthus (1908-2001). Balthus was a pseudonym. His real name was Balthazar Klossowski. Born in Paris, Balthus was the child of Polish immigrants. Later in life, the artist pretended that he was a Polish aristocrat and styled himself Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola. Encyclopedia Britannica and Collier's Encyclopedia pass over the imposture in dignified silence. The Encyclopedia Americana mentions the deception as a foible, but the Columbia Encyclopedia, the Grove Dictionary of Art, World Cultural Leaders of the Twentieth Century and a host of other reference works give credit to the title. |
Finding reference works
Most reference works in the University Library are located on the Ground Floor. There are also a growing number of electronic reference works available from the eBooks page.
eSKILLS UNE includes a page on the reference works in the University Library's collection.
Free Reference Works on the Web
There are also a range of free reference works on the Web. These are often of little value. The 1911 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica is an example. Although available in many versions, this source has been totally superseded by more recent editions of the Britannica and other encyclopedias. Moreover, some online versions of this encyclopedia include scanning errors and other obvious mistakes.
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WikipediaWikipedia is a free Web-based encyclopedia which has been available since 2001. The English-language version includes more than 1.4 million articles. Anyone can contribute. No professional qualification or particular expertise is required. Not surprisingly, Wikipedia has been a source of controversy. Critics assert that articles are uneven in quality and often unreliable. Supporters of Wikipedia have pointed to a comparison between Wikipedia and Encyclopædia Britannica published by the Nature in 2005. Although this study found that Wikipedia was less reliable than Encyclopedia Britannica, the difference in terms of quality was not great. A particular strength of Wikipedia is that it contains articles relating to modern life and popular culture. Britannica lacks article on the American politician Lyndon LaRouche or the fantasy author Robert E. Howard (the creator of Conan the Barbarian). Wikipedia has exhaustive, referenced articles on both LaRouche and Howard. Wikipedia is therefore a useful ready reference tool. It will often give you a quick answer when you require basic information. Despite this, Wikipedia needs to be treated with caution. The authors of individual articles range from well-informed to the eccentric. |
Review articles
Review articles are a particularly useful form of a tertiary source. They provide an overview of the latest research that has been carried out in a particular area of study. Many Review articles can be found in collected volumes such as The Year's Work in English Studies, Annual Review of Cell Biology and Annual Review of Physical Chemistry. Others can be found within academic journals. Some indexing tools, such as ISI's Current Contents Connect, allow you to limit your search to review articles.
You can also find review articles in Google Scholar. One trick is to enter a keyword phrase in the Google Scholar search box and add the words review article in quotation marks.
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Finding review articlesTo demonstrate finding review articles in a Google Scholar search, enter the search: "health insurance""review article" and click on the Search button. How many review articles did you find on the topic? The total should have been many hundreds. If you are interested, try other examples of this techique. Enter the following keywords in the search box. "hominid evolution" "review article" |
Summary
This module deal with the following topics:
identifying different types of tertiary sources
finding printed reference works
finding online reference works
the need to assess the accuracy of online reference works
finding review articles using Google Scholar.
 | Self-test Try these quick self-test questions to assess what you have learnt from this module. |