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ITA235: Italian Culture Through Food

Course Description of ITA235: Offered in English, this course charts the regional diversity of Italian food and examines various factors (early settlers, wars, migratory trends) that have shaped Italian culinary traditions.

Types of Information Sources

Best For: 

  • Comprehensive information about the topic
  • Background and historical information
  • Bibliography of other sources

The Information:

  • Often places an event into some sort of historical context
  • Can provide broad overviews of an event
  • Can be intended for a broad audience depending on the book, ranging from scholars to a general audience

Watch For:

  • Dated information
  • Content level can range from general public to academic
  • Bias or slant (dependent on author)

 

Adapted from: Undergraduate Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best For:

  • In-depth information
  • Articles written by experts
  • Recent research on a topic
  • Bibliographies of other sources

The Information:

  • Is often theoretical, carefully analyzing the impact of an event on society, culture, and public policy
  • Is often peer reviewed/refereed
  • Is often narrow in scope
  • Is intended for other scholars, researchers, professionals, and university students in the field

Watch For:

  • Terminology and depth/detail of articles may be difficult to understand by novices
  • Dated information (sort your results by date if you are looking for the most recent information, as some journals extend back several decades)

Definition: Grey literature is information produced by organizations outside of academic or commercial publishing channels. It is produced by government, academic, business, and industry; the main difference is that it is not controlled by commercial publishing.

Best For:

  • Specialized information related to a particular discipline or profession
  • Current information
  • Some bibliographies

The Information:

  • Extremely varied; can include but is not limited to reports (pre-prints, preliminary progress and advanced reports, technical reports, statistical reports, memoranda, state-of-the art reports, market research reports, etc.), theses, conference proceedings

Watch For:

  • Can be difficult to determine basic information, such as author, publication date, or publishing body

Best For:

  • News, current events
  • Government information
  • Grey literature
  • Varied points of view on a topic
  • Statistics
  • Company information

The Information:

  • Is primarily provided through resources like news sites when related to a specific event
  • Explains the who, what, when, and where of an event
  • Is intended for a general audience

Watch For:

  • Credibility and accuracy cannot be assured (check for author credentials, publication date, etc.)
  • Information may be highly biased
  • Sources not always cited