AHIMA Library Research Resources
Resources—What and Where
Types of resources -
Primary sources are first-hand accounts of events, created by individuals or groups present at or near to the time of the event. Medical or business records are examples of primary sources. Sets of de-identified medical records might be a primary source that researchers in health information management study. The Library of Congress has a good overview concerning the use of primary records.
Secondary sources are usually based on primary sources. They describe, explain, interpret, or analyze primary sources. Secondary sources include journal articles, books, and reference works. They are a good way to familiarize yourself with a topic you anticipate researching. Secondary sources are no less important than primary sources, and when peer-reviewed, may lack certain biases that might be present in a primary source.
Libraries (types, locating)
Library homepages:
World Wide Web
The internet is a wonderful place to do research, but since anyone can put anything on the internet, it is important to know what you are searching, how to search effectively, and how to evaluate what you find.
Resources by subject area
Multidisciplinary resources for locating books, electronic titles, mixed media titles, and journal titles
Multidisciplinary resources for locating journal articles
Healthcare
Education
Business
Legal
Public Policy
Technology
Resources by type
Dissertations and Masters Projects
Statistical Resources
White papers
Conference proceedings
Conference proceedings can be one of the hardest types of content to find. Not all conferences publish their proceedings. A good place to start is probably the web site of the sponsoring organization. There are also some commercial indexes to conference proceedings.
Citation indexes
Additional resources on primary resources and for locating resources:
Return to Library Research Resources
Generally the easiest way to locate white papers is through a web search. It is usually possible to find these on the web since they are frequently published in part for marketing purposes.
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