When most of us were learning to conduct scholarly research, the choices of source material were much smaller and better defined. Categories like primary, secondary and tertiary sources carried weight because they were clearly delineated -- and easily described both a type of source and its format. And citation styles were easier to master, as a book, for example, appeared in only one format (and was frozen in time).
However, the availability of sources on the Internet has made things more confusing, both for us and for our students. We often might need to take multiple approaches to describing and assigning certain kinds of sources, in order to accomplish different goals. Format, for example, continues to be important in order for students to cite materials accurately (virtually all citation styles expect that a researcher knows if her source comes from a book or is a journal article). Format becomes less important, we would argue, when a student is determining which materials to use in a research project, and how to use them. For example, if an assignment requires a book, the student can find many books as e-books that are not available as printed books. If a student is using a site on the open web (not in a subscription database), the format matters less; how the student is using it matters more.
Another critical categorization that is important for students to consider is that of editorial responsibility. Materials can be edited by an editor or editorial board (e.g. a monograph or a scholarly encyclopedia), peer-reviewed (scholarly journal articles), or even crowd-sourced. Each technique has its own process and its own strengths and weaknesses. There is no single best methodology (and there are plenty of gray areas), but it is important that students have an awareness of these differences as they begin to think critically about the sources they use in their research projects. Assessing authority, timeliness and accuracy is done differently, and with different expectations, for sources published under each mode of editorship.
When it comes to usage, particularly for students new to scholarly research, we recommend the BEAM method, as described by Joseph Bizup. This encourages students to consider how and why they are using a particular resource, rather than focusing on the type of source. We can build on this idea when teaching students to evaluate sources. We can direct them to think less about the “bias” or format of the source and more about how the source helps the student to explore her research question.
How to Use a Source: The BEAM Method (student resource)