6. The Day of an Event
Television, The Internet, and Radio
The information:
• Is primarily provided through up-to-the-minute
resources like broadcast news, Internet news
sites, and news radio programs.
• Is quick, generally not detailed, and regularly
updated.
• Explains the who, what, when, and where of an
event.
• Can, on occasion, be inaccurate.
• Is written by authors who are primarily
journalists.
• Is intended for a general audience.

7. The Day After An Event
Newspapers
The information:
• Is longer as newspaper articles begin to apply a
chronology to an event and explain why the
event occurred.
• Is 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.
• Is written by authors who are primarily
journalists.
• Is intended for a general audience.

8. The Weeks Following an Event
Weekly Popular Magazines and News Magazines
The information:
• Is contained in long form stories. Weekly
magazines begin to discuss the impact of an
event on society, culture, and public policy.
• Includes detailed analysis of
events, interviews, as well as opinions and
analysis.
• Offers perspectives on an event from particular
groups or geared towards specific audiences.
• While often factual, information can reflect the
editorial bias of a publication.
• Is written by a range of authors, from
professional journalists, to essayists, to
commentary by scholars or experts in the field.
• Is intended for a general audience or specific
nonprofessional groups

9. Six Months to a Year After an Event and On...
Academic Journals
The information:
• Includes detailed analysis, empirical research
reports, and learned commentary related to
the event.
• Is often theoretical, carefully analyzing the
impact of the event on society, culture, and
public policy.
• Is peer-reviewed. This editorial process
ensures high credibility and accuracy.
• Often narrow in topic.
• Written in a highly technical language.
• Includes detailed bibliographies.
• Is authored by scholars, researchers, and
professionals, often with Ph.D's.
• Is intended for other
scholars, researchers, professionals, and
university students in the
• field.

10. A Year to Years After an Event and On...
Books
The information:
• Provides in-depth coverage of an event, often
expanding and detailing themes, subjects, and
analysis begun in academic research and
published in journals.
• Often 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 dependent on
the author.
• Includes bibliographies.
• Is often written by
scholars, specialists, researchers, and
professionals, though credentials of authors vary.
• Can be intended for a broad audience depending
on the book, ranging from scholars to a general
audience.

11. Years Later
Government Reports
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
• Authored by governmental panels, organizations, and committees
• Is intended for all audiences.
Reference Material
The information:
• Is considered established knowledge.
• Is 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.
• Authored by scholars and specialists.
• Often intended for a general audience, but may be of use to
researchers, scholars or professionals.

13. The Steps
STEP 1: Formulate your question
STEP 2: Get background information
STEP 3: Refine your search topic
STEP 4: Consider your resource options
STEP 5: Select the appropriate tool
STEP 6: Use the tool
STEP 7: Locate your materials
STEP 8: Analyze your materials
STEP 9: Organize and write
STEP 10: Compose your bibliography

14. • Cite sources
• Develop a thesis statement
• Use your Library’s Catalog
• Use an advanced search screen
• Find scholarly journals
• Interview experts
• Write a research question
• Use electronic journals, periodical resources, and subscription databases

15. • Know that libraries offer subscription databases and how to use them
• Know that it is illegal to steal clip art or other images unless they are copyright-free
• Know libraries have websites
• Know how and why it is necessary to synthesize information from multiple sources
• Understand the concept of copyright, plagiarism and its consequences
• Know how to interpret the quality of information you are finding
• Know what is full-text and that not every resource is available in full-text
• Understand how recorded information about an event changes over time
• Judge timeliness of a source
• Judge relevance and objectivity of a source based on date of publication
• Judge relevance and objectivity of a source based on type of publication

17. Know
Respect Find
Use Evaluate

18. Know what kind
of car you’re
interested in
Respect the work
Find info about
that other people
that make and
did to make that
model
info available
Evaluate the
Use that info to
sources of info
make a good
and decide if the
decision
info is useful

19. Know what topic you
want to write on and
maybe some keywords
to use
Find books and articles
Respect the work of
about that topic, and
the authors by not
maybe some info from
plagiarizing
the web
Evaluate the sources
Use your research to
that you find for
make your paper
currency, accuracy, aut
stronger and better
hority, and quality