Library Science 1011 Week Two

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Library Science 1011Week Two
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Information Formats

• Books,
• Maps and Pamphlets
• Journals
• Magazines/Newspapers
• World Wide Web

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Books

• Strengths
• In depth coverage
• Indexes and Tables of Contents
• Fairly easy to determine qualifications of
  author/editor(s)
• Familiar to everyone

• Weaknesses
• Length of time required to publish a printed work
• New Topics and research may not appear in
  scholarly books for 2 or more years after their
  introduction

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Journals

• Strengths
• Written by experts
• May be peer-reviewed, which provides an extra
  measure of quality
• Research and new ideas will appear in journals
  first
• Include documented sources and reference lists

• Weaknesses
• Can be very dry
• Can be heavy on jargon and difficult for students
  to understand

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Magazines/Newspapers

• Strengths
• Cover current events and politics
• Good for statistics and figures
• Good with the big picture
• Accessible to everyone readers wont get bogged
  down in jargon or details

• Weaknesses
• Articles do not include original research they
  only report facts
• Articles are written by journalists, not field
  experts
• Articles dont include a reference list

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World Wide Web

• Strengths
• Speed and ease of access
• Best for locating ephemera such as stock
  reports, news and weather and TV Listings
• May find information that is too new to appear
  anywhere else

• Weaknesses
• Difficult to establish authority if you need to
• Who the Author is
• His/Her Credentials
• Purpose
• Even good informational websites may not be
  updated regularly

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Magazine Or Journal?
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Reference Book Review
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Evaluating Materials
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Why Do We Need To Evaluate Information?

• To Determine Authority/Quality
• To Determine Appropriateness of Material
• Audience
• Timeliness

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Evaluating Printed Material

• Consider
• Authors background and credentials
• Is the source current or out of date?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information factual, well researched and
  objective?
• Are the main points clearly presented?

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Giving Credit
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What Should Be Included In A Citation?

• Elements of a citation differ somewhat depending
  on if your source is a book, magazine, journal,
  newspaper, or web page. However, the basic
  information includes
• A Style Manual provides instruction in citing
  each type of resource. MLA and APA style
  manuals, as well as some others, are available at
  the General Reference Desk

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Next Weeks Homework

• Assignment 2
• Evaluating Book Sources

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EndWeek Two