Libraries

Evaluating Resources

Evaluating Audiovisual Material

In this Learning Unit, you will learn how to decide which audiovisual materials are best for your class assignments. The key idea is evaluation-that is deciding which sources of information are the most reliable and useful. Students should look at evaluation as a process used whenever information is sought. One of the most important aspects of the research process is evaluating the quality of each of your sources in order to determine which provide good information and which do not. The key is to Question Authority. Not everything in print is true, even if found in a scholarly work on the library's shelves. Scholarly work is criticized just as novels, films, and music are criticized. Begin to Think Critically. Learn to utilize library resources such as biographical sources and book reviews to authenticate the information you find.

Relevance

Does this item address the issue that you are researching? A source is relevant if the majority of it is tied to the subject you are researching. Today, many students search on databases or the Internet and often the items found by such searches are not really about the desired topic. A search using the term "AIDS," for example, might find an article such as "Training Teachers How to Use Teaching Aids." While the word "AIDS" was part of the title, this is obviously not an article about the AIDS disease.

Currency

Many of the best sources of information will be ones that have been recently written. Current articles offer up-to-date statistics and information, and usually, the newest research on your topic. This is not to say that older sources can't be valuable, but you need to make that decision. If you, for example, were writing a history of AIDS, older books might be useful for finding out how it was treated ten or twenty years ago. If your assignment, however, is about current AIDS therapies, then your sources need to be current. Look at the publication date on the back of the book's title page (if you have not already done so on Voyager) or the front cover of a magazine, and ask yourself a couple of questions.

Do I need a historical overview for my paper?(For example do you need a history of the ideas and debates on your subject?) If this is the case, a current publication date is not vital.
Am I working on a contemporary topic and thus need more current material?

If your research topic is something like "Water Pollution," materials published before the 1950's are not likely to contain information on the dumping of toxic wastes into our drinking water. With this topic, you should begin your research for information dated after the 1950's.

Author's Credentials

One key part of evaluating a source is to look at the person or persons who wrote it. The author's credentials can show if the author is a specialist, or has done research on the subject. Obviously a medical text written by someone who is not a doctor would be suspect-just as a book on economics written by a chemist might be suspect. Specifically, you should try to answer the following questions about the author.

Is the author's education related to this subject?
Is this author well known in the field?
What else has this author written on this subject?
Have other experts critically examined the writings of this author? (If so, are they favorable about the item you are looking at?)

Content

Not only should the source address your subject, but it should also do so in a thorough and detailed manner. If your subject is only a minor part of the source, then the source might not be the best available. Does the source you are using contain information appropriate for your topic? To make this determination, scan the package and enclosures, which may include a general view of the material covered.

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources that were used in writing a resource. A good source lets the reader know where the information came from. This allows the researcher to either double check the author's conclusions or to find out more about the subject. If a source does not provide a bibliography, the researcher has to guess how much the author actually knows about the subject. The bibliography is frequently found at the end of the audiovisual material. It will give you lists of additional sources for your paper. If these sources do not appear to be helpful, then this source may not be of much value to you.

Additional Resources

Critical Evaluation of Resources University of California Berkeley Library

Critically Analyzing Information Sources Cornell University Library

Evaluating Books

In this unit, you will learn how to decide which books are the best to use for your class assignments. The key idea is evaluation - that is deciding which sources of information are the most reliable and useful. Students should look at evaluation as a process used whenever information is sought. One of the most important aspects of the research process is evaluating the quality of each of your sources in order to determine which provide good information and which do not. The key is to Question Authority. Not everything in print is true, even if found in a scholarly work on the library's shelves. Scholarly work is criticized just as novels, films, and music are regularly criticized. Begin to Think Critically. Learn to utilize library resources such as biographical sources and book reviews to authenticate the information you find.

