Information Literacy

Evaluation of Information
Media and Information Literacy
3rd Grading – Lesson 3.3

Reference: 100% Information Literary Success by G. Wilson

REVIEW

•What are some Electronic Sources/Information?

•What are some techniques in searching and
collecting information?
OBJECTIVES
•Know the techniques in evaluating Information
•Apply the evaluative technique in evaluating
information
•Appreciate the value of knowing how to
evaluate the information
EVALUATING
RESOURCE
PUBLICATION TIMELINE
•History - encyclopedias, sites like Wikipedia,
Britannica Encyclopedia, Oxford Research
Encyclopedias.
•Technology – Help manuals with software and
documentation from the website that publishes
the software.
PUBLICATION TIMELINE
•Immediate & Current Information –
newspaper, news websites, news pages in social
media, news broadcasts
•Weeks Old Information – magazines
•Months Old Information – scholarly journals,
conference papers, research reports, books
•Year Old Information - books
EVALUATING CURENCY

•How current does the information have to be?

•What is the date of publication of the resource?
•What is the edition of the resource?
•Can you determine the currency of the original
source of the information by looking at the
references?
•Is the sponsoring organization stable?
TYPES OF RESOURCES (Scholarly Journals)
Scholarly Journals are reports of original &
current research data conducted by educational
institutions (colleges & universities) & private
research organizations (research labs, hospitals)
•Journals with high accuracy undergone a review
system called peer-review.
•Review systems make sure that researches
follow a specified format based on the Journal’s
Guidelines
TYPES OF RESOURCES (Scholarly Journals)

•Read the abstract of the article before delving

into the entire article so you can save time.
•Keywords can be used to search articles on
similar topics in journal engines and search
engines
•Find the thesis statement of the
Introduction. Hypotheses are included if it
scientific.
TYPES OF RESOURCES (Scholarly Journals)

•Review Literature Review by highlighting,

relevant findings, issues, controversies,
successes or failures of previous researches.
•Review methods. If the study is something
you want to recreate, it is important that your
tools and methods are similar with the author’s
methods and tools. Ask for the tools to the
original author by emailing him.
TYPES OF RESOURCES

•Read Discussions to find out if there are

agreements or disagreements between the
results and the literature review.

Trade Publications and magazines don’t

have formal review processes except the editorial
reviews to ensure they are well-written so
audiences must be critical.
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING RESOURCES

•When did the actual event occur?

•How current is the information in your source?
•How much time is required to transfer the
information into the format of this resource?
•What kind of information is needed? What is the
purpose of the information?
•How current should the information be?
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING RESOURCES

•What sit he best source of information based on

the publication’s timeframe?
•Do you have the to find the original or primary
sources of information?
•What is the purpose of the publication you are
using for your research?
•Has the publication put its articles through a
formal peer review?
EVALUATING
AUTHORITY
EVALUATING AUTHORS

•Most credible authors have a Ph.D. and

equivalent degrees emphasizing they have
mastery of subject matter.
•Check biography sections of books to see
author’s work-related experience. Surf the
internet to see if it is similar.
•Check if the author passed the Licensure
Examinations
EVALUATING AUTHORS

•Check the author’s Affiliated organizations.

Research the organizations if they exist.
•Check the About the Author Page
•Reputable authors are cited by other authors.
EVALUATING PUBLISHERS

•University presses producing academic prints

are usually scholarly and highly reputable.
•Government agencies are generally credible by
publishing reports of the reports and bills.
•Subsidy publishers and vanity press charge
authors for a fee so they do not take
responsibility in any of the published works of
the authors.
EVALUATING SPONSORS AND OWNERS

•Relevant in assessing website by searching the

About Us page
•Search for reason why they are presenting their
information
EVALUATING DATE AND EDITION OF
PULICATION

•Multiple editions of books suggests a more

reliable resource because the publisher chooses
to continue to publish the books/ subsequent
versions.
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING AUTHORITY

•Who is the author?

•What are the author’s academic credentials
related to the topic?
•What is the author’s experience related to the
topic?
•What kind of credential(s) does the author
have?
•What is the author’s affiliation?
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING AUTHORITY

•What else has the author published?

•Is the author well-known in the field?
•Is information provided so you can contact the
author?
•Who is the publisher, and what kinds of
materials are published?
•Who is the sponsor or owner (especially of web
sites), and is that sponsor stable?
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING AUTHORITY

•What is the sponsor’s philosophy?

