Skills in Accessing, Finding & Reviewing Information - Safari

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1 . Understanding information 1. Introduction 2. What is information? 3. The information age 4. Everyday uses 5. Types of information 6. Information universe 7. Mapping sources 8. Identifying needs 9. Summary

2 . Unpacking information 1. Introduction 2. Information journeys 3. Supply chain 4. Research supply chain 5. Categorising information 6. Shape of the literature 7. Finding information 8. Summary

3 . Planning a search 1. Introduction 2. Describing information 3. Databases 4. Library catalogues 5. World Wide Web 6. Which to use? 7. Planning a search 8. Choosing resources 9. Summary

4 . Searching for information 1. Introduction 2. Basic principles 3. Databases 4. Library catalogues 5. World Wide Web 6. Tracking progress 7. Your subject 8. Summary

5 . Evaluating information 1. Introduction 2. Information quality 3. Presentation 4. Relevance 5. Objectivity 6. Method 7. Provenance 8. Timeliness 9. Summary

6 . Organising information 1. Introduction 2. Why organise? 3. Ways to organise 4. Social bookmarks 5. Citing references 6. Bibliographies 7. Summary

7 . Where do I go from here 1. Introduction 2. Sharing information 3. Electronic communication 4. Keeping up-to-date 5. Summary

Topic 8 Timeliness

The date when information was produced or published can be an important aspect of quality. This is not quite as simple as saying that ‘good’ information has to be up to date.

Example of a news item from an online news source:

Online news item

Copyright 2000 Coventry Newspapers Limited
Coventry Evening Telegraph

May 4, 2000, Thursday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 83 words HEADLINE: DECISION DAY IN MAYOR RACE

BODY:

VOTERS across England go to the polls today in a series of elections as Tony Blair faces his biggest test of public opinion ahead of the next General Election.

In the London mayor elections, independent candidate Ken Livingstone is seen as the runaway favourite with Tory Steve Norris and Labour's Frank Dobson widely seen as in a battle for second place ahead of Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer.

In the local council elections the Tories are likely to make between 200 and 400 gains.

LOAD-DATE: May 5, 2000

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