all information is created equal. There are some aspects
information sources - whether those be electronic or in print
- that anyone can analyze if you know what you are looking
for. evaluating sources.doc
for Evaluating Sources
Consider the author, publisher/institutional
affiliation, date of publication or last
revision, documentation/references, intended audience,
purpose, writing style and most importantly, relevance.
Who is the author of the information source?
you know anything about his/her credentials?
in the case of an Internet source, the author's name may
not be present; what does this say
about the potential
validity of the source?
Who is the publisher of the source or, in
the case of an Internet document, on whose Web site is
it published? A book
published by a university press or a document
on a university's Web site is more likely to be a reliable
of information. Tip: use site:.edu or site:.gov in your
Is the publisher/Web site likely to
have a particular bias? If so, you will want to take this
into account, perhaps by balancing
the information with a source on the same topic from
another point of view.
Date of Publication or Last Revision
The date of publication may be an important
factor in evaluating an information source, especially
in subject areas - such as
science and technology - where currency is significant.
Almost all printed information sources include
a date of publication, as well as dates of previous
and/or revised editions,
if any. In the case of books, these dates are normally
located on the title page and/or the reverse (or "verso") of the title
page. In the case of periodical articles, the
date normally appears on the cover, as well as on pages
Internet documents should, but do not always,
include the date on which the document was last revised.
This date is likely
to be found either at the top of the document (the "header")
or at the bottom (the "footer").
Just as your research paper must include
a list of references, a scholarly book, article or Web
page ought to contain a list of sources consulted, a bibliography,
The presence of references does not necessarily
imply that the information contained in the document
is accurate; however, it does allow the reader to
the author's sources
to independently verify the information.
What type of audience is the author addressing?
Is the information aimed at specialists
in the field or a general audience?
Is the information
too elementary, too technical,
too advanced, or just right for your
What seems to be the purpose of
the author and, in the case of a Web document,
the purpose of the Web site on which it appears?
Is its sole purpose to sell a product or to promote
Does the document contain mainly the author's
own opinions about a subject or does it present facts
Is the document organized logically?
the arguments clearly presented?
Is the text easy to read or is it overly
verbose or stilted and choppy?
Perhaps most importantly, is the information
relevant to your topic? Sometimes, it may not be apparent
until you have
read a substantial portion of the document that a
document is not relevant.
You can often judge a document's
merits simply by looking at its title, table of contents,
introduction, and index,
if one is present.
For more information use the library's
subject guide on research papers.
Reprinted & adapted with permission from
Tyner's Electronic Information Literacy.