 When you're doing research, it's important to use a variety of sources so you can get a well-rounded view, include several voices and perspectives, and diminish bias. Using a variety of sources doesn't necessarily mean using every type of source every time. It means getting a well-rounded view with different perspectives represented. Let's say you're trying to understand a current event. When researching the current event, you might look at anything from news reports to people's reactions on social media. Looking at several different types of sources helps you understand the event comprehensively instead of basing your reactions only on one source. When doing research, it's important to recognize that some types of sources exclude some voices and perspectives which can be detrimental to your research. For example, scholarly articles are written by scholars that have particular credentials – PhDs typically – and are associated with institutions such as Utah State. Scholars are an incredibly narrow group. Think of all the expertise and information others have that might be useful but may not meet the scholarly criteria. These individuals can be people who are working in particular fields, living those experiences, or observing them in unique circumstances, which are all valuable perspectives. However, because these individuals don't meet the scholar criteria, they don't write scholarly articles but share their information through other sources such as trade magazines, news articles, blogs, tweets, etc. Finding and using multiple perspectives from varied information sources will give you a more well-rounded and representative understanding of a topic or issue than if you just use one perspective or source. Finding a variety of sources also helps you diminish the bias is inherently present in sources and encourages you to pull in multiple perspectives. It's important to be aware of the biases in sources. When a source has bias, it tends to prefer one view over another. That preference may prevent objectivity and often leads to an incomplete representation of information. If blatant bias is present in a source, it doesn't mean that you can't use it, but you need to be aware of the biases so you can compensate for it with other sources. Compensating for bias urges you to pull in multiple perspectives, which will help you create a well-rounded source. If you need help finding or using a variety of sources, you can always ask a librarian.