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Welcome to Lesson 2!
Welcome to Lesson 2!
This lesson is longer than Lesson 1 and consists of multiple pages covering different sources like books, newspapers, magazines, etc. It'll probably take you about 45 to 90 minutes to read through this lesson, but how long it'll take really depends on how fast you read and how much of the material is new to you. To get to the different pages of this lesson, use the navigational links in the vertical black bar to the left, or use the links at the bottom of each page. If you are taking the tests associated with the lessons in this tutorial, then when you are ready to take a test, you'll need to navigate to the page that has LINKS TO ALL TESTS.
And now, the author would like to tell you about four things she is really eager for you to take away from this lesson:
Information is packaged in different types of sources for a reason; so, it's not just random that we have books, journals, newspapers, etc. – all of them serve different types of information needs.
This lesson will help you learn how to recognize different source types and understand their purpose. Gaining this understanding will help you evaluate the credibility of sources (Lesson 4), and help you cite source properly (Lesson 7).
You probably aren't that familiar with journal articles and conference papers, so pay particular attention to those sources in this lesson.
Not everything you find on the internet is a website, rather, there are lots different sources types accessible from the internet. The internet is vast and unpredictable, though, so it is easy to fall prey to bad information.
Now, let's get started!
Now, let's get started!
First, what is information anyway? Well, information consists of facts, data, or evidence. Information can provide simple answers to questions, or it can lead to a more comprehensive understanding which we call knowledge.
How is information "born"?
How is information "born"?
One way that information comes into existence is through the reporting of newsworthy events. A journalist or reporter might observe and gather information about an event, then write it up as a newspaper article to share with others. The newspaper article would then become an information source.
Information is also "born" through research discoveries. For example, biomedical researchers might design an experiment to test which type of blood thinning drug is most effective for cancer patients who are at risk for developing blood clots. Then, they'd publish what they learned in a journal article to share the information with others.
To the right you can see the first page of a journal article that reports on the outcome of such research.
And, below is the first page of a journal article about a completely different type of research. In this article, the authors investigated how to reduce the severity of fire in ponderosa pine forests.
The two journal articles shown above discuss research discoveries in the sciences, but lots of scholars conduct research, not just scientists! For example, take a look at the journal article titles below to get a sense of the research conducted in other disciplines:
QUESTION 1. Journal articles have typical features, and you can probably guess what those features are by looking at the six examples provided above. Give it a try and pick the TWO correct answers among the choices below:
A. Journal articles are only one page long.
B. Journal articles describe research that scholars have conducted.
C. In general, the audience for journal articles is other experts, not the general public.
D. Journal articles contain crossword puzzles in case you need a distraction as you read the article.
(Answer at bottom of page.)New information is also created as a result of problem-solving.
An example would be developing a better way to teach students geometry.
Or, building better, safer, highway bridges.
Or, creating an excellent recipe for gluten-free brownies.
Or, developing ways to reduce packaging on the products we buy.
You get the idea.
QUESTION 2. It is very exciting (and even downright thrilling) that on a daily basis, new information comes into existence that has never existed before.
true
false
QUESTION 3. You just read about several ways that information comes into existence. Do you remember any of them or did you read too fast....or worse yet – did you just skim over the text?!?
A. I kind of remember one way information comes into existence but that's all. I'm reading the text but not really reflecting on the concepts as I read, which is probably why I am retaining so little.
B. I remember all of the ways information comes into existence because I am reading slowly and reflecting on what I read. In fact, the information in this lesson is great stuff and I am taking it all in like a sponge.
C. I remember nothing at all. I didn't sleep well.
D. What text?
(Answer at bottom of page.)Not all information sources contain fresh, newly born information.
Not all information sources contain fresh, newly born information.
A Wikipedia article is a good example of an information source that contains content that's been compiled from other sources. So, Wikipedia articles don't report on brand-new information, rather they compile and summarize information from other sources.
You can find the sources used to compile a Wikipedia article at the bottom of the article; they will be listed as references. Just so you know, references are also known as citations. (You'll learn more about citations in Lesson 7.)
To preserve and share information, we publish it.
To preserve and share information, we publish it.
Information is recorded and shared through the act of publishing. To publish means to document and share something publicly, such as a piece of writing. The published product might be a newspaper article, a blog entry, a journal article, a book, a video, drawing, a photo, etc.
Note that anything posted to the internet, such as a Wikipedia article, is considered to be published.
While anyone can publish simply by posting to the internet, publishing – in its more traditional sense – is an activity that takes place through a publisher, a company that manages the editing, layout, printing, web-hosting, advertising, and distribution of books, journals, newspapers, or other types of sources.
Be aware that not all information is published and shared.
Be aware that not all information is published and shared.
Information that results from research conducted by private companies is usually not published or shared outside the company. Protecting this proprietary information (also known as trade secrets) is what allows companies to gain an economic advantage over their competitors.
