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