evaluating information sources€¦ · 3/7/2012  · evaluating information sources ms. l. alvarez...

EVALUATING INFORMATION

SOURCES

Ms. L. Alvarez

THE WEB AND PRINT SOURCES (EX. BOOKS,

MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPER) PROVIDE BILLIONS OF PIECES

OF INFORMATION.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

UNFORTUNATELY NOT ALL ARERELIABLE, RELEVANTACCURATE

UNBIASED, OR UP-TO-DATE.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

THEREFORE, BEFORE BEING USED, INFORMATION SHOULD BE

EVALUATED.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

A USEFUL TOOL OF EVALUATION IS

CARRDS.

Ms. L. lvarez

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

C CREDIBILITY

A ACCURACY

R RELIABLITY

R RELEVANCE

D DATE

S SOURCE

S SCOPE & PURPOSE

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

CREDIBILITY – The quality and capacity of belief.

Who is the author?

What are his or her credentials?

Education? Experience?

What evidence is offered of his or her

knowledge?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

ACCURACY – Freedom from mistake and error.

Can facts, statistics, or other information be

verified through other sources?

Do there appear to be errors on the page

(i.e., spelling, grammar, facts)?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

RELIABILITY – The extent to which a source gives the

same information as other sources.

Does the source present a particular view

or bias?

Is the information affiliated with an

organization that has a particular political

or social agenda.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

RELEVANCE – The relationship to the focused topic or

question.

Does the information directly support the

thesis or help to answer the question?

Can it be eliminated or ignored because it

simply does not help?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

DATE – The time at which an information source is

published or produced.

Does this project need current, up-to-date

information?

When was this Web page created?

When was it last updated?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

SOURCE – A primary reference work or point of origin.

Is the information based on primary or

secondary sources?

Did the author document his or her sources?

What kind of links or further reading did the

author choose?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

SOURCE & PURPOSE – The range of information on a

given topic and the reason behind its creation.

Does this source address the thesis in a

comprehensive or peripheral way?

Is it material that can easily be read and

understood?

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

These questions should be posed each time a research source is considered.

If the source does not pass any element of the CARRDS test, it should not be used.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

The free Web is the part of the Web that is accessible by search engines.

A search engine is an information retrieval system. It is the most common tool used to locate information on the Web.

Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information which must be consulted.

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

EXAMPLES OF SEARCH ENGINESA search engine is often free and so you get what you pay for……it is sometimes not trustworthy.

Examples:

AltaVista

Infoseek

Google

Yahoo

Excite

Dogplie

Lycos

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

ANOTHER STRATEGY DESIGNED FOR EVALUATING WEB CONTENT IS TO EXAMINE THE END OR SUFFIX OF THE DOMAIN NAME.

THIS HELPS TO:1. GAUGE THE VALIDITY OF THE

INFORMATION AND2. GAUGE ANY POTENTIAL BIAS.

Ms. L. Alvarez

Evaluating Information Sources

THE SUFFIX IDENTIFIES WHO THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION IS AND, THEREFORE, WHAT THEIR PURPOSE IS IN CONVEYING THAT INFORMATION.

Ms. L. Alvarez

Evaluating Information Sources

Ms. L. Alvarez

.com – A commercial site. Purpose to sell a product or service. May

have a built-in bias that you must be aware of.

.biz – A business that could be trying to sell a product or service.

May have built-in bias.

.edu – A school, university, museum, or educational site. Normally

reliable.

.gov – A U.S. government site. Normally reliable.

.int – An international institution. Normally reliable.

.mil – A U.S. military site. Normally reliable.

.museum – A museum. Often reliable

.name – An individual Internet user. Not reliable and may have bias

.net – A network service provider, Internet administrative site.

.org – An organization, often non-profit. These sites can provide

accurate information, but usually have bias.

.pro – A professional’s site.

~ (tilde) or % – A personal site that varies in its credibility

Evaluating Information Sources