|
When
an event occurs, and as it develops, information about it
is generated and disseminated. The first reports show up
on the Internet, television, and the radio. These first
reports focus on the quick facts: who, what,
where. As time passes information filters
through different types of resources, with the level of
coverage increasing and becoming much more detailed and
analytical. |
| Time |
Source(s) |
Type
of Information |
Authors |
Audience |
Locating |
Day
of the Event |
Radio,
TV, WWW |
General:
who, what and where (usually not why) |
Journalists
|
General
public |
WWW
search tools |
| Days
Later |
Newspapers,
Radio TV, WWW |
Varies:
some articles include analysis, statistics, photographs, editorial
opinions |
Journalists
|
General public |
WWW
search tools, newspapers, library's current periodicals area |
| Week(s)
Later |
Popular and mass market news magazines (i.e., Time, Newsweek)
|
Still
in reporting stage (who, what, where and why); general; editorial
and opinions; statistics; photographs; usually no bibliography
available at this stage |
Journalists
(usually not specialists in the field) |
General public to knowledgeable layperson |
WWW
search tools, newspapers, library's current periodicals area,
periodical databases |
| Months
Later |
Trade
magazines and scholarly journals |
Research results, detailed and theoretical discussion; bibliography
available at this stage |
Specialists
and scholars
in the field |
Scholars/
specialists, students |
Periodical
indexes and databases |
One
Year
to
Years Later |
Scholarly
journals; books;conference proceedings
Reference sources such as encyclopedias, handbooks, etc. |
In-depth
coverage of a topic; edited compilations of scholarly articles
relating to a topic; bibliography available
General overview giving factual information; bibliography
usually available |
Specialists
and scholars
in the field |
General
public to specialists
Anyone; scholars, students, layperson |
Library
catalogs, periodical indexes and databases
Library's
reference collection |
| |