•Is the sponsor suitable to address this topic?
•Did the author prepare this information as a
part of his or her professional duties or have
some other relationship with sponsor?
EVALUATING
CONTENT
INTENDED AUDIENCE

•If terms were hard and too technical like

scholarly journals, it is usually for practitioners
of specific field
•If it uses basic terms and general, it is for the
public like magazines.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE

•Why was the information written and produced

in the first place? See the style of its writing to
determine its purpose.
•Identify the information you need and check if
the media has something in store for you. For
journals, familiarize yourself with specific parts
so it is easier to search if has the scope of what
you are looking for.
OBJECTIVITY

•Look for facts the authors provide facts and

facts that he did not provide.
•Read opposite viewpoints
•Credible scientists do not use word “prove”
they word the use “suggests” or “there is
correlation between”
ACCURACY AND VERIFIABILITY

•Accurate facts
•Accurate reference to other resources
•No typographical errors
•No grammatical or punctuation errors
•Logical assumptions
•Logical flow of information
•Logical conclusions based on information
ACCURACY AND VERIFIABILITY

•Accurate visual aids (charts, graphs, diagrams)

•Appropriate coverage of material

*If an information resource doe not enable

checking of references, be suspicious
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING CONTENT

•What is the subject? Is it consistent with the

title of the document of the resource?
•Is the information free from grammatical,
typographical, and punctuation errors?
•Are the assumptions, the flow of information,
and the conclusions logical?
•Are the visual aids accurate?
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING CONTENT

•Are the facts and statements justified and

supported with sound research or primary
sources?
•Can the references be verified?
•Do the statements agree with what is generally
accepted as being true?
•Is the information complete, or are data missing
that could possibly change the interpretation?
QUESTIONS IN EVALUATING CONTENT

•Is it available in another format?

•Is it presented in a logical manner?
•Is it consistent?
•Doe the visual aids help in comprehending the
materials?
•Can we add visual aids stand alone?
EVALUATING
WEB
SOURCES
WEBSITE AUTHORITY

•Look for author, sponsor, owner information in

Contact Us, About Us, Background, Philosophy
web pages.
•Check the domain names of the URL
.edu Educational institution .aero Air transport industry
.com Commercial organization .biz Businesses
.gov Government agency .coop Cooperatives
.mil Military entities .info Information
.net Internet service providers .museum museums
.org organizations ~ Personal webpage on a server
WEBSITE CURRENCY

Check the date of the website publication or

page publication. If it has been made years or
months ago check the revision date.

WEBSITE STABILITY
Check the organization it is associated with. If it
is with a credible organization, it has high chance
of staying for along time
EVALUATING WEBSITE CONTENT

•Websites should be straightforward, clearly

differentiating advertisements from objective
facts or statements.
•Although not all bias are wrong, it helps to
recognize them
EVALUATING WEBSITE CONTENT

•Excessive claim of certainty

•Appeal to emotion
•Personal attacks
•Excessive claim of certainty
•Appeal to emotion
•Personal attacks
•Too good to be true
EVALUATING WEBSITE CONTENT

•Something for sale

•Associated cost or fee
•Unsupported claims of facts
•Ignoring or omitting contradictory fats or views
•Appeals to popular opinion
•Before-and-after testimonials
•Suggestive or negative innuendos
EVALUATING WEBSITE CONTENT

•Magnification or negative innuendos

•Magnification or minimization of problems
•Presentation of information out of context
•Sarcastic or angry tone
•advertisements
EVALUATING
MULTIMEDIA
EVALUATING MULTIMEDIA

FUNCTIONALITY
•it should load quickly and error-free
•It should state that there are additional plug-
ins, or it needs software for viewing
•For most international media, it is normal if you
are required to download softwares like
QuickTime, Java, ActiveX, or Acrobat Reader
EVALUATING MULTIMEDIA

USABILITY (User-Friendliness) & ACCESSIBILITY

•Layouts are logical and consistent
•Navigation is intuitive and easy to follow
•Instructions are clear and complete
•Links should be functional
•There should be mechanism for reporting
malfunction
EVALUATING MULTIMEDIA

1. Evaluate the resource

2. Evaluate the authority
3. Evaluate the currency
4. Evaluate the content
5. Evaluate the functionality
6. Evaluate the usability
7. Evaluate the accessibility
ANALYSIS & APPLICATION

What steps are necessary in ensuring that the

media you are going to use in creating Research
Paper or educational materials are valid?
GENERALIZATION
•What are the techniques in evaluating
Information
•What is the importance of knowing how to
evaluate the information
QUIZ

Identify if the ff. is True or False

1. Scholarly Articles do not need evaluation.
2. All information of magazines are not true.
3. All periodicals have the same currency of information.
4. An author’s education degree matters in evaluating
information
5. Journals which have undergone peer-review systems
are more reliable than journals which have not.
QUIZ

Identify if the ff. is True or False.

6. There are no means in evaluating the currency of the
website.
7. The domain names of website like .com and .net helps in
evaluation of information.
8. Entertainment media should not be questioned because its is
for pure entertainment purposes only.
9. If a computer program has bad user-interface, it is possible
that it’s information can also be questionable.
10. The style of writing of an information is an indicator of the
intended audience and reliability of the information.
REMEDIATION

Identify the meaning of these domain names.

1. .com
2. .edu
3. .gov
4. .org
5. .mil