Evaluating Sources
Evaluating the authority, usefulness, and reliability of the information you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, multimedia titles, or Web pages are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item, a physical item in hand, or an electronic version on a computer.
ALL SOURCES:
Critically
Analyzing Information Sources lists some of the questions you should ask
when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media
resource, or Web site for your research.
BOOKS:
Use book reviews to gather critical information about books. Three ways to access them online:
ProQuest.
[1986- ; use Guided search; choose book reviews from the Article Type pull-down
menu; some full-text reviews]
Book
Review Digest. [1983- ; excerpts from some reviews]
Bowker's
Books in Print. [in-print books from any year; full-text of short reviews]
PERIODICALS:
Distinguishing
Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria shows
how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience,
and appearance.
WEB SITES:
Five
Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites is a table of tips and questions to
ask.
For another approach, see Evaluating
Web Sites: Criteria and Tools.
Wayne
Bivens-Tatum
Gen. & Humanities Reference Librarian
Original source: Instruction, Research, and Information Services (IRIS); Cornell University Library. Modified for Princeton Library use. Used with permission.