UNIV 101

More on the Information Timeline

This Information Timeline shows how one piece of information moves through the timeline and changes as it goes. Where you would look to find more details about an event will be determined by the amount of time that has passed since the event. Something that happened last week won't be in a book yet. The longer it takes to publish a format, the longer it takes for the event to appear in that format.

Social Media, Internet, TV, Newspapers, Popular Magazines
These resources appear early in the timeline. They are published very quickly, so they are great for getting the emotion of the event. The facts are often still being discovered. Additionally, these resources are written for a general audience - anyone with a basic reading level should be able to read/listen and understand.

Scholarly Journals, Books, Government Reports
These resources take longer to publish, so they are much more fact driven and light on the emotion. They are written for a specialized audience. The use of jargon and an assumption that readers are from a specific field can make these resources difficult for an outsider to understand. These resources take an event, analyze it, and decide what it means for society on a large scale. Even things as silly as #TheDress can make it into the academic section of the timeline, as shown by the infographic.

Reference Material
Reference works take all of the facts and discoveries made by the journals, books, and reports and turn it once again into something that is written for and understood by a general audience. It is void of all emotion and heavy on facts.