Understand the Information Cycle: Use the Information Cycle to Find Sources

How long has it been since the event you are researching occurred? Figuring out where your event falls on the information cycle will help you decide what information sources to use for your research.

See it in action:

Television, Internet & Radio

• The information:
  • Provided through up-to-the-minute resources like broadcast news, Internet news sites, and news radio programs
  • Quick, generally not detailed, and regularly updated
  • Explains the who, what, when, and where of an event
  • Can, on occasion, be inaccurate
• Authors: primarily journalists
• Audience: general public

Newspapers

• The information:
  • Longer as newspaper articles begin to apply a chronology to an event and explain why the event occurred
  • More factual and provides a deeper investigation into the immediate context of events
  • Includes quotes from government officials and experts
  • May include statistics, photographs, and editorial coverage
  • Can include local perspectives on a story
• Authors: primarily journalists
• Audience: general public

Popular Magazines & News Magazines

• The information:
  • Long form stories that begin to discuss the impact of an event on society, culture, and public policy
  • Detailed analysis of events, interviews, opinions and analysis
  • Offers perspectives on an event from particular groups
  • While often factual, information can reflect the editorial bias of a publication
• Authors: professional journalists, essayists, commentary by scholars or experts in the field
• Audience: general public or specific nonprofessional groups

Academic & Scholarly Journals

• The information:
  • Detailed analysis, empirical research reports, and learned commentary related to the event
  • Often theoretical, carefully analyzing the impact of the event on society, culture, and public policy
  • Peer-reviewed, ensuring high credibility and accuracy
  • Written in a highly technical language
  • Includes detailed bibliographies
• Authors: scholars, researchers, and professionals, often with Ph.D’s
• Audience: other scholars, researchers, professionals, and university students in the field

Books

• The information:
  • In-depth coverage of an event, often expanding and detailing themes, subjects, and analysis begun in academic research and published in journals
  • Places an event into some sort of historical context
  • Can provide broad overviews of an event
  • Can range from scholarly in-depth analysis of a topic, to popular books which provide general discussions and are not as well-researched
  • Might have a bias or slant, but this is dependent on the author
  • Includes bibliographies
• Authors: scholars, specialists, researchers, and professionals, though credentials of authors vary
• Audience: can be intended for a broad audience depending on the book, ranging from scholars to the general public

Government Publications

• The information:
  • Comes from all levels of government from state, federal, and international governments
  • Includes reports compiled by governmental organizations and summaries of government-funded research
  • Is factual, often including statistical analysis
  • Often focuses on an event in relation to public policy and legislation
• Authors: governmental panels, organizations, and committees
• Audience: intended for all audiences

Reference Material

• The information:
  • Considered established knowledge
  • Published years after an event takes place, in encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, and handbooks
  • Includes factual information, often in the form of overviews and summaries of an event
  • May include statistics and bibliographies
  • Often not as detailed as books or journal articles
• Authors: scholars and specialists
• Audience: intended for a general audience, but may be of use to researchers, scholars or professionals