Evaluation of Sources - 150 pts Due date Sunday, October 6th by midnight

Researchers crafting a reliable and relevant research project must always carefully evaluate information before
they decide to use it. In this assignment, then, you will utilize your information literacy skills in order to locate
and critique a variety of sources that may be applicable to your Bibliographic Essay.

 In particular, you will examine a total of six sources that fall into the each of the following categories; you can
use the sources you have found already just evaluate them with the criteria below.

 Scholarly Articles- 2
 Websites- 2
 Book- 1
 Social Media of your choice -1

 *Please try to include sources in the formats listed above.  I know that some of you have topics where that will
be an issue just shoot me an email if that is the case.  For example, you might not have any books for your
topic.*

After locating your sources, compose an APA or MLA citation for each source. Next, evaluate each source
based on the criteria listed below.  I have provided questions to consider for each criterion but you don't need to
answer every question for every criterion.  Please provide at least 3 sentences for each criterion.

1. RELEVANCY:  Does the source relate to your topic and how? Does it support or refute your topic.  Keep in
mind that it might not match every point you make but instead may support one or two parts of you research
question very well.  Also, if you have several articles that already provide the same information then it may be
redundant and not a good source. You might also scan the article or book and looking at the introduction,
abstract, table of contents, conclusion for information that will support your topic.  We do this scanning without
even thinking about it especially with books. 

2. ACCURACY: Do you detect any biases, unsupported claims, dubious support, or faulty reasoning in this
source? If so, provide specific examples and explain how they affect the value of the source. What information
does the author give as support? Where does the data come from?  Are there citations and references to where
data came from? Is the information presented as fact or opinion?  Is the information written free of errors?

3. CURRENCY: Is the source up-to-date (no more than five years old)? How, if at all, does the age of the
source affect its relevancy? Explain. Is there evidence of newly added or updated information in the topic? If
the information is dated is it still relevant.  

4. AUTHORITY: Does the author have the experience and/or credentials necessary to be considered an
authority on the subject?  Where do they work?  What qualifies the author to write about the topic? What
organization published the article? Explain.

5. PURPOSE: - What is the purpose of the article? To inform, persuade, sell or entertain? Is the article
presented from multiple points of view? Does the author omit important facts or data? Is the information clearly
presented? Who is the intended audience?
6. RATING: On a scale of 1-5, where 1 means “poor” and 5 means “excellent”, how would you rate the overall
quality of this source? Briefly outline the rationale behind your rating.

Example of formatting for the assignment:

