WHERE IS INFORMATION FOUND?
As we discussed earlier, information can come from people, books, the Internet, signs, or even devices such as clocks or calculators. The list is almost endless. In order to understand where information is found, we need to know a little about why information is created.
Simply put, information is created when and where it is needed. Let's start with an example we are all familiar with, telephone numbers. Telephone numbers are created because there is a need for each customer to have a unique sequence of numbers that will ring through only on that customer's phone. The telephone system would quickly become an annoyance if all phones rang every time a call was made. Once these numbers are assigned and in use, it then becomes necessary for other phone customers to have access to these numbers in order to use the telephone to its fullest potential. Can you imagine only being able to contact those people who had personally given you their phone numbers? How would businesses and government agencies be reached? It's easy to see that there is a need for a directory of telephone numbers if the telephone is going to be used to its greatest potential. Voila, phone books! Where do you find phone books? Where there are telephones!
Although this is a very simplistic example, other types of information follow the same progression. An information need is recognized and information is created. Many information needs are ongoing. The telephone company updates the phone book yearly as telephone numbers change. Magazines and newspapers are published, daily, weekly or monthly. By thinking about and understanding who uses the information we need and where that information is needed, you are well on your way to knowing where to find it.