Research Process: Evaluate Resources

Evaluate the sources. Be aware that not all information available to you is valid or trustworthy. You must evaluate the relative worth of each item according to slightly different sets of criteria, depending on its source.

Evaluating Print Sources

Generally, materials that have made their way into library collections have undergone several levels of review, and can usually be counted upon to be reliable. Librarians typically base their purchasing decisions on reviews written by experts qualified to judge a book's content. Bibliographies and other evaluation aids are also frequently consulted before making the decision to purchase a book. Librarians think carefully about the information needs of their constituents and how a particular source will fill those needs before acquiring it. Also, reputable publishing houses choose only manuscripts that meet their standards and for which there is an identifiable need, and libraries tend to buy only from these publishers.

Still, it will benefit you to think critically about the sources you encounter, whether inside or outside the library. Consider the following aspects of a printed work when evaluating its quality. Note that e-books and articles found on Galileo are reprints of items originally published in paper, so you should treat them as print sources for purposes of evaluation.

Authority

• Who is the author? Is there anything about the author that would lead you to suspect him or her of bias toward your topic? (For example, a cancer researcher in a government agency might be seen as more objective than one whose work is funded by a tobacco company.)
   
• What is the author's educational background, experience, and institutional affiliation? (The books Who's Who in America, Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary, The Encyclopedia of American Biography, or the website Biography.com can give you biographical information.)
   
• Has he or she written anything else about this topic? (You can use WorldCat to find other books by the author.)

Currency

When was this information first published? Even if the date is current, a book or article might be a reprint of older information. Many things change almost daily-even country names- and, depending on your topic, you may need the most recent information available.

Documentation

• Does the author cite other sources to support his writing?
   
• Is there a bibliography? Are there footnotes or endnotes?
   
• Does the author cite quality sources, such as peer-reviewed journals and books published by scholarly, or at least reputable, publishers? (Periodicals with an arrow preceding their names in the title index of Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, located on the reference shelf at R 016.05 Ul7p, are peer-reviewed.)

Purpose

Is the author simply presenting information or trying to convince us of something? If the latter is true, is it possible that the author only gave one side of the argument in order to make a point, thereby leaving out other important information about the topic?

Objectivity

Is the writing based on fact or opinion? The opinion of the author may be quite valuable, depending upon his or her qualifications. The most erroneous ideas can qualify as opinions; facts, however, are consistent with reason, and in academic writing are usually substantiated by references to research.

Audience

Who is the intended audience of the publication? This is particularly important in the case of periodical articles, which may be written for either a scholarly or a general (popular) audience.

Evaluating Internet Resources

Anyone with a computer can access resources from anywhere in the world and from many types of information providers. These providers include governments, organizations, businesses, and individuals making their pet projects accessible to the world.

But while the books, journals, and other resources which you find in any library have already been evaluated before purchase, there is no editorial board for the Internet. Internet resources frequently lack the publishing industry's filters of need and worth, may be poorly maintained, and may be only transiently or intermittently available. Anyone can create an Internet site which may contain incorrect or misleading information, whether accidentally or deliberately.

Esther Grassian, in her article, Thinking Critically About World Wide Web Resources, discusses important Internet evaluation criteria, and makes additional points regarding Web sites for subject disciplines in Thinking Critically About Discipline-Based World Wide Web Resources.