Source #
Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press, 2003. Print.
1. Relevancy: The book provides the foundation for the diffusion of innovation theory. I am relating my
topic of augmented reality with the diffusion of innovation model. The book provides the history of the
theory and will help me to better understand the creators thinking of how the model works and how I
can apply it to AR.
2. Accuracy: The bias that is naturally present is that Everett Rogers is the creator so he believes his
theory to be correct. I do not see any errors in the writing. Also, as this book was written by Rogers this
is a primary source for my research.
3. Currency: This source is close to 13 years old but the theory has changed little over the years. This is
the 5th edition and most current. There have been some modifications made by others to the theory to
expand it but this book gives you a solid understanding of the theory as Rogers first presented it.
4. Authority: Rogers is the creator of the theory and as stated before this is a primary source for my
research. Rogers has been a college professor at several major universities including the Ohio State
University, Stanford and USC. Rogers has written over 30 books. Rogers had a Phd in Rural
Sociology.
5. Purpose: This book was written to share Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The book is very
factual and discusses the idea of how new innovations are adopted in society. Most view this theory as a
marketing theory even though it was created by a Roger’s who is a sociologist. I don’t think it presents
multiple view points but the other provides a great amount of data and history about the theory which
only makes it more credible. The writing is for college level research.
6. Rating: Overall I would give this source a 5 out of 5. My research is on the Diffusion of Innovation
Theory and how it related to augmented reality and this is a primary source. I am not sure what better
source I could find on this part of my topic. The book provides a solid foundation and is the latest
version even though it is more than five years old.
Source 1
Long, Leann. “Killer Clown Leaves Mass Grave of Skeletal Remains.” Forensic Examiner, vol. 14, no. 4,
Winter 2005, p. 32-38. EBSCOhost, https://emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/login?
url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=58593013&site=eds-live. Accessed 5
Oct. 2021.
1. Relevancy: This academic journal talks about John Wayne Gacy and how he was caught for all the serial
killings. It also goes into how forensic scientists tried to identify all 33 of Gacy’s victims. This academic
journal supports who John Wayne Gacy was as a serial killer and how he murdered a lot of his victims.
2. Accuracy: I don’t detect any bias or errors to this academic article. Most of the evidence cited in the
article come from K. Ramsland (2005) and C. Valentine (2000) with a brief mention of E. Sullivan
(1998). All of the sources are cited in a reference at the end of the entry and the information is presented
as facts rather than opinions
 3. Currency: This academic journal is from 2005, however, the information is still relevant because
forensic evidence doesn’t change once identified. The only part of this article that could now be more
up-to-date is that the nine unidentified bodies could have finally been identified now. 
4. Authority: Leann Long is unknown on credentials. She is possibly just a writer for the Forensic
Examiner. The Forensic Examiner is a magazine company that does research on scientific article and
case studies. The company publishes four times a year and the work is peered reviewed.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the academic journal is to inform scholars on how John Wayne Gacy was
caught and what horrors they found within his house. The article is limited to just a factual presentation
and limits it to the capturing and identifying the victims of John Wayne Gacy. The information is
presented clearly and in an informative way without giving too much detail to the case.
6. Rating: Overall, I rate this academic journal a 4 out of 5 because of the details on capturing John Wayne
Gacy and identifying his victims. There was a slight lack of authority because of no information on the
author but the publishing company giving it some credibility. Also, the article is slightly outdated, but
since it’s forensic evidence, it isn’t necessarily an outdated source.
Source 2
James, Veronyka. "Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and
Dahmer." Societies, vol. 9, no. 2, 2019. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.jocolibrary.org/login?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/denying-darkness-exploring-
discourses/docview/2318743698/se-2?accountid=46208, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/soc9020046. Accessed 6
Oct. 2021.

1. Relevancy: While this academic journal does relate to John Wayne Gacy it also talks about Jeffrey Dahmer
and Ted Bundy, two famous serial killers. In the section about John Wayne Gacy, it highlights how he was
caught and how he tried to blame “his other identity” that may or may not have actually existed.
2. Accuracy: I didn’t detect any biases or errors when reading this academic journal. This entry cites
references from all different types of sources that are qualifiable and sometimes even come from the serial
killers themselves. Majority of the information is presented as factually except when they mention the
theory that all three serial killers are in correlation with each other in some way at the introduction of the
article.
3. Currency: This academic journal is up-to-date, and the age of the article doesn’t affect the quality or the
relevance of the article simply because John Wayne Gacy has been dead since 1994, meaning that the author
has access to the full case and is able to give a detailed report. It was new to hear that John Wayne Gacy was
trying to say he suffered from multiple personality disorder.
4. Authority: Veronyka James works in the Department of Criminology and Crimes Justice at Shenandoah
University, which makes her more reliable since she specializes in dealing with people like serial killer or at
least in researching them. A scholarly journal called Societies published the article and they are a journal
that publishes information about social sciences. All of these factors make the source highly credible.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the academic article seemed to be to inform scholars about how the three serial
killers were similar and who they all were. The author didn’t necessarily omit facts from his research he just
focused more on the trial of John Wayne Gacy, which was an interesting approach.
6. Rating: I would give this source a 5 out of 5. I liked how it compared three serial killers together and it did
give some interesting information that I hadn’t previously known about John Wayne Gacy. The format was
professional and easy to read.
Source 3
Rumore, Kori. “Timeline: Suburban Chicago Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy and the Efforts to Recover, Name
His 33 Victims.” Chicago Tribune, 17 Dec. 2018, https://www.chicagotribune.com/history/ct-john-wayne-gacy-
timeline-htmlstory.html. Accessed 15 Oct. 2021.

