INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRADE 9 C, D, E, F

Topic: Information processing fundamentals

Sub-topic: Information processing.

Source document- is a document that captures information by writing it down.

E.g., forms

Turnover document- is a human and machine-readable document.

Human readable – is where humans read the document manually.

Machine readable – is where the machine read the document.

Hardcopy – is printed out

Softcopy – is electronic copy in a device.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRADE 9 C, D, E, F
Topic: Information processing fundamentals

Sub-topic: Evaluation of information retrieved electronically for authenticity,

currency, relevance, and bias from online sources.
1.Authenticity of a source

 Who is the author or creator (who is responsible for the intellectual content) and what are his or
her credentials?
 Is there any indication of the author's education, other publications, professional affiliations or
experience?
 Is there a note or paragraph in the back of the book or on the jacket (cover, jewel case, or
supplementary brochure) describing the author's credentials?
 Has the author's e-mail address, postal address or phone number provided?
 Has the author been cited in other bibliographies?

2. Currency of a source

Questions to ask about the currency of a source

Ask yourself these questions when thinking about the currency of a source and its information:

1. When was the information published?

2. Has the source been modified, updated or revised? When did this take place?
3. If the information is found online, does the Web site have current links or broken links?

Where do I look?

 Scroll up and down: dates often appear near the top or the very bottom of a web page
 Try to determine if a date you've found is for the whole web site or only one portion

Remember the context!

Does it matter if the information is old or new?

Sometimes, the currency of the source is very important. For example, if you are researching about a
time-sensitive topic such as a current event, then it's important to find sources that have been published
recently. Likewise, if you are searching for information about what restaurant to go to tonight, it's
important to use current information. (You don't want to arrive at a location only to find that the restaurant
went out of business ages ago!)

Sometimes, though, the currency is not that important!

For example, if you are searching for literary criticism about Shakespeare's plays, then the currency might
not matter at all. Criticism written in 1902 about imagery in Hamlet can still be relevant today
 3. Relevancy of a source

Questions to ask about the relevancy of a source

Ask yourself these questions when thinking about if a source is relevant or not:

1. Is the information you found related to and useful for your topic and assignment?
2. Is the source the appropriate type for your needs? For example, do you need a book or a
scholarly journal article? Do you need primary or secondary sources of information?
3. Is the information too broad or too specific?

Remember the context!

Sometimes it's very important to evaluate a source's relevancy to your

information needs.
For example, if you are required to use primary documents in a research paper about colonial America,
it's important to find primary documents about colonial America as opposed to secondary documents
about World War II.

Other times, it's not as important to evaluate a source's relevancy.

For example, if you want to find general information about your favorite reality TV star, you don't have to
worry so much about the type of source you use or the scope of the information.

4. Bias of a source

Questions to ask about the bias of a source

Ask yourself these questions when thinking about if a source is biased and if that bias affects its
credibility:

1. What is the purpose of the source? Does the source promote one point of view or one
agenda?
2. If the information is found online, does the Web site have advertisements? If so, are the ads a
part of or separate from the rest of the site?
3. Does the about section provide information about where the site gets its funding? See if you
can follow the money!

How do I do this?

Your tasks:

 Read the "About" information

 Read any information about the site's funding
 See if you can find out what other sources have to say about the site

Remember the context!

Does it matter if the source is biased?

If you are writing a research paper about cancer treatments, you will most likely need balanced, objective
information but if you are writing an argumentative paper, you will need information about all points of
view on a given topic. In this case, it's important that you recognize the bias, rather than avoid it.