5. The Information Landscape: Thinking About Information Formats

This video series focuses on the "information landscape" as it pertains to college research. It is a work-in-progress. Your feedback is welcome.

Isn't this page a website?

Once upon a time...

There were no websites,

database articles,

blog entries,

tweets,

ebooks,

or online newspapers.

Once upon a time...

Books were books.

Articles were articles.

And we didn't have websites.

Now this is a book,

and so it this.

This is an article,

and so is this.

Even more confusing,

this is a website,

and this page is not--

when it comes to meeting your instructor's

requirements for various information formats.

Now I'm really confused!

You're not alone.

The new information landscape

has become much more difficult to traverse,

because there is some much more new territory

to cover.

Indeed,

tracking down credible materials

across a vast horizon of information,

and then documenting what you have found in a works cited list,

has become downright difficult.

Tell me about it!

Of course,

one of the reasons for this

is we now have access to the Internet

where anything goes!

On the open web you will find a mix of sites created by companies,

organizations,

and government entities,

as well as sites created by individuals,

not to mention posts on social media networks,

such as Facebook

and Twitter.

Some of these sites are credible from an academic point of view.

Many are not!

Another reason the information landscape

is confusing to researchers

is we now have electronic editions of many traditionally published sources,

such as books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.

So you could go into a library

and browse the shelves for books.

Or you could bring up thousands of full-text books

through EBSCOhost's eBook Collection.

You could go into a library and track down a hard copy journal.

Or you could poke around Academic Onefile to find an article.

You could grab the latest edition of the San Diego Union Tribune from the newstand.

Or you could look for a few articles through Newspaper Source Plus.

And then there are all those websites out there on the open web,

the sites you uncover through search engines, such as Google or Yahoo.

That's my pick!

Then you will not find wide-ranging collections

of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers--

though you may a smattering of such sources.

Even so,

some of the information on the open web

is being produced by credible organizations.

So when you are conducting research using a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo,

be sure to determine who actually put the site you are interested in.

There are other criteria to consider, such as...

credibility,

accuracy,

authority,

bias,

currency,

and contact information.

And I did.

Getting back to information formats,

if you find an ebook,

it counts as a book.

If you find journal article through Academic Search Premier,

it counts as a journal article.

If you find a newspaper article though Newspaper Source Plus,

it counts as a newspaper article.

And if you find a source through a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo,

it counts as a website.

This is driving me crazy.

Again that's because is hard to tell the difference between

a source you find on the open web

and a source you find in a research database.

So what if I find a newspaper article through Google?

When it comes to research,

you have it worse than your forebears did.

If you find a newspaper article through Google,

it is cited as a website.

But it could count as a newspaper article--

to your instructor.

It could also count as a website--

to your instructor.

If you aren't sure of how your instructor wants you to classify or count

sources you discover through Google or Yahoo,

ask!

So if my instructor

wants me to find a newspaper article,

and I find one through Google,

I should cite that as a website?

Correct.

Yet my instructor might count this source as an article?

That's right.

If you are not sure if your instructor will count this source,

as a website or an article,

ask!

In the end, however, you will want to cite it as a website.

in your works cited list.

So if I find my article though an online database,

such as Proquest Newspapers,

it is never counted as a website?

It is never counted as a website.

even though you have technically viewed it on the web.

You will want to cite it as an article from an online database.

Yikes.

Some publications,

particularly newspapers,

are made available in print editions,

electronic editions,

and free web editions.

An article from a print edition

will be cited as an article in a print newspaper.

The electronic editions are often sold

to database companies,

such as Proquest, Gale, or EBSCO.

These sources are cited as articles from an online databases.

The web editions

exist in that territory where

anything goes.

And they count as websites.

If you can learn to tell the difference

between a source you uncover through a search engine,

such as Google or Yahoo,

and a source located in a research database,

you will go a long way toward becoming

an effective researcher.

Remember,

research databases offer electronic versions

of traditionally published information,

such as books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.

These databases should provide current sources,

as well as archival coverage.

Research databases are generally made available to you

through libraries and other organizations.

In contrast,

the open web is territory where

anything goes.

You will have to work harder to evaluate

the sites you find there for academic research.