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Research current events (the information cycle)

Following an event, information is created, distributed and eventually assimilated in a variety of ways. Information about the event appears in different sources as time goes by. Here are some of the sources you can use to find information about an event, based on the amount of time that has elapsed. Remember, too, that the early sources, such as newspapers and television programs, may later provide analysis or retrospective coverage.

Same Day:

Television and radio programs and web sites are good sources for same-day news coverage. When you are following a breaking news story, try these sources or similar reputable sites:

When you want to find same-day coverage of past events, look at:

  • LexisNexis Academic
    • Select "News" tab button and the "U.S. Newspapers and Wires" from the "Sources" drop-down menu, to search Associated Press and other wire services
    • Select "News" tab button , then select "Transcripts" from the "Sources" drop-down menu. Select "All Transcripts" as the news source, or pick a specific source, such as the National Public Radio transcripts.
  • CNN Transcripts

Day After:

Print newspapers are a key source for day-after-the-event coverage. Most of this coverage will be fact-based. Many newspapers have free websites for their current day's issue. Try a megasite like News and Newspapers Online to locate the web versions of newspapers.

Joyner Library subscribes to several national, state and local newspapers. Current issues of newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Daily Reflector (Greenville), Los Angeles Times, New York Times, News & Observer (Raleigh), Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post are kept in Current Periodicals on Joyner Library, First Floor. Back issues of the News & Observer and Daily Reflector are on microfilm in the North Carolina Collection. Back issues of several national newspapers are on microfilm in Joyner Basement.

LexisNexis Academic provides full text coverage of thousands of newspapers. You can also search Newsbank: North Carolina Newspapers. This database provides the full text of many papers from around the state. Visit the "Newspapers" area on the "Databases" page for more choices.

Weeks After:

Weekly and monthly magazines often provide in-depth reports on current events. Fact-based coverage may be supplemented by opinion or perspective pieces. Weekly magazines can be searched through many of the library's aggregator databases, including:

Use the E-Journal/E-Book Portal if you want to see if a specific magazine is available online. The E-Journal/E-Book Portal also lets you easily connect to the Joyner and Health Sciences Library catalogs to see if the magazine is available in print at either library. Some magazines provide current issues for free on their websites. The E-Journal/E-Book Portal contains links to many of these websites. For other choices, go to a megasite like NewsLink. There is a specific section for News/Opinion magazines.

Government information such as speeches, press releases, hearings and reports may be available in the days and weeks following an event. Sources to check for this information include:

Months After:

It usually takes months before articles based on an event appear in scholarly journals. Many of the aggregator databases that contain weekly and monthly magazines also contain scholarly journals. Academic Search Premier, one of the EBSCOhost databases, is a good general database that cover most subjects. It has a feature that allows you to restrict your search to scholarly or in some cases, peer-reviewed (refereed) journals.

For example, a search in Academic Search Premier  for ("September 11" and "terrorist attacks" and health) finds these refereed articles (among others):

In the Aftermath of September 11: Group Interventions with Traumatized Children Revisited

Group Psychotherapy and Related Helping Groups Today: An Overview for Hope, Meaning, and Growth Following the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks

Subject-specific databases will also contain abstracts of, and often, the full text of scholarly articles. Check Subject Guides (the library's guide to finding information by subject) or the Subject Databases list on the Find Articles page to determine relevant databases and indexes. If the article you are interested in is not available full text in the database in which you are searching, go to the E-Journal/E-Book Portal to see if it is available in another database. The E-Journal/E-Book Portal also links to searches for the journal title in the Joyner Library and Health Sciences Library catalogs, so you can see if it is available in print. Check this "How Do I" page for additional tips.

Articles about events of enduring importance may continue to be written and published for years after the event.

A Year or More After:

Books about September 11, 2001 seemed to hit the bookstore shelves within weeks afterward. Scholarly analysis usually takes a little longer, though! Scholars may write a book specifically about an event or a book that include discussions of an event as part of a larger theme. Topical reference books may include entries on the event. For example, Joyner Library's materials on the September 11 terrorist attacks include:

  • Women Journalists at Ground Zero:  Covering Crisis (examines press coverage by women during the attacks)
  • America Embattled: September 11, Anti-Americanism and the Global Order (discusses United States foreign relations and political aftermaths from the terrorist attacks)
  • September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds (discusses the impact of terrorist attacks on citizens of New York City)
  • Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution From the World Trade Center Disaster (health studies made in New York City after the terrorist attacks)

For tips on searching the Joyner Library catalog, see Step 3 of the Seven Step Guide to Library Research.

Need help?

The Information Cycle concept is adapted from Penn State University Libraries' Information Cycle tutorial, and is intended to be used by ECU students in conjunction with that Flash tutorial. Tutorial used with permission from Penn State.


The URL for this page is: http://media.lib.ecu.edu/reference/howdoi/display.cfm?id=69.0

 
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