Information Cycle

Introduction

As a student who will be doing research for your speeches, papers, and other projects, it is helpful to understand how information is produced. Knowing what types of information are produced and when they produced will help you more effectively find the best resources.

When an important event occurs, information produced about the event generally appears in a series of stages, known as the information cycle:

An example of the cycle

The information cycle

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Types of information

Type of Information	Description	Static, dynamic or syndicated	How Reviewed
Books	Can provide comprehensive information about a subject, but since they take awhile to publish, are not usually as up to date as other sources	Static	Edited
Magazines	Usually written for a popular (ie. not academic or scholarly) audience; may be general or special interest. Available in print or electronic form.	Syndicated	Edited
Scholarly Journals	Usually written for a scholarly audience interested in a specific subject.	Syndicated	Peer reviewed
Newspapers	Written for a general audience. Available in print and electronic form.	Syndicated	Edited
.com websites (other than blogs/wikis)	A website sponsored by a for-profit entity. Many personal websites can be found in the .com domain.	Static if not updated often; otherwise dynamic.	Usually self published, although can be hard to determine
.edu websites	A website sponsored by an educational institution (K-12 or college/university). There may be personal webpages of students and faculty found on .edu sites.	Static if not updated often; otherwise dynamic	Usually self published although can be hard to determine
.gov websites	A website created and maintained by a governmental body.	Static if not updated often; otherwise dynamic	Often undergoes some type of review process similar to editing.
.org websites	A website created and maintained by a non profit organization	Static if not updated often; otherwise dynamic	Usually self published although can be hard to determine
Blogs	“A website where entries are published over time and usually organized chronologically” (Miller-Cochrane & Rodrigo, 2009)	Syndicated	Self published
Wikis	Allow users to create webpages without any programming knowledge; often used for collaborative writing. Example: Wikipedia	Dynamic	Varies, often self published
Video, audio, podcasts	Multimedia files	Static; some are syndicated (podcasts)	Usually self published
Email lists	A group with a similar interest communicating via email.	Dynamic	Self published, although may be moderated.

NOTE: individual magazine, journal, and newspaper articles are generally static, even though the publication as a whole is syndicated.

Definitions

Classification of resources by how they change over time:

Static-a resource that is published once (ex: books)

Syndicated- a resource that is published in installments (ex: magazines, podcasts)

Dynamic-a resource that continuously changes (ex: wikis)

Classification of resources by how they are reviewed:

Self Published-a resource that is published by the author with no outside review of the source’s quality or merit.

Edited- a resource that is reviewed by an editor prior to publication.

Peer Reviewed-a resource that is reviewed by experts or peers in the same field as the author (in addition to an editor)

References

Miller-Cochrane, SK., & Rodridgo, S. (2009) The Wadsworth Guide to Research. Boston: Wadsworth.

COM225 (Copp)

Introduction