Which materials should I use and where can I find them?

Your assignment guidelines may specifiy the types of material you should use to help you OR the choice of material may be left up to you. Either way it is important to know:

All sources of information are not equally as good as each other!

• Reliability - Any piece of information is only as good as the person who wrote it. If the author is an expert who is qualified to write about this topic and give an opinion then the material has authority and will give authority to your work (and help you to get a better grade). If the author is not an expert (or you do not know who the author is) then the material does not have authority, may be inaccurate and may cause you to lose marks.
• Currency - Some materials are more likely to contain the latest news and research than others. (See below for more information). Be sure to ask your lecturer how current your materials should be.
  
• Unbiased viewpoint - Some materials are more likely to contain biased information than others and give a distorted view of a topic.