1. Relevancy: The news article is a timeline of John Wayne Gacy and some of his victims’ disappearances.
The article supports the time of Mr. Gacy’s crimes and how they found evidence to support the case of him
being a serial killer. This source gives an outline of events which can give the reader more of an idea of
John Wayne Gacy’s timeline for his 33 victims.
2. Accuracy: I didn’t detect any errors and they supported most of their claims with picture evidence or quotes
from people in John Wayne Gacy’s case. All the facts are presented as informative and seems like an
accurate timeline.
3. Currency: This news article is current on information including new identities that were found in 2017 of
John Wayne Gacy’s victims. This has undated the list of his victims and who they were, making there less
unidentified bodies in the case
4. Authority: Kori Rumore is just a journalist for the Chicago Tribune and doesn’t have any credentials in
criminology or psychology. The only reason she is qualified to work on this article is because she works in
the Chicago Tribune, and it is a timeline of events that have been previously covered in the news. The
Chicago Tribune published this article, and they are credible because John Wayne Gacy’s crimes took place
in Illinois.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the news article was to give an informed timeline of events on the serial killer,
John Wayne Gacy. The article includes all the victims and who they were before and after the killing in a
clear and presentive format. The audience of this article is the general public because it is just an
understanding of what Mr. Gacy did and what his case involved.
6. Rating: I rate this source a 3 out of five because the timeline is helpful for knowing when certain events and
parts of John Wayne Gacy’s case happened; however, it doesn’t have much information after stating the
event.
Source 4
Rogers, Phil. “Secret Gacy Tapes Reveal Killer’s Casual Approach to Murder.” NBC Chicago, 30 Apr. 2021,
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/secret-gacy-tapes-reveal-killers-casual-approach-to-murder/2498596/.
Accessed 15 Oct. 2021.

1. Relevancy: This news article is related to John Wayne Gacy and his evaluation with the police and attorney.
It gives insight to how Gacy was a psychopath and manipulative. It gives the perspective of those who
examined Mr. Gacy and Mr. Gacy himself. It does support another article that talked about Gacy blaming
his supposed other identity. It supports my topic on Mr. Gacy, and it helps to have quotes from other people.
2. Accuracy: There are no errors that I can detect, and the information is presented as factual. To provide
evidence, the author uses quotes from John Wayne Gacy and people that worked on his case.
3. Currency: The information is from early 2021, so it is relevant and uses the tapes from Mr. Gacy and his
lawyer that were unreleased until recently due to the horror Mr. Gacy talks about.
4. Authority: Phil Rogers is an investigative reporter for NBC television in Chicago (WMAQ-TV). He
typically discusses the news that is criminal based and that gives his credibility because he knows what to
look for when doing a news story. NBC is a reliable company for news when it comes to case studies,
making it credible.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the news article was to discuss the tapes of John Wayne Gacy and determine who
he was as a person. The information was presented as informational and for the general public.
6. Rating: I rate this article a 5 out of 5 because they use direct quotes from Mr. Gacy and his attorney to give
the audience a light on what happened and who John Wayne Gacy was as a person and serial killer. It would
be great to use for evidence when looking at his case for how he was a psychopath.
Source 5
"Gacy, John Wayne." Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States, Louis J. Palmer, McFarland,
2nd edition, 2008. Credo Reference, https://emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/login?
url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/mcfcpus/gacy_john_wayne/0?institutionId=1040. Accessed
16 Oct. 2021.
1. Relevancy: The book relates to my topic by having a chapter on John Wayne Gacy and talking about his
life leading up to capital punishment. It would support my topic because it goes into how John Wayne
Gacy’s personal life affected him mentally. It also incorporates new information to the topic.
2. Accuracy: I don’t detect any biases or errors in the source. There are no quotes and direct evidence from
sources that might have been used. Also, there is not a list of references at the end of the chapter.
3. Currency: The source is slightly older, but the information within the book remains to be true as the case
was concluded by 1994.
4. Authority: There is not a listed author of the chapter, but the Credo references is a credible source to list
accurate information. The book is also an Encyclopedia which makes it relatively credible as a source.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the chapter was to inform the general audience on John Wayne Gacy and how
the capital punishment was applied in his verdict and sentencing. In other parts of the book though, the
book goes into the history with capital punishment in the United States and some other people that have
had the sentence.
6. Rating: I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 because of the limited amount of information an encyclopedia
presents as it is supposed to be brief and to the point. It would be more helpful in the book gave a
childhood backstory on Mr. Gacy and other details about him.
Source 6

