Search Guides
LIBA 102: Howorth - Writing about Science
Information Timeline
| Time: | Day of event | Days later | Weeks later | Months later | Years later |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sources |
Television, radio, web
|
Newspapers, TV, radio, web
|
Popular and mass market magazines |
 Trade magazines and scholarly journals |
 Scholarly journals, books, conference proceedings Reference sources such as encyclopedias |
| Type of information | General: who, what, where (usually not why) | Varies, some articles include analysis, statistics, photographs, editorials, opinions |
Still in reporting stage, general, editorial, opinions, statistics, photographs Usually no bibliography at this stage |
Research results, detailed and theoretical discussion Bibliography available at this stage |
In-depth coverage of a topic, edited compilations of scholarly articles relating to a topic General overview giving factual information Bibliography available |
| Author | Journalists | Journalists | Journalists: usually not specialists in field | Specialists and scholars in the field | Specialists and scholars in the field |
| Audience | General public | General public | General public to knowledgeable layperson |
Scholar, specialists, students |
General public to specialists Scholars, students, laypersons |
| Locating tools | Web search tools, social networks | Web search tools, newspaper and periodical databases | Web search tools, newspaper and periodical databases | General and subject-specific databases |
Library catalog, general and subject-specific databases Library reference collection |
Credit: Virginia Tech Libraries - http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/research/information-timeline.html