EVALUATING INFORMATION SOURCES: QUALITY COUNTS!

As a college student, you will often be asked to use information from published sources for essays, reports, speeches and other class projects.  So, where do you get your information?  You have many choices—television, movies, radio, books, journals, the Internet, and so on.

Books, popular magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers and pamphlets are almost always subject to editing, fact-checking, peer-review, or other quality-control measures before publication.  This is also true of full-text articles and books available through subscription databases provided through libraries.  These online resources are based on published print sources.

Internet Web pages found using search engines such as Google or Yahoo! are not subject to any kind of quality control.  Finding reliable information in the vast ocean of gossip, rumor, political propaganda, quack medicine, and other questionable sites on the Internet can be a frustrating, time-consuming task.  On the other hand, there are many excellent sources of high-quality, reliable information to be found on the Web for the savvy searcher.

With so much information available in so many formats, how do you make wise choices?  How can you tell whether the information is reliable?

Your college library is the place to start!

If you're not sure where to begin, your librarian can help you select the best resources to consult for a given topic.  Once you've found some information, it's up to you to assess it and decide whether it's appropriate for your project.  Use the criteria listed below to evaluate an information source.

Authority:  Who created the resource?  Is the author, publisher, and/or producer reputable?  What is their affiliation or background?  Are they qualified to provide information on this topic?

Accuracy:  Is the information reliable?  Has it been subjected to any kind of editing, peer review, or other process to check for errors of fact?  Can factual information be verified in another source?

Fairness:  Can you detect any bias in the content or presentation of the information?  What is the purpose of the publication—to inform, to sell a product, or to advocate a point of view?  If the source has biases, are they clearly stated?

Scope:  Is the coverage of the topic appropriate for your needs?

Currency:  Does currency matter for your topic?  If so, is the date of publication recent enough?

EVALUATING PRINT RESOURCES

Authority

Books and articles will often include some information about the author.  This can help you decide whether the person is qualified to present information about the topic.

Pay attention to the publisher of the book or periodical.  Book publishers are usually identified on the title page.  The company or organization that publishes a magazine or journal may be named on the cover or title page.  If not, you can usually find it on one of the first few inside pages.  You may recognize the names of well-known publishers.

You can get a feel for the reputability of a publication by checking a library database such as WorldCat to find out how many libraries have purchased materials from that company or subscribed to that periodical.  Libraries usually make purchasing decisions based in part on the reputation of the publisher.  Ownership by a large number of libraries is often an indicator of reputability.

Accuracy

Printed books, magazines, journals and newspapers are usually edited and/or reviewed for errors prior to publication.  Scholarly journals have a higher level of review than general interest publications.

If you consult several sources dealing with the same topic, you should find that statements of fact are in agreement.  If you can verify factual information in multiple sources, it's likely that the information is accurate.

If the source meets the criteria for authority, you can assume that the author and/or publisher has an interest in maintaining their reputation for quality.

Fairness

If you know something about the author or publisher, you can probably judge whether they tend to promote a particular point of view.  Sometimes a book's introduction or preface will clearly state the purpose of the work and the author's views.

Look for bias in the language of the publication.  A writer is likely to be presenting a slanted point of view if you see the following:

• Appeals to the reader's emotions, not logic or intelligence
• Opinions stated as facts
• No consideration of other points of view
• Overgeneralizations, that is, "all" or "none" statements
• Exaggerated statements
• Use of stereotypes for persons or groups

An information source can be biased, but still be useful, as long as you recognize the point of view being offered and make sure to consult other sources for different opinions on the issue.

Scope

You also need to decide if the source meets your current information needs.  Ask yourself the following:

• Does this source provide enough information?
• Who is the intended audience—adults or children, scholars or the general public, experts or novices?
• If you're using the source for a class assignment, does the type of publication meet your instructor's requirements?

Date

Check the publication date to make sure the source is up-to-date enough for your needs.

You can usually find the publication date of a periodical on the cover and/or the table of contents page.  For books, look on the front or back of the title page.  If a book is a reprint of an older publication, check for the original publication date.

EVALUATING INTERNET WEBSITES

When something is offered to the world on the Internet for free, you need to think about the motivation behind it.  Is the information provided as a public service?  Are you being sold a product or service?  Is a particular cause or point of view being promoted?  Is the information fact or opinion?  Is the site humorous or satirical, or meant to be taken seriously?

Before looking at other aspects of a Web page, take a look at the URL, or electronic address, of the site.  This address will include a three-letter code indicating the "domain" or type of organization sponsoring the site.  This is an important clue for determining the purpose of the site.  Some of the most common domains you will find are listed in the table below.

.edu	Indicates an educational institution.  The purpose of the site is to present factual information, so it can usually be considered a reliable source.  However, students or faculty may publish personal pages in their account which may include information not endorsed by the institution.  Personal pages usually include a tilde (~) in the URL.
.gov	Indicates a U.S. government agency.  The purpose of the site is to present factual information.  Government agencies publish legislation, census information, weather data, tax forms, and many other kinds of documents.  These are normally considered reliable information sources.
.org	Indicates a not-for-profit organization.  These sites usually promote a cause or attempt to influence public opinion on a given issue.
.com	Indicates a commercial enterprise.  These sites are usually promoting or selling a product or service.  Some sites in this domain, such as news publications, provide quality information that you can purchase for a fee.

Try to answer the questions under each criterion below to determine the quality of the Website.  A higher number of "yes" answers increases the likelihood that the site is a reliable information source.

Authority

• Is it clear what institution, agency, organization, company, or individual is responsible for the page?
• Is there a link to a page describing the purpose, goals, or nature of the sponsoring entity?
• Is there a way to verify the legitimacy of the page's sponsor or author?  That is, is there a phone number or address to contact for more information?
• Is there a statement giving the organization's name as the copyright holder?

Accuracy

• Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so they can be verified elsewhere?
• Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors?  (These kinds of errors are a strong indicator of a lack of quality control.)

Fairness

• Is the motivation for publishing the Website clearly stated?
• Is the information presented in a logical way, free of bias?  (Note the indicators of bias for print publications discussed above.)
• If there is advertising on the page, is it clearly separate from the informational content?

Scope

• Does the page provide enough information for your needs?
• Is the intended audience appropriate for your use of the information?

Date

• Are there dates on the page that show:
  • When the page was written?
  • When the page was first published on the Web?
  • When the page was last updated?
• Do the links on the site lead to active Web pages?  ("Dead" links indicate the page hasn't been updated recently.)
• Are there any other indications that the information on the page is kept current?