by The Open University
Available in 48 free installments
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The date when information was produced or published can be an important aspect of quality. This is not quite as simple as saying that 'good' information has to be up to date.
Here is an example of a news item from an online news source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3491927.stm
Would you say that the information above is out of date?
Well, it is and it isn?t. In other words, one person?s out of date cutting is someone else?s historical document. Some documents (the Domesday Book for example) are indeed timeless in that they will always be regarded as relevant. In other cases, it will be very important indeed for information to be up to date.
It is, of course, more important for some kind of information to be up to date than others. Have a look at the list of types of information below and think about which need to be up to date:
A road map
A painting
A news item
A press release
A review of research
A book of poetry
A government circular
A scientific research article
A patent
Population statistics
A technical manual
A news website
We thought these needed to be up to date:
A road map
A news item
A press release
A review of research
A government circular
A scientific research article
Population statistics
A news website
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