Modules:
- A Research Process
- Searching for Information
- Retrieving Information
- Evaluating Information Resources Found and Retrieved
- Ethical Use of Information
Links to:
Evaluating Information Resources Found and Retrieved
Information sources in a multiplicity of formats (print, electronic, and visual, for example) provide us with a great variety of information on thousands of subjects and millions of topics. When we want to use the information we find for research purposes, we need to ensure it is authentic, reliable, and authoritative. Therefore, we critically analyze and evaluate information sources to increase our confidence of the academic value of the information we use.
We consider the following evaluative criteria about any and all information we find:
- the source of the information: the author/publishing body/institution responsible for providing the information
- the content of the information: accuracy, bias and intended audience
- the support provided for the information: currency and documentation
When considering adding any print, electronic, microform and other source to the library's collection, librarians carefully apply these three evaluative criteria by closely examining the source, reading evaluative/critical reviews, or listening to faculty members, among other collection development activities. Every item found in a library's collection has been reviewed or evaluated.
We apply the same evaluative criteria to information found on the World Wide Web. We want to evaluate information sources found on the Web because:
- Web resources are rarely edited for quality, or reviewed by qualified experts
- anyone can publish anything on the Web
We recommend you begin this module by reviewing the evaluative criteria concerning each information source.