Assignment 1: Information Literacy

Brian McBride
Subject: Smartphones

1
Summary of Primary Article
Zdnets article: Best 10 smartphones for the holiday buying season, gives a brief
overview of some of the best smartphones on the market along with their specs and prices. The
iPhone 6 Plus comes in at number 1, followed by the new Moto X, Nokia Lumia 1520, iPhone 6,
HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, LG G3, Sony Xperia, Samsung Galaxy S5, and the
Nokia Lumia Icon. The author goes in depth of the different specs and features each phone has to
offer. For example, the iPhone 6 plus ranks number one for its new improvements like finally
introducing a 1080p screen. The new Moto X offers a slightly different interface compared to the
traditional android smartphone. The Nokia Lumia uses Windows OS and also offers the best
camera on the market today. Each phone offers something different and the rankings are
determined by originality, specs, and features.
Additional Articles
For the first additional article I used cnet.com as the search engine. In their Best Phones
of 2014 category, they listed their best smartphones by ratings on a 5 star scale. All the phones
from zdnet featured on cnets Best Phones of 2014. A separate link led to more detailed
descriptions of each individual phone. I personally prefer cnet.com because everything was more
organized and I think the rating scale was more accurate than zdnets listing.
For the second additional article I used laptopmag.com as the search engine. They rated
the phones by features and the layout was similar to an award ceremony. The Samsung Galaxy
S5 won best overall smartphone, with other phones winning different wards. They had a different
variety of phones unlike zdnet and cnet, which offered a very different perspective on different
Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Brian McBride
Subject: Smartphones

2
phones. Ultimately, their approach was not as effective because a phone cannot be defined by
only one feature.
TRAAP
Source: laptopmag.com
Time- The article(s) were last updated September 12, 2014.
Relevance- It directly relates to my topic of smartphones and their qualities/effectiveness
Authority- The author is the editor in chief of laptopmag.com. He is very qualified to
cover my topic as he has been in the mobile technology field for over a decade.
Accuracy- The sources are somewhat accurate as the stats and features of the phones are
all one hundred percent correct. However, the rankings and ratings of the phones are all opinion
based.
Purpose- The purpose of the article(s) is to inform. It gives the audience information on
different smartphones in order for them to be better prepared to eventually buy a phone. It can be
a bit persuasive because the rankings/ratings are subjective.
Journal Articles
For the first article I used the keyword smartphone. I used the CCBC library database
because of the search by keyword and it is required in this assignment. The name of the article is
Galaxy S5 Mini, HTC One Mini 2 Chase Lower End Smartphone Market.
Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Brian McBride
Subject: Smartphones

3
For the second article I used the keywords best smartphones. I again used the CCBC
library database because of the keyword search and the assignment requirements. The name of
the article is The Best Smartphone? Wrong Question
Internet vs Journal
Both the internet and journal articles were easily accessible and navigable. It was easy to
search for different sources for my topic and there were many ways to conduct searches. The
advantage goes to the internet articles because it was easier to search specifically for my topic
whereas it took a little more time using the databases. The authors for both the internet and the
journal articles were very qualified, but the journal article authors have worked professionally for
big companies like Motorola. The internet authors are more established within their own
websites and research.








Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Brian McBride
Subject: Smartphones

4




Bibliography
Miller, Mathew. "Best 10 Smartphones for the 2014 Holiday Buying Season | ZDNet."
ZDNet.
ZDNet, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.



Dolcourt, Jessica. "Best Phones of 2014 - CNET." CNET. CNET.com, 17 Sept. 2014.
Web. 21 Sept. 2014.

Spoonauer, Mark. "Best Smartphones 2014." Best Smartphone 2014. Laptopmag.com, 12
Sept.
2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.


Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Brian McBride
Subject: Smartphones

5
Reisinger, Don. "Galaxy S5 Mini, HTC One Mini 2 Chase Lower End Smartphone
Market." EWeek (2 July 2014): 2. Business Source Premier. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ccbcmd.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=2df1c833-
fb71-47d1-8f1c-
eaae9e8853bb%40sessionmgr111&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2Nv
cGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=96959434>.


Vaughan-Nichols, S.J. "The Best Smartphone? Wrong Question." Computerworld 48 (21
Apr. 2014): 26. Business Source Premier. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ccbcmd.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=2df1c833-
fb71-47d1-8f1c-
eaae9e8853bb%40sessionmgr111&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2Nv
cGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=95668614>.