And, there are a gazillion other instances where information is not published or widely shared. For example, when you contact your parents to let them know how you are doing in college, they are probably the only people who are interested in that information. So, there's no need to publish that information and share it more widely.
QUESTION 4. The best summary of the information above is as follows:
A. Information is born in hospitals and shared through the act of publishing. Anyone can publish on the internet, but publishing companies also publish information.
B. Information is never really born, but rather rediscovered from manuscripts recovered from the Middle Ages.
C. Information is born through news events, research discoveries, problem-solving, etc. Some - but not all - information is shared through the act of publishing.
D. Information is born in a variety of ways, but most importantly through the synthesis and analysis of pre-existing information. That's why Wikipedia is such an important source.
(Answer at bottom of page.)
Published information is stored in information sources.
Published information is stored in information sources.
As you've seen, when information is published, it gets stored in one or more information sources, like newspaper articles or journal articles, but also books, websites, dissertations, databases, YouTube videos, podcasts, TV shows, etc.
Information is packaged in different types of sources for a reason; so, it's not just random that we have books, journals, newspapers, etc. – all of them serve different types of information needs. For example, if you are interested in keeping up with political news, then newspapers and news websites will help you with that, but you'd be wasting your time if you tried to find the latest political news in a journal article or book.
The whole point of having different types of sources is that they serve different purposes and needs.
The whole point of having different types of sources is that they serve different purposes and needs.
If you know how different types of sources fulfill different information needs then you'll be able to solve information problems more quickly (because then you won't waste time looking in the wrong type of source).
However, this knowledge won't matter unless you can recognize and identify different source types, especially in their online form – which is where you'll most likely encounter them. One of the main objectives of this lesson is to help you with just that: recognize different sources types, especially in their online form.
QUESTION 5. Depending on your information need, not all types of sources are equally useful since they are designed to fulfill different information needs. Take your best shot and guess which of the statements below are true and demonstrate this principle.
A. A book is not an appropriate source for finding current news.
B. A journal article is not an appropriate source for finding an easy-to-read overview of the life of Shakespeare.
C. A website is not an appropriate source for finding out which invasive grasses thrive after a severe wildfire in ponderosa pine forests.
D. All of the statements above are true, and all of them demonstrate the principle that different sources fulfill different information needs.
(Answer at bottom of page.)Aren't traditional sources like books, magazines, newspapers, and journals kind of old-fashioned?
Aren't traditional sources like books, magazines, newspapers, and journals kind of old-fashioned?
The next few pages of this lesson discuss these traditional sources, but why bother? We use the internet for so much already – are traditional sources still relevant?
First of all, when you search the internet, a lot of your results ARE coming from traditional sources.
To the left you see some of the results that come up in a Google search on how climate change will affect the insurance industry.
Notice that these results lead to different types of sources, including the online versions of traditional sources like newspapers, magazines, and journal articles.
An expert searcher can quickly recognize these source types in their Google results and they use this information to select the result that is most likely to have the information they need, at the complexity level they need, with the degree of authority they need.
So, for example, if an expert searcher was looking for detailed, highly reputable information on how climate change is affecting the insurance industry, then they'd probably click the the fourth result (the online journal article) first.
Traditional sources vs. websites
Traditional sources vs. websites
Unlike traditional sources, websites (like the first and last result in the image above) are so abundant and variable in their intended audience and purpose that it's hard to know, without actually exploring them, whether they will fulfill your information need. (Unless, of course, it’s a website you are already very familiar with.)
So, websites can sometimes be more of a gamble to explore because they're not consistently designed and packaged for a particular purpose or audience in the way that traditional sources are. You can waste a lot of time perusing websites only to find they don't have the information you need. You'll find it pays off to know a bit more about traditional sources and how to recognize them!
Look again at those Google results shown above.
Look again at those Google results shown above.
Were YOU aware that your Google results represent different types of sources? Would YOU have been able to recognize the different types of sources represented by the Google results shown above? Many students find this to be difficult.
Take a look at the scholarly journal article shown below about how students have trouble identifying source-types (genres) in an online environment. So, yes, it's a real problem. You are at a disadvantage if you aren't able to recognize source types (or genres). It makes searching for information slower and more frustrating and inefficient.
Let's sum it up!
Let's sum it up!
Traditional sources like books, journal articles, newspaper articles, and magazine articles have specific audiences and purposes that fulfill different types of information needs. Knowing this can save you time because you can focus on looking for the type of source that's most likely to solve your need.
For example, if you need news, you'd look for newspaper articles.
If you need a broad comprehensive overview of a topic, such as a history of World War II, you'd reach for a book.
If you are writing a report for your boss on how product placement in movies affects people's purchasing choices, you'd look for that research in journal articles, not in books or news articles.
What's next?
What's next?
Answers to questions on this page:Question 1. B and CQuestion 2. true Question 3. BQuestion 4. C Question 5. D
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