Evaluating Resources: Print

and Net

Reader Beware!
 Filters: Authorship
 In your own field, is the author a well-known and well-
regarded name you recognize?
 When you find an author you do not recognize:
 Is the author mentioned in a positive fashion by another author who
is regarded highly?
 Who is the publisher?
 Was the author’s Web/Internet document linked to another
document you trust?
 Does the Web/Internet/printdocument you are reading give
biographical information, including the author's position, institutional
affiliation and address, and so on?
 Is biographical information available?
 if none of these, is there an address and telephone number as well
as an e-mail address for the author? An e- mail address alone gives
you no more information than you already have.
 The publishing body
Assess the role and authority of the "publisher“:
Is the name of any organization given on the document?
If not, can you link to a page where such information is listed
(by looking at the URL)?
Is this organization recognized in the field?
Can you ascertain the relationship of the author and the
publisher/server? Professional? Casual?
Can you verify the identity of the server where the document
resides?
Does this Web page actually reside in an individual’s personal
Internet account, rather than being part of an official Web
site? [http://vweb.nass.com.au/cgi-bin/dnslookup and whois
]
 Filters: Point of View or Bias
 Does this document reside on the Web server of
an organization that has a clear stake in the
issue at hand, eg wrt goods and political figures?
 Does this document reside on the Web server of
an organization—academic, NGO, media, etc--
that has a political or philosophical agenda?
 Is the document on an organisation devoted to a
movement?
Filters: Knowledge of the Literature

 The document includes a bibliography.

 The author knows of related sources.
 The author displays knowledge of theories, schools
of thought, or techniques in her subject.
 If the author is using a new theory or technique as
a basis for research, she discusses the value
and/or limitations of this new approach.
 If the author's treatment of the subject is
controversial, she acknowledges this.
 Filters: Accuracy
 explanation of the research methods used to
gather and interpret it are included.
 The methodology outlined in the document is
appropriate to the topic and allows the study to
be duplicated for purposes of verification.
 The document relies on other sources that are
listed in a bibliography or includes links.
 The document names individuals and/or sources
that provided non- published data used .
 The background information can be verified for
accuracy
 Currency/Datedness
 Where there is a need to add data or update it on
a constant basis, the document includes
information on the frequency of updates.
 The document includes a publication date or a
"last updated" date.
 The document includes a date of copyright.
 If no date is given in an electronic document, you
can view the directory to get the date of latest
modification.
 If you have used a Search Engine
 Find out how the search engine decides the order in
which the information is retrieved (some sources pay
search engines to appear on top).
 Good idea to cross check your information from the
search engine with library databases.
 http://www.searchengineshowdown.com

 http://searchenginewatch.com

Decoding URLs:
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/readingurls.html
http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluatin
g/url.html
 Assignment
 Conduct a lit search on the web.
 Evaluate any five sources that you have
taken from the web.