Information Ecosystem
Information Lifecycle
Learning Objectives
- Select sources that are well-matched to the information need, based on their placement in the information lifecycle.
- Critically evaluate how the information lifecycle influences the credibility of a source.
Today, most people get their information online—from social media, news sites, or even pop-up ads. While it’s easier than ever to access information, the way that information is organized still follows patterns rooted in history. We call the model of how information is created and shared the “information lifecycle.”
The information lifecycle maps how information develops over time in response to an event. We can think of it as a timeline with milestones such as “day of” or “months after” the event. Understanding where a source fits in this timeline helps us know what kind of information is available at different stages and how useful it might be as evidence or research material.
Text-only version of infographic (click to open)
Information Cycle:
The progression of coverage of a newsworthy event
Immediately
Social Media: Witnesses share observations and reactions right away. These posts may leave out important facts and context.
Examples: Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook
The Day Of:
TV, Radio, and the Web: Short reports with the basics, meant for a wide audience. These early sources may not have all the facts yet.
Examples: NPR and ABC News
The Week Of:
Newspapers and the Web: Offer more complete coverage of the event and its context. They are usually written by journalists for the general public.
Examples: The New York Times, Salon, and Green Bay Press-Gazette
The Week After:
Magazines and the Web: Feature longer articles that include more detail, context, and early analysis. They are written by journalists or writers for a general or targeted audience.
Examples: The Economist and Newsweek
Months After:
Academic Journals: Long and comprehensive articles that may be analytical, theoretical, or technical, trying to understand the impact of the event. They are written by and for scholars or researchers.
Examples: Nature, The Journal of American History, and Journal of Forensic Nursing
Year or More After:
Books and Government reports: Lengthy sources that take a long time to write and edit. They are typically very in-depth and factual, although some books may include individuals’ perspectives and opinions.
Examples: Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling – Report to the President (BP Oil Spill Commission Report) and Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis by Laura op de Beke
We often categorize sources by their publication format because different formats take different amounts of time and effort to produce. Some sources simply can’t exist right away. It takes time for people to research, reflect, and respond. That’s why sources created later in the information lifecycle can look quite different from those produced early on. In many cases, later sources may offer more valid and reliable information, especially once there’s time to verify facts and gather new insights.
Let’s use the information cycle for the release of Beyoncé’s 2016 concept album Lemonade as an example. Imagine you’re researching its cultural impact. You gather sources from the day of the release through the years that follow. The earliest sources were produced the day of and are very brief due to the limited amount of information available at the time. As time passes, writers have more space to analyze and reflect, so later sources tend to be more detailed and thoughtful. For other events, such as a natural disaster, you’ll often see that the reliability of the sources increases over time because facts can be verified and new facts can be discovered.
Click through the timeline below. If you need a text-only version of the timeline, find that option below the interactive timeline.
Text-only version of timeline (click to open)
Beyoncé’s Lemonade Album
Imagine you are doing a research paper on the cultural significance of Beyoncé’s 2016 concept album Lemonade.
Understanding the information lifecycle can help you to recognize what type of information you are likely to find in different types of sources.
Album Released
April 23, 2016
#LEMONADE the Visual Album. http://BEYONCE.TIDAL.COM
Beyoncé tweets that the album is released.
Social Media
April 23, 2016
Tweet by Phillip Iscove (@pmiscove)
“I never experienced anything quite like #LEMONADE. To have a communal appreciation of art at the same time was truly incredible.”
Phillip Iscove, Beyoncé fan and film industry professional, tweets a reaction to the album, commenting on the cultural experience of viewing the album at the same time as many others.
Television News Story
April 23, 2016
Beyonce Drops New Album During HBO ‘World Premiere Event’ Titled ‘Lemonade’
This very brief news story only announces that the album was released and recaps some prior social media posts from Beyoncé relating to Lemonade. It was published online on the night of the album release.
Newspaper Article
April 24, 2016
Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Comes to iTunes by Ben Sisario
This article from The New York Times provides basic details about the release of the new album, first on Tidal and then on iTunes and other platforms. It was published the day after the album release.
Online Magazine Article
April 26, 2016
Albums: Lemonade by Beyoncé – 2016
8.5 – Best New Music
Pitchfork is a digital magazine that covers the music industry. A few days after the album was released, they published their review in a medium-length article.
Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Journal
2019
Article in Feminist Media Studies
Edgar, A. N., & Toone, A. (2019). “She invited other people to that space”: Audience habitus, place, and social justice in Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Feminist Media Studies, 19(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2017.1377276
The researchers in this study interviewed 35 listeners/viewers of the album and analyzed their responses in order to write and publish this article. It was published about three years after the album release.
Academic Book
2021
Beyoncé in the World: Making Meaning with Queen Bey in Troubled Times
Baade, C. L., & McGee, K. A. (Eds.). (2021). Beyoncé in the world: Making meaning with Queen Bey in troubled times. Wesleyan University Press.
This book is an interdisciplinary collection about the context and significance of the Lemonade album, where each chapter is written by a different author or authors. It includes chapters by scholars in the fields of gender and ethnic studies, communication and cultural studies, music, religion, history, and literature. Notice that this book is published by a university press and came out about five years after the album release.
The short video below explains the concept in more detail:
If you prefer to read the text of the video, click on the CC option on the video, or read the transcript of the information cycle video.
Here’s the key takeaway about the information lifecycle: WHEN we come across a piece of information matters. Timing affects both the amount of information available and how reliable it might be.
If you’re looking for coverage of the 2025 Grammy Awards, you’ll likely find immediate reactions on social media, news websites, or entertainment magazines. But if you’re interested in how scholars have analyzed the Grammys and their impact on the music industry, you’ll want to look for academic books or journal articles. Just keep in mind that scholarly analysis of the most recent ceremonies may not exist yet—it takes time to research, write, and publish. Background sources like Wikipedia can help fill in the gaps by summarizing both current information and long-term scholarship. The information lifecycle shows how information-sharing and technology work together (or sometimes not!) to create and disseminate new knowledge.
Technology has also changed what audiences expect. For example, although Wikipedia can be updated right away, fully updating a traditional print encyclopedia could take years. People now assume that information should appear instantly. But behind the scenes, the systems that support publishing and research often move more slowly—even when digital tools are involved. That’s why being a smart researcher and consumer of information means understanding how information is produced, both in the past and present. Even in a fast-paced digital world, creating high-quality information still takes time.
Activity: The Information Lifecycle & Your Information Need
Reflection
- Why do you think that the types of sources created later in the information lifecycle are often the types that professors ask you to use in your college assignments?
- Can you think of time when a source created early in the information lifecycle would be more reliable or credible than a source created later in the cycle?
Attributions
This chapter contains material adapted from:
- “Information Cycle” by Julie Feighery, in Navigating Information Literacy, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
- “Publication Formats and the Information Lifecycle” by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries, in Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research, used under a CC BY 4.0 license
- Unlocking the Digital Age by John Hopkins University, used under a CC BY 4.0 license
- “Understanding the Information Cycle.” by Northern Illinois University Libraries, used under a CC BY 4.0 license
