EVALUATING SOURCES

Why is it important to evaluate

What it means to evaluate sources is to recognize the credibility of the data you
sources? When you research, you
read and use in your research. Despite the abundance of information available in print
want to find the best information to
and online, not all of it is trustworthy, accurate, or valid. Evaluating sources is the
support your ideas, discussions and
process of critically evaluating information in relation to a given purpose in order to
arguments. This requires careful
determine if it is appropriate for the intended use.
evaluation of the information you find.
Why evaluate? Instructors expect students to use scholarly sources: using better
It is important to evaluate information.
sources often results in better grades, information can be out-of-date, inaccurate, and
This will ensure you discover the most
even purposely misleading, and some forms of information, such as websites, allow
relevant information for your topic and assignment, to enhance the quality and
anyone to contribute content or exist only to sell products or ads by generating traffic.
reliability of your research, find expert views, opinions and peer-reviewed research on
your topic, and to decipher and weed out biased, unreliable and incorrect information.
Evaluating information will allow you to recognize and dismiss information that is
unreliable, biased, unfair, out of date, incorrect, false, and fake.
 Once you found information that
matches the topic and requirements of
your research, you should analyze or
evaluate these information sources.
Evaluating information encourages you
to think critically about the reliability,
validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness,
point of view or bias of information
sources. Just because a book, article, or
website matches your search criteria does not mean that it is necessarily a reliable
source of information. It is important to remember that sources of information
comprising the Library's print and electronic collections have already been evaluated
for inclusion among the Library's resources. However, this does not necessarily mean
that these sources are relevant to your research. This does not necessarily apply to
sources of information on the Web for the general public. Many of us with
Internet/Web accounts are potential publishers of websites; most of this content is
published without editorial review. Think about it.
resources are equal! When you are
looking for information, you are a
researcher. As a researcher, you must
evaluate the information you find and
decide whether the content is:
scholarly, correct, or authoritative.
Along with accessing, searching, and
finding information,
evaluating information is vital. It is
important to evaluate carefully the
sources you choose. Consider what
you are looking for and why. When you have more credible sources, the more credible
your argument. You can use the CRAAP Test and the 5 Ws to ask questions
about websites, books or articles. CRAAP is an acronym for each step of the process of
evaluating a source. C: Currency, R: Relevance, A: Authority, A: Accuracy,
P: Purpose. The CRAAP Test was developed by the Meriam Library at California State
University, Chico. When choosing a resource or
website, you could use your critical thinking skills and the 5 W's.

In an information-rich society, it's vital to remember that not all information

 When you are researching
for information on the web, you
will come across many websites
and images. It is important to
check, evaluate and verify what
you see.It's so easy to find
information on most any topic on
the Internet. Whether or not that
information is reliable, up-to-date,
and unbiased is really the big question for anyone doing research on the web. Books,
magazines, and journal and newspaper articles have to meet stronger quality control CRITERIA IN EVALUATING SOURCES
standards, and it's usually not hard to figure out when print material was published, Before using sources, you
who published it, and if the information is reliable or not. It's not quite like that with must
information you find on the web. Anyone can create a web site, and usually, there
aren't standards to evaluate the quality and accuracy of the information. So that makes
it even more important to take the time to make sure to critically examine the
information and the website.

carefully assess and filter them because there is always the possibility that information
obtained from the internet or other sources will be biased or inaccurate.
 The following are some guidelines for determining whether a source is
appropriate for academic use.
First is the Relevance of the Source to the
Research Topic. In this criteria, this is where you can check the title, table of contents,
summary/abstract, introduction, or heading of the text to have a sense of its content.
Second is the Authority/Author’s Qualifications. This is where you can check the
university’s website to make sure that the professor is associated with the university.
Take note that the publications from the professors are usually peer reviewed and have
undergone a strenuous publication process and are therefore reliable. Third is the
Currency/Date Publication. In this criteria, data from older publications may no longer
be valid in most fields. The publication date should be as close to five years earlier as
possible. Fourth is the Contents/Accuracy of Information. This is where the author
must write in a formal tone and with a formal attitude toward the subject at hand.
Contractions and colloquial words, for example, should not be used in formal English
writing. Also, in this criteria you need to make sure your source is verified and legit.
And lastly, the Location of Sources. This is where you should avoid blogs, personal
homepage and sites that are weird or suspicious.
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
ABOUT EVALUATING
SOURCES
Teacher:
Ms. May Suerte Cuestas

Student:
Karyl Mae S. Orbeta