Relevance

Does this item address the issue that you are researching? A source is relevant if the majority of it is tied to the subject you are researching. Today, many students search on databases or the Internet, and often the items found by such searches are not really about the desired topic. A search using the term "AIDS," for example, might find an article such as "Training Teachers How to Use Teaching Aids." While the word "AIDS" was part of the title, this is obviously not an article about the AIDS disease.

Currency

Do I need a historical overview for my paper?(For example do you need a history of the ideas and debates on your subject?) If this is the case, a current publication date is not vital.
Am I working on a contemporary topic and thus need more current material? If your research topic is something like "Water Pollution," materials published before the 1950's are not likely to contain information on the dumping of toxic wastes into our drinking water. With this topic, you should begin your research for information dated after the 1950's.

Author's Credentials

One key part of evaluating a source is to look at the person or persons who wrote it. The author's credentials can show if the author is a specialist, or has done research on the subject. Obviously, a medical text written by someone who is not a doctor would be suspect-just as a book on economics written by a chemist might be suspect. Specifically, you should try to answer the following questions about the author.

Is the author's education related to this subject?
Is this author well known in the field?
What else has this author written on this subject?
Have other experts critically examined the writings of this author? (If so are they favorable about the item you are looking at?)

Content

Table of Contents: This list can generally be found at the beginning of a book. It gives you a general view of the material covered.
Index: Usually lists specific information, i.e., names, places, events, etc. The index will be found at the back of a book.
Preface/ Introduction: Found mostly in books, a preface provides background information about the book and/or author(s). This information should include something on your topic

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources that were used in writing a book. A good source lets the reader know where the information came from. This allows the researcher to either double check the author's conclusions or to find out more about the subject. If a source does not provide a bibliography, the researcher has to guess how much the author actually knows about the subject. The bibliography is frequently found at the back of a book along with the index. It will give you lists of additional sources for your paper. If these sources do not appear to be helpful, then this source may not be of much value to you. Occasionally, they are called something other than "Bibliography " (for example, " Recommended Readings").

Information About the Author

There are many resources available in the library to help scholars evaluate books. When evaluating books, consider relevance, currency, author's credentials, content, and bibliography. The Reference section of the Hartfield Library holds many books that provide extensive information that can be used in evaluating sources. Many of these sources are especially useful when evaluating books. Reference sources include sources of biographical information and sources of book reviews or critical interpretations of other books. When evaluating a book, a good first step is to look for information on the author's credentials. This information is easily found in books that offer biographical information about authors. Biographies-the histories of a person's life-generally include such information as where they went to school, what degree(s) were earned, what other books they have written, what awards and recognition they have received, and what professional organizations that they are members of. Some of the biographical sources in the library offer chapters with extensive information on popular or well known authors. It is often important to determine the background of the author of a book you wish to use in your research. In advanced courses, your instructors may ask you to defend the reliability and value of your sources. Biographical sources will help you establish the credentials of many authors. Biographical sources vary in the amount of information provided.

Pseudonym handbooks list an author's pseudonym and/or nickname followed by their real name. Write these names down and look for them in the other biographical sources. (Ex. Pseudonym and Nicknames Dictionary, Ref CT120 .P8)
Biographical Indexes lead you to magazine or journal articles on a person. (Ex. Biography Index , Index Z5301 .B5; Something about the Author, Ref PN451.S6)
Directories give basic data about a person, such as birth and death dates, where the person was educated, list of publications, association affiliations, current address, etc. (Ex. Who's Who in America , Ref E176 .W642)
Biographical Dictionaries provide a short paragraph of biographical information. (Ex. Webster's Biographical Dictionary , Ref CT103 .W4)
Biographical Encyclopedias contain long articles describing the person's life, character, philosophy, accomplishments, and may include a limited amount of criticism of the author's work. (Ex. Contemporary Authors , Ref Z1224 .C58)

Other ways to locate biographical information include:

Using Primo to locate full-length biographies about major figures. Books about a person are found by searching the name as a keyword or subject heading.
Looking in Primo under your subject headings with the terms "biography" and "directories" subheadings.
Looking in general or special encyclopedias.
Using periodical or newspaper indexes to locate obituaries.

