E: Review and Evaluate Sources - Deciding what's good, what's bad and what's useful
Every day more information on any given topic is published through various formats, the internet being the easiest to publish on as well as the easiest to search. However, just because it's the first result, doesn't mean it's the most reliable, or the one that best serves your needs.
Taking steps to evaluate your resources to determine its origin and reliability, no matter what the format is an important skill to have and practice.
What to look for:- Authority - Who wrote it, what are their credentials?
- Currency - When was it written?
- Validity/Accuracy - Is the informaiton valid or accurate?
- Audience - Who is the informaiton written for?
- Bias - What is the author's point of view?
Authority
Who wrote it?
For books and periodicals:
-- Can you identify the author/creator of the work? -- The author can be an individual, an agency, an institution.
-- What expertise do they have?
- Have they studied the subject they are writing about?
- Have they written previous papers on the subject?
- Has the author or their work been cited in other publications?
- Is there an author?
- The url extension (.edu - education, .gov - government, .org - non-profit)
- Is the organization reputable? Look for an "about us" and search for information on the company/organization if you are unsure.
- Is the site associated or reviewed by a professional organization or experts in the field?
- Is there an individual who can be contacted with questions?
Currency
When was it written?
- Does your topic require more recent information?
- Are you doing historical research, and current information isn't required.
- Is the topic ever changing (ex. Medicine)
- for Books/Periodicals - check the publication/copyright date.
- on the Internet - look at the last updated date (often on the bottom of the page).
Validity/Accuracy
- Books/Periodicals:
- Is the information supported (references cited)
- Is it a current publication (if applicable)
- Is it published by a reputable source (ex. University presses, peer-reviewed/scholarly journal)
- Internet:
- Cited sources provided
- Complete information
- Has the site been edited. Are there typos, grammatical errors?
Audience
For books, periodicals and the internet:
- who is the information intended for - is it written with a young audience in mind, or highly technical?
- Are you able to understand the text?
Point of View/Bias
For books, periodicals and the internet:
- Does the source have a bias, does it promote a certain side to an argument?
- Is there factual information provided, or just a point of view?
- Is the information being sponsored by an organization?
- Does it provide both sides of the argument?