Library Research in Economic Botany

Prepared by Anne Turhollow for Biology 460
Additional material by Marilyn Hall
Fall 2004

Evaluating What You Find

Are You Finished with Your Search?

As you survey your reams of photocopies and stacks of books, how can you tell if you're done searching or need to find more material?

Do you find that your references keep repeating themselves?

You're done if you have searched several indexes and you just keep turning up the same books and journal articles.

Are there key articles that most (if not all) your materials mention?

Make sure you find those.

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information?

Narrow or focus your topic by geographic location, etc.

Are there any gaps in the material?

Go back to the indexes and see if you can locate material just in those limited areas.

Do you not have enough information?

Consider using another journal index or using the citation index listed in the Searching section above.

Broaden your search; if you restricted it to a taxonomic group, drop that restriction.

Evaluating What You Find

It is important to determine your criteria for evaluating the relevance of retrieved books and journal articles. These can include:

• Authority of the author(s)
• Date of publication
• Type of publication
• Relevance of content
• Intended audience
• References cited
• Cited or reviewed by others

Some additional websites with more information about evaluation of resources (especially Internet resources) include:

• Evaluating Sources of Information (SDSU)
• How to Critically Analyze Information Sources (Cornell)
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources (UCLA)
• Thinking Critically about Discipline-Based World Wide Web Resources (UCLA)

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