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Evaluating Information Sources

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ajkeano2008
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153 views

Evaluating Information Sources

Uploaded by

ajkeano2008
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EVALUATIN

In
G
fo rm a t i o n
SOURCE
Print
vs WEB SOURCE
More information is at our fingertips than ever before and the
amount of information makes it even harder to determine which
information can be trusted.
As the terms: post truth, fake news, and alternative facts, become
increasingly prevalent in social discourse and the public sphere it is
essential that you develop the skills to critically evaluate
information yourself.
PRINT SOURCE
A material that has been printed and can be produced in a
hard copy. Examples of print sources are books,
magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers. These
materials are commonly found in a physical library when
doing academic research.
Reliability Currency

KEY FACTORS TO Relevance


CONSIDER IN Authority
GAUGING THE
Accuracy
RELIABILITY OF
INFORMATION Purpose
Determining when an item of
information was published or
produced is an aspect of
evaluating information. The

CURRENC
THE TIMELINESS OF
date information was
published or produced tells
INFORMATION
Y you how current it is or how
contemporaneous it is with the
topic you are researching.
For example: If you were doing research on Covid-19, you would
need the most recent information on the symptoms, cause and
effect to human. Key indicators of the currency of the information
are:

▪ date of copyright ▪ date of publication ▪ date of revision or edition


▪ dates of sources cited ▪ date of patent or trademark
Relevance
The importance of the
information for your needs
Some questions to consider are:
1. Does the information relate to my topic or answer my question?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too simple or
advanced) for my needs?
4. Did I look at a variety of sources before deciding to use this one?
5. Would I be comfortable using this source for my college research
paper?
AUTHORITY
Source of information
Some external indications of knowledge of or expertise are:
1. a formal academic degree in a subject area
2. professional or work-related experience–businessmen,
government agency personnel, sports figures, etc. have
expertise on their area of work
3. organizations, agencies, institutions, corporations with active
involvement or work in a subject area.
Accuracy
reliability, truthfulness, and
correctness of the
information
1. Are the sources appropriately cited in the text and listed in the
references?
2. Are quotations cited correctly and in context? Out of context
quotations can be misleading and sometimes completely erroneous.
3. Are there exaggerations, omissions, or errors? These are difficulty to
identify if you use only one source of information. Always use several
different sources of information on your topic. Analyzing what
different sources say about a topic is one way to understand that topic.
PURPOSE
reason the information exists
Are they trying to persuade, to inform, or to entertain?
Determining the intended audience of a particular piece of
information will help you decide whether or not the information
will be too basic, too technical, too general, or just right for
your needs.
WEB SOURCES
Web sources include anything you can find on
the Internet, which contains a wealth of high-
quality information if you know where to look.
Some web sources are databases of scholarly
articles.
There is little quality control over the information you find, and
anyone with access to the Internet can publish online. This
makes it difficult to avoid bias or inaccuracies. It can also be
hard to locate authors and references. Because of these
concerns, you cannot assume that information on the web is
accurate. Each web page must be critically examined.
When looking for sources–particularly websites–
think about whether or not they are reliable.
Using the CRAAP test can also be a good tool to
check the reliability and effectiveness of your
source
Currency: the timeliness of the information
1. When was the information published or posted?

2. Has the information been revised or updated?

3. Is the information current or out of date for your topic?


Are the links functional?
Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

1. Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?


2. Who is the intended audience?
3. Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or
advanced for your needs)?
4. Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is
one you will use?
5. Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?
Authority: the source of the information
1. Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
2. Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
3. Is there contact information, such as a publisher or e-mail address?
Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
4. Is the site personal, commercial, governmental, organizational, or
educational? (.com, .gov, .org, .edu,.net)
Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content

1. Where does the information come from?


2. Is the information supported by evidence?
3. Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
4. Can you verify any of the information in another source or from
personal knowledge?
5. Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
6. Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?
Purpose: the reason the information exists
1. What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell?
entertain? persuade?
2. Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
3. Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
4. Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or
personal biases?
TIP:
Wikipedia which is a type of free online encyclopedia may seem like
a great source of information. It usually appears among the first few
results of a web search. It covers thousands of topics, and many
articles use an informal, straightforward writing style.
Unfortunately, this site has no control system for researching,
writing, and reviewing articles. Instead, it relies on a community of
users to police themselves. At best, this site can be a starting point
for finding other, more trustworthy sources. Never use it as final
source.
Do you have questions?

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