This visual has been used in the "As the Cursor Blinks" workshops offered by Susan blandy and Patricia Libutti. It is alos available in the book: _ Teaching Information Retrieval and Evaluation Skills: A Casebook of Applications_ (1995). (Eds. P. Libutti & B. Gratch ). Chicago: ACRL/ALA. The visual is a reworking of the familiar Publication Chain, with the additions of "standards" and

From IDEA<----------------> To SUMMARY WORK: and back again

The Research/Publication Pattern

All the knowledge, facts, fictions, hunches, observations, serendipitous
findings, conversations in the WORLD ---------------> IDEAS:
...are first communicated informally through: e-mail, letters, conversations with peers (invisible college), net groups, lab and field notes. To locate the first traces of a recent topic, search e-list archives, post to a relevant electronic discussion group, contact an expert and ask for inteview.

__________________________From Idea into Print____________________________

PUBLISHED WORKS:

EARLY STAGES:


Newsletters, papers on WWW, conference proceedings, preprints of articles. To locate: try: professional association newsletters, conference programs, contact with authors, browsing selected WWW sites. Standards: loosely defined, depending on site, moderator, newsletter editor, conference conveners. Accuracy:Varies.

INDEXED PUBLICATIONS: (first filter level):

Conference proceedings, dissertations written, articles in newspapers To locate, use: electronic databases, dissertation and masters summaries. Standards: review by mentors in University, professional associations.

INDEXED PUBLICATIONS: (second filter level:)

Finding what is communicated through searching through reviewed and classified material) Standadrs: varies with index. Accuracy: varies with indexer/ abstracter's skills.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

articles begin to appear about 1-2 years afte topic initiation. (Electronic 'zines and publications may change this time variance) To locate, try: _Current Contents_, electronic databases for citations and abstracts. Standards: peer review, refereed publications. Accuracy: assumed to be high in refereed articles.

BOOKS(third filter level):

Begin to appear 2-5 years after topic initiation. Try: book catalogs, Books in Print online, Library catalogs. Standards: Acceptance by publisher willing to invest in topic salability for printing/production. Varies with material, topic, publisher. Accuracy: stringency is assumed in scholarly works, but varies.

SUMMARY
Bibliographies, Encyclopedia entries. Research Reviews, Literature reviews appear 10+ years after topic initiation. Standards: Consensus:"The Best"
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YOU
To locate information effectively			Use the Research Route:
Reverse the Publication Route				Proceed from Summary 
                                                        to Data 


1995 Patricia O'Brien Libutti & Susan Griswold Blandy. Graphic from Workshop series: As the Cursor Blinks: Computers,Thinking and Instruction". Permission is given by the authors for reproduction with attribution.