Navigating Databases & Evaluating Sources K. Turner English 101

By the End of Class Today Discuss where to find sources Discuss how to evaluate sources for credibility, usefulness. Learn how to find useful articles via UT’s databases. Evaluate some example sources as a class.

Scholarly v. Non-scholarly (Popular)

Scholarly Sources

Scholarly Sources Also called academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed. Found in peer-reviewed journals – or journals where academics submit articles to other scholars/experts/academics in their field for review and comment. Reviewers must agree that the article represents properly conducted, original research or writing before it can be published.

How to Tell if a Source is Scholarly Have a “serious” look: Written by a scholar in a specific field ALWAYS cite their sources in either footnotes or bibliographies  Have gone through a peer-review process Published by associations and universities  Don’t have flashy advertisements and glossy photographs. 

What Features to Look For An abstract Author affiliations Use of specialized vocabulary Sometimes graphs Bibliography

UTK Databases ]

Non-scholarly Sources

How to Tell if a Source is News Often called ”periodical” Sometimes cite sources (though more often not) Authors = editorial staff, reporter or a free-lance writer Author information is in the byline Language is geared to any educated audience - no specialty, only interest and a certain level of intelligence Published by commercial enterprises or individuals Purpose is to provide information, in a general manner, to a broad audience of concerned citizens.

How to Tell if a Source is Popular Often contains advertising & glossy photos Are more visually entertaining  NOT peer-reviewed  May be written by a variety of staff members, NOT scholars in that field of study  Primary purpose is to provide information to a broad audience  Has a commercial publishers No references are provided in footnotes and/or a bibliography 

Evaluating Your Sources

Evaluating Sources: How credible is it? Author: Is the author an authority in this field? What are their credentials? Their values, beliefs, biases? Publisher: Academic journal? Periodical? Other? Online source: Sponsor/website type? “.org”: Professional/nonprofit organizations “.gov”: Gov’t organizations and departments “.edu”: School or university “.net”: network site

Evaluating Sources: How useful is it? Relevant for a given audience? Contemporary/re cently published?