Assess
Be sure the information you select is the information you need!
Assess your Information & Sources
Currency
- How recent is the information?
- When was it published?
- Is it current enough for your purposes?
Reliability
- What kind of information is included in the resource?
- Is content of the resource informative rather primarily opinion? Is it balanced?
- Does it include references or sources for data, claims, and quotations?
- Can you confirm information and claims in other sources?
Authority
- What kind of expertise does the author have? Academic? Firsthand experience?
- Who is the publisher or sponsor and what is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
- If you need scholarly information, is this a scholarly article?
- Is it written by academics?
- Is the information thoroughly documented with in-text citations a references list?
Purpose/Point of View
- Is the source: Informative? Opinion? Entertainment?
- If from a scholarly journal, is the actual article a scholarly study? Or is it a book review?
- Does the focus of the piece fulfill your assignment needs?
- What is its point of view?
