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Learn about the key characteristics of information sources, including availability, cost, format, currency, depth, breadth, and reliability. Discover how to select the most appropriate information source for a given task based on factors like time, criticality, accuracy, and currency.
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CAPEINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Unit 1 Information technology theory Module 1 Fundamentals Of Information technology Objective 9: Identify characteristics of information sources.
Characteristics ofinformation sources…(1) • Availability • Personal contacts are likely to be more available than expensive abstract journals, or indeed any scholarly journal. • Cost • The cost to acquire information from a specific source. • For example, it may be cheaper to source information from the Internet than travelling to and perusing books at the Library. • Format • Medium
Characteristics ofinformation sources…(2) • Currency • Textbooks are often published at least two years after they have been written. As a result, textbooks in rapidly changing fields often are not the most up-to-date source of information. • Clearly, the World Wide Web is probably the information source which is most easily updated. However, it is important to realize that information sources which are easily updated are often not refereed, and one therefore has to be aware of the trade‑off between being refereed (a process which takes a certain amount of time) and being easily updated.
Characteristics ofinformation sources…(3) • Depth • Different information sources also differ in the amount of detail that they cover. • For example, newspaper articles are usually written for a general audience and may not contain the depth required for a research project. • Articles in scholarly journals, on the other hand, often analyze material to a greater level of depth. The trade‑off is that articles in such journals are often more difficult to understand, or at least require a much greater level of previous knowledge of the subject.
Characteristics ofinformation sources…(4) • Breadth of coverage • Similar considerations as depth. • Reliability • The fact that certain publications are refereed was already mentioned, however, publications that have gone through a rigorous process of peer review are more likely to be reliable than those that do not. • It is also important to realize that there are differences between different disciplines. For example, conference proceedings in the field of Computer Science tend to go through a peer review process, whereas other disciplines, such as Biology, do not.
Appropriateness ofinformation sources…(1) • Selection of appropriate Information Source for a given task. • It is important that you are aware that different information sources often are appropriate for what might seem to be the same task. • For example, finding out the score in a particular cricket match. • If the match is a local one, such as a match involving the school team, then personal contact is probably the best source to use. • If the match is a test match involving the West Indies, then perhaps the newspaper is the best source. • If the match is a test match not involving the West Indies, then perhaps the World Wide Web is the source to use.
Appropriateness ofinformation sources…(2) • Another important consideration is that for many problems one may want to use more than one information source. • For example, when deciding which University to attend. • One may want to use information obtained from brochures and student handbooks produced by the universities in question. • However, one may want to also find information about the University from the Internet, for example, to get the most up-to-date list of courses offered by the University, or to find out which social activities are offered by the University's student clubs. • However, if the University is a local one, a visit or a telephone call may be the better way to go. • In addition, one may want to consult people attending the University.
Appropriateness ofinformation sources…(3) • Again, the way in which one contacts the person can differ. • If one knows the person personally, then a face-to-face meeting or telephone call may be appropriate. • If one does not know the person personally, then an e‑mail message may be more appropriate. • Consequently, selection of appropriate Information Source for a given task can be summarized based on the requirements of the task including: • Time • Criticality • Accuracy • Currency
