Evaluate your 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 the source.
Evaluating Sources
Generally, materials that have made their way into library collections have undergone several levels of review and can 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 patrons 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 all of your sources. Consider the following aspects of a work when evaluating its quality.
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?
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.
