The information found on the World Wide Web has added a new dimension to selecting resources. Anyone can create a Web site. No one has evaluated the quality or accuracy of the information found on the Web before you come across it. Some Web sites are created by subject experts; however, the vast majority of Web sites are created by non-experts.
If you’re looking for a way to determine if a resource is reliable you can use our checklist. We designed a simple online worksheet, Evaluating Information Checklist that will automatically score your resource as you answer a few simple questions about it. Simply answer questions based on Reliability, Content, Currency and Appropriateness, and the worksheet will tell you if it is a good source.
When looking at your search results do not just pick the top article and hope it’s reliable and on topic. You must evaluate your sources, whether you’re using a book, article, or web site. Here are some tips.
A: Authority – who wrote it? who published it? are the author’s credentials listed?
S: Sources – what sources did the author use? (Look at the bibliography/works cited)
P: Purpose – what’s the purpose of the article? (persuade/convince, inform/educate, report research)
E: Evenness – are all sides evenly covered? (Is there any bias or is it fairly objective?)
C: Coverage – what’s covered? what’s left out? (Look at the table of contents, read introductory material)
T: Timeliness – when was it written? is it current enough for your needs?
When looking at your search results do not just pick the top article and hope it’s reliable and on topic. You must evaluate your sources, whether you’re using a book, article, or web site. Here are some tips.
A: Authority – who wrote it? who published it? are the author’s credentials listed?
S: Sources – what sources did the author use? (Look at the bibliography/works cited)
P: Purpose – what’s the purpose of the article? (persuade/convince, inform/educate, report research)
E: Evenness – are all sides evenly covered? (Is there any bias or is it fairly objective?)
C: Coverage – what’s covered? what’s left out? (Look at the table of contents, read introductory material)
T: Timeliness – when was it written? is it current enough for your needs?
(from IRIS Tutorial)
These evaluation tools can help you identify the most credible sources for your assignment.
Evaluating Sources: Books and Articles (from the IRIS Tutorial)
Evaluating Web Sites (from the IRIS Tutorial)