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 journal

Trade magazines and scholarly journals

 
Academic journal

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