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Evaluating Sources of Information
Table of Contents:
Why Evaluate?
Questions to Ask
Where to Look for Answers
Evaluation Resources
See:
Research Strategy |
Information Packages (Sources of Information) |
Evaluating Sources of Information: Sample Web Documents
Once you have found Information Packages (Sources of Information) matching the topic and requirements
of your research, part of your Research Strategy should be to critically think about or evaluate
these information sources. Just because a book, article, or Web document matches
your search criteria and thus seems, at face value, to be relevant, does not
mean that it is necessarily a reliable source of information. Frauds,
hoaxes and quackery are nothing new. See, for example, the
Skeptic's Dictionary and Quackwatch.
And consider this - is everybody really an expert? For example, see ExpertCentral.com.
It is important to remember that sources of information comprising the Library's
print and electronic collections have already been evaluated for inclusion among the
Library's resources. This does not necessarily apply to sources of information on the
Web for the general public. Many of us with Internet/Web accounts are potential publishers
of Web documents, most of the content of which is published without editorial review. Think about it.
What criteria should you use to judge information sources? Summarizing
some of the items listed under
Evaluation Resources, below, the following
questions should be asked when evaluating a source of information:
Who is responsible for
publishing the information provided by the source? What are the credentials
and affiliation or sponsorship of any named individuals or organizations? How
objective, reliable, and authoritative are they? Is the author or contact person listed with
addresses (street, e-mail)?
What can be said
about the content, context, style, structure, completeness and accuracy of the
information provided by the source? Are any conclusions offered? If so, based
on what evidence and supported by what primary and secondary
documentation? What is implied by the content? Are diverse perspectives represented? Is the content relevant to your information needs?
When was the
information provided by the source published? Is the information provided by
the source in its original form or has it been revised? Is this information timely and is it updated regularly?
Where else can the
information provided by the source be found? Is this information authentic? Is
this information unique or has it been copied?
Why was the
information provided by the source published? What are the perspectives,
opinions, assumptions and biases of whoever is responsible for this
information? Is anything being sold? Who is the intended audience?
Books and Articles
An initial evaluation of books and articles can be done by examining
their bibliographic citations provided in library catalogs (such as
the PAC) or
periodical
indexes and databases, containing brief author, publisher and date of publication
information. Once you have found the book or article, look for
additional information about the author(s) or publisher. If little
or no biographical information is provided about the author(s), ask a
reference librarian for
Research Assistance.
The librarian may also be able to help you find book reviews.
Web Documents
Ideally, Web documents will include the following elements which
can be used in the evaluation process:
- Author or contact person with addresses (street, e-mail)
- Document Uniform Resource Locator (URL), including an institutional
identifier (e.g., an edu with a URL identifies the sponsoring institution
as an educational institution)
- Date of creation or revision
- Link to sponsoring institution Web site
For more information on evaluating Web documents, see:
See also Web Site
Reviews for a list of Web search sites that provide
reviews of Web sites.
For exercises in evaluating Web documents, see Evaluating
Sources of Information: Sample Web Documents.
Help evaluating Web documents is provided by the following authors. In addition
to Evaluating Sources
of Information: Sample Web Documents, examples of Web documents for evaluation
are provided by Alexander and Tate, Beck, Grassian, Henderson, Jacobson and Cohen,
and Lesley University.
- Jan Alexander and Marsha Tate, Widener University, provide Evaluation
Checklists for advocacy, business/marketing, news, informational, and
personal home Web documents. See
Actual Web Pages as Examples.
- Susan Beck, New Mexico State University, lists major Evaluation
Criteria. See Examples.
- Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library, lists many points to consider when
Thinking
Critically about World Wide Web Resources. See Hoax?
Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide! for examples.
See also Who
Dunnit: What Kind of Web Page Is This??
- Robert Harris, Southern California College, provides a checklist for information
quality when Evaluating
Internet Research Sources.
- John R. Henderson, Ithaca College, provides six suggestions when looking at Web pages in his
ICYouSee guide to critical thinking about the Web.
See the pop quiz and one more st*p*d assignment
for examples.
- Trudi E. Jacobson and Laura B. Cohen, University at Albany, devised their own fake Web site in association with
their Teaching Students to Evaluate Internet Sites Web site.
- Lesley University has a Web page that provides criteria for
Evaluating
Web Sites, as well as example Web sites.
- Joan Ormondroyd, Michael Engle and Tony Cosgrave, Cornell University, offer
general suggestions on How
to Critically Analyze Information Sources.
- Betsy Richmond, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, lists Ten
C's for Evaluating Internet Resources.
- Hope N. Tillman, Babson College, addresses issues related to Evaluating
Quality on the Net.
- The University of California, Berkeley, Library provides information on
Evaluating Web Pages: Why and How
Additional resources, in print and electronic format, on evaluating Web
documents are listed at the following Web sites:
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