“Monster in My Family: Full Episode - Killer Clown: John Wayne Gacy (Season 1, Episode 6).” YouTube,
LMN, 17 Oct. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ZMegqlzeE. Accessed 17 Oct. 2021.

1. Relevancy: This source does relate to John Wayne Gacy, and it does go into how his childhood was and
what his life entailed. The support and evidence came from his sister or victim’s families on what the serial
killer had done, and it was interesting to see that perspective.
2. Accuracy: There might be some bias just because the victim’s families would have been angry and against
John Wayne Gacy, and his sister would have her own opinions of her brother being a serial killer. It was
emotional to see all of this so I think there is some emotional persuasion to see how horrific John Wayne
Gacy was and how he could do something like this. Most of the evidence of his life came from the news or
his family members.
3. Currency: The video is from 2019 on YouTube and it appears to be accurate except possibly about getting
the second search warrant for Gacy’s home because there was an article that said they had lied about the
smell of dead bodies, which was believed to be true at the time of this recording. Although the rest of the
video seems to be accurate.
4. Authority: The sister would be a credible source because she lived with John Wayne Gacy when they were
growing up and she spoke to him throughout her adult years until his conviction. The TV program, LMN,
has a whole series on other serial killers or murderers, which would make them credible.
5. Purpose: The purpose of the video was to give insight on John Wayne Gacy’s home-life and personal
relationships. I also think that it was to give victim’s families recognition on the pain that they still feel
decades after the events. It was an informative video, but I think it was made more to entertain viewers, as
TV does for the general public.
6. Rating: I would give the video a 4 out of 5 just because it was made for television purposes, but it does go
into John Wayne Gacy’s sister’s perspective on the topic of him being a serial killer and how she was
affected by his crimes. Overall, I think it had good information woven into the documentary and it gave
insight on different perspectives that I would have never thought to look at.

Citation Examples

Citation of a website MLA 8

The author’s name White, Lori. “The Newest Fad in People Helping
The title of the article or page People: Little Free Pantries.” Upworthy, Cloud Tiger
The title of the website Media, 3 Aug. 2016,
*The name of the publisher www.upworthy.com/the-newest-fad-in-people-
The date the page or site was published helping-people-little-free-pantries?g=2&c=hpstream.
The URL

*Notes:
On the publisher:
Only include the name of the publisher when it
differs from the name of the website.

Citation of a book MLA 7

Last, First M. Book Title. City of Publication: James, Henry. The Ambassadors. Rockville: Serenity,
Publisher, Year Published. Print. 2009. Print.

Ebook accessed in database

Lichter, S. Robert, and Stanley Rothman.
Last, First M. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year Environmental Cancer-A Political Disease?. New
Published. Database Name. Web. Date Month Year Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1999. eBook Collection. Web.
Accessed. 1 Apr. 2013.

Citation of Social Media MLA 7

Last name, First name (Username). “Tweet Timberlake, Justin (jtimberlake). “USA! USA!!.” 16
Message.” Date posted, Time Posted. Tweet. June 2014, 8:05 PM. Tweet.