Unit 6 Evaluating Information

Can You Find the Answers l Use Google to examine the following web sites; decide if the site is trustworthy or questionable: »Feline responses to bearded men »Americans with no abilities act (onion) »Aidsfacts

Unit 6 Evaluating Information l Criteria »Standards »Quality l Applying Standards to »Books »Journals, Magazines »Web Sites l Bibliography citations

Standards for Judging Information l Suitability l Authority l Documentation l Objectivity

Suitability l Is the source relevant? l Who is the intended audience? l Is it an overview or in-depth? l Timeliness – when published, is that important?

Authority  Who is the author?  What do you know about the author?  Credentials  Other writings, reputation  If author is an organization, what do you know about it?

Documentation l Books »Contains index, bibliography, footnotes, what is length? l Periodicals – scholarly or popular? »Journal –Professional audience, footnotes, 5 or more pages, scholarly »Magazine –General audience, no footnotes, less than 5 pages, popular

Objectivity l Are a variety of views represented and argued? l Does the presentation encourage debate, discussion? l Are contradictory views suppressed? l Is language emotional, inflammatory? l Is objective to explore an issue or convert you to the “right thinking”?

Examples l “America the unready: homeland security (America’s defenses or lack of them)” – “The Economist” l “Homeland security (land of the controlled and home of the secure)” – “The Humanist” l “US congress approves more police-state powers (further greases the skids toward a police state)” – “The People”

Applying Standards to Books l Check author’s credentials, works l Does book have bibliography, index? l Who is publisher, publication date l Length (more than 100 pages?) l Is author’s approach objective or biased?

Evaluating Journal and Magazine Articles  Journal or magazine article?  Audience professional or popular  Length substantial or short (+ or - 5 pages)  Footnotes present or absent?  What do you know about author? Check for information within article  What do you know about the publication’s point of view? Conservative, liberal, right, left, center?

Web Sites l Accuracy »Information reliable or biased? »What does URL tell (.com,.org,.gov,.edu)? l Authority »Is authorship clear, can author be contacted? l Content and Currency »Purpose – inform, sell, propagandize? »Is there a clear date, when was page updated? l Documentation »Are sources given or footnoted?

Parts of a Web Page l Header »top of Web document, page title and URL l Title bar » actual title of page, may use to cite l URL or location bar »where Web address appears, vital for citing l Body »where text or content will be found l Footer » info on page author,sponsor, last update

Web Page URLs l Dot what? ».edu – educational institution ».com – commercial entity ».gov – federal government ».org – non-profit organization ».net – network provider –Odd mix – companies, associations, Internet service providers –

Library and Web Sources l Items in libraries (reviewed, filtered) »Books –Reviewed twice: by editor and then librarians »Journal articles –Subject to peer review process, editorial board »Magazine articles –Reflect credibility of journalist and editorial board l Web documents (unreviewed, unfiltered) »No peer review or editorial control »Credibility depends on judgment of user

Bibliography Citations l Citing »Gives credit to source of a quote, idea »Verifies reliability of your information »Describes the source used »Located at end of paper, lists materials consulted in alphabetical order »Follows certain style –MLA, CBI, Turabian, Chicago, APA

Parts of a Citation in a Record AuthorTitle of Article Oresti, David. “Intelligent Life on the Web.” Computerworld. 32(4): Nov. 30 issue Title of Journal pages date volume You need to use relevant information from the record to create a “citation”

Magazine and Journal Articles as Citations Magazine article from (abstract) database Bazell, Robert and Joan Irwin. “Science and Society.” New Republic 15 Mar. 1993: Journal article from (abstract) database Oresti, David. “Intelligent Life on the Web.” Computerworld 32.4 (1998): Journal article from full-text database Oresti, David. “Intelligent Life on the Web.” Computerworld 32.4(1998): INFOTRAC Expanded Academic ASAP. SUNY Plattsburgh Lib. 20 Sept

Book and Web Document Citations Book (MLA) Beard, Henry. French for Cats. New York: Boswell, Web document (MLA) – author, date identified Animal Lovers Society. Cruelty to Snakes. 6 June Oct Web document (MLA) – no author, date identified Cruelty to Snakes. 4 Oct

Homework Assignment l Evaluate books, magazine, journal articles l Cite book, magazine, journal article l Evaluate Web site l Cite Web Site l Refer to Library Web site – Research Help – Citing Sources Refer to Library Web site – Research Help – Citing Sources