That's right: you can either run your DNS query against a (frequently automatically configured) resolver that will pursue the query on your behalf up to the authoritative nameserver declared in the NS record and have that resolver cache the authoritative or "real" response returned by that nameserver (hopefully) according to the TTL specified in the answer, potentially receiving stale answers on subsequent requeries if the authoritative record changes before the resolver's cache expires; or directly query the authoritative nameserver yourself to get the most up-to-date answer without having to wait for the resolver's caches to expire.
In the former case you may get a stale answer, up to the (possibly nonconformant) caching behaviour of the resolver and how long the cached value has left to live; in the latter case you are probably assured to receive the most up-to-date answer for that record.
In the former case you may get a stale answer, up to the (possibly nonconformant) caching behaviour of the resolver and how long the cached value has left to live; in the latter case you are probably assured to receive the most up-to-date answer for that record.