Bloomfield College Information Literacy W ebsite

3.1a Reliability, validity, accuracy,

authority, and timeliness.
Before you decide to use information, you should apply criteria to determine if the
information is appropriate. This applies whether or not the information is from the Web,
a periodical, a book, or some other source.
Is the information reliable or valid? There are some underlying assumptions about
the source of information. Usually, information obtained from a government source will
be reliable. For example, health related information from the National Institutes of
Health may be considered reliable. Statistics concerning criminal justice that originate
from the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics may be
considered reliable. Keep in mind that Government generates thousands of reports from
its many agencies. Conclusions drawn in these reports, such as "Al Qaeda poses no
threat," may not be valid.
Is the information accurate? Statistical information that originates from a Government
source has an underlying presumption of accuracy. If you find statistics cited in a web
site from an organization (such as AmeriCares) or a commercial entity (such as Merck
Pharmaceutical), and the website does not attribute the source of the statistics (for
example, the Food & Drug Administration) do NOT assume the statistics are up-to-date
or necessarily accurate. Even if the website cites the information, it should be double-
checked for accuracy. There is a big difference between 240,000 and 2,400,000 if we
are discussing the number of African Americans incarcerated in the United States.
Is the information authoritative? When we look for substantiation for our arguments,
we should seek out an authoritative voice. What are the different forms of authority? For
one, the credentials that a person holds that indicate expertness. A PhD in Clinical
Psychology is an example of one. The institution a person is affiliated with may be
another. How many articles or books has the person written that pertain to the subject
you are investigating? Does the author have "life experience" that adds credibility to
their viewpoint. For example, a former U.S. Secretary of State would obviously be
considered "authoritative" if he or she were writing about United States foreign policy.
Many of the books in an academic library are published by an academic press, such as
New York Uniersity Press, Rutgers University Press, and others. What does this mean
to you? Just as certain websites (for example, the New York Times) have an underlying
presumption of authority, books published by an academic press also have this
presumption. The audience for these books is the students and faculty scholars of
colleges and universities. Usually, they are not intended for a general audience. This is
different from your typical public library, where most of the books and media are
intended for a broad, general audience.
Is the information timely? The information we seek may not always have to be the
most up-to-date we can find. If we are researching the plays of Shakespeare,
information generated over a time line may be fine to use. Keep in mind though, that
information often reflects the time in which the author has written. If we are researching
the role of women in the writing of Shakespeare, more will have been written post-
1960s than before. Unfortunately, because of the times in which the authors were living,
the role of women in literature was "off the radar" so to speak, and scholars did not pay
particular attention to this area of study.
If we are researching appropriate therapies for HIV-AIDS though, it is important to
search for and find information that is as up-to-date as possible. Typically, this type of
information is found in scholarly journals.
When your Professor requires "scholarly" sources, what does he or she mean? Click on
the attached document below for a hand guide you can print out for reference. The
document is named What are scholarly resources? Scholarly or not? Indeed, that is
the question. Print out the handy reference sheet attached below (Scholarly or not to
guide you in your evaluation). When you think you have mastered the content, feel free
to take this simple test