Evaluating Sources

When you locate sources that you are thinking of citing, you will need to take time to evaluate the information. Why? Your goal should be to locate authoritative, accurate, unbiased, current information on your topic— not always an easy task. Read widely and critically before you begin to consider what sources to use in your paper. Only when you have developed sufficient background knowledge of your topic will you be ready to evaluate sources responsibly.

What kinds of sources need to be evaluated? Books on your library shelves have usually gone through a screening process before they were purchased, and thus books are more reliable as sources than journal articles, newspapers, and Web sites. But even books need to be scrutinized carefully: many are out-of-date or filled with biased information.

Learn how to read with a critical eye, but be especially critical when you are reading Internet sources. As you get familiar with the different kinds of Web sites, you will begin to recognize those that are sponsored by advocacy organizations and those that are controlled by publishers with a broader spectrum of views.

Expertise in evaluating sources develops gradually. To heighten your sensitivity to differences in Web sources, try using criteria such as the questions listed in the following exercise, Criteria for Evaluating Sources (developed by librarians at New Mexico State University).

Here are some sites to explore:

• ICYouSee: T Is for Thinking
• Teaching Critical Evaluation Skills for World Wide Web Resources
• Teaching Students to Think Critically About Internet Resources

Below you will find information about the following sources:

• Books
• Popular and Academic Sources
• Newspaper Sources

You will also find an evaluation exercise.

Evaluating Books

The same general criteria that can be used to evaluate books can also be used to evaluate all sources. Most evaluation guides suggest that you carefully analyze the following items:

• The authority of the author
• The timeliness of the information
• The bias of the source
• The publishing company (or Web site)

For a good guide to evaluation books, see Critically Analyzing Information Sources.

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Evaluating Newspaper Sources

Newspapers vary widely in quality. What is reported in the news depends on the editorial policies of an individual newspaper and the location in which that newspaper is published.

Exercise: Compare The New York Times coverage of a current issue with the coverage in a local newspaper or in a national news magazine such as Time or Newsweek. What differences in coverage do you note? Are the facts and figures the same? What about the interpretation of events? What stories are emphasized? Who is the readership of each selection? Analyze a letter to the editor. Does the writer use facts or opinions or both to support his or her points? 

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Comparing Popular and Academic Sources

You need to understand the difference between popular and academic or scholarly sources. Popular sources of information are acceptable for general topics, but if you are expected to do an in-depth study of a topic, your professor will probably expect you to use the scholarly source. For example, the Scientific American is an excellent journal, but biologists and chemists do not consult it when they are looking for current research in their field.

Similarly, The New York Times Book Review is an excellent source of background information on literature, but for scholarly treatment of a book or author, you need to turn to a critical journal such as the Publications of the Modern Language Association journal. 

Exercise:

1. Search for information on the same term in an academic database such as Medline and in a popular database such as Infotrac.

2. Compare the discussion of a novel or novelist in a popular database such as Reader's Guide and an academic set of databases such as Project Muse. What are the key differences? Which is easier to understand? What do you know about the authors? 

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Evaluation Exercise

Analyze the following Web sites, focusing in particular on credibility and bias. Under what circumstances might you refer to each site in your research paper?

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