Information About Book Reviews

Primo may help locate books, but it does not tell you if a book is good, bad, or mediocre. Use book reviews to:

Determine if a book is worth using before reading it and investing time on it. Is it worth reading? Is there a better book on the same topic?
Find in-depth information about the book.

Long reviews:

Evaluate a book.
Comment on its viewpoint, data, and methodology.
May provide biographical information about the author.

Book reviews are sources of criticism written at approximately the same time as a book was published, usually appearing within several months to two years of its publication date. These reviews appear in national magazines, journals, and newspapers. It is important to realize that not all books get reviewed. The more prominent the author is, the more likely the book will be reviewed. However, don't expect to find Shakespeare's works reviewed; there are other sources for literary criticism of older works. Likewise, don't expect books published by small publishers or written about items of local interest to be reviewed in national publications. Access to the book reviews is provided by book review indexes. Reviews are generally listed by the author's name and by the title of the book. When looking for a book review, note the publication date of the book and check the appropriate book review index for that year and for the two following years. The most prominent book review index available at the Hartfield Library is the Book Review Digest (Index Z1219 .C95).

Specialized Reviews: Literary Criticisms

A criticism is the analysis and evaluation of individual works of writing. It may be applied to scholarly works, non-fictional books, novels, poems, plays, short stories, or any other written works. More specifically, literary criticisms are critical analyses of works of literature (fiction). Many sources of criticisms are available at the Hartfield Library.

Patrons can locate longer criticisms, i.e., book length criticisms, by checking Voyager under the author's name with the subheading "Criticism and interpretation." (For example, try a subject search of: Poe, Edgar Allan 1809-1849--Criticism and interpretation.)

Criticisms analyze and critique the writings of important authors of fiction. Every volume provides information on these significant authors including: some biographical information, a list of his/her principal works, a list of excerpted criticisms, and a list of sources for "further reading." The editors of these series select the excerpted criticisms from a variety of sources, which you should verify for credibility. If you have questions about the content of a criticism, look for the "explanatory notes" section located prior to the criticism. These notes comment on the critic's reputation, the purpose of the criticism, and the "importance of the work of criticism." Note that some authors may be profiled in a number of volumes within a series. Annual Cumulative Title Index (Ref PN761 .N56). This is shelved after the last volume in each series. All the works critiqued are listed alphabetically by title in this index. If you have an author's name, but not a title, got to either a general encyclopedia or to the Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (REF PN 41 .M 42 1995) to find a list of works written by this author.

Then select the title of one of the author's works and check the index to see which in which volume it is critiqued. Titles in the index are followed by a series of numbers--numbers in bold type indicate volume numbers, numbers in regular type indicate pages. Many times a section on one author will feature several criticisms of works by this author.

Each criticism will feature a citation at the beginning or end of that criticism which identifies the source from which the criticism was taken. Some criticisms come from journals; some come from encyclopedias or chapters in books. Almost all criticisms in the series are short excerpts from longer criticisms. To read the entire criticism, use the citation to find where and when the criticism was printed.

Note that if a title is not in the expected index, then it might be in one of the other series, especially in Contemporary Literary Criticism (Ref PN771 .C59).

Example of a Book Evaluation

In 1994, a book was published called The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (BF431 .H398). The conclusions of this book stirred up a firestorm of protest and a great number of very critical reviews. Because this book was so controversial, the Librarians purchased a copy for the collection. This would allow students who wanted to debate the conclusions of the book to read them and analyze then for themselves. A student researching today might not know the history of this book and so might assume it to be a good and reputable source simply because they found it in the library. To see if this is the case, let us do a little evaluating using the tools listed above.

The book is: Herrnstein, Richard J. and Murray, Charles, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, New York: Free Press, 1994.

After retrieving this book, it can be evaluated in the following manner:

Relevance: After looking at the book's title and table of contents and then reading the Introduction, it becomes clear that the theme of this book is a proposed link between races and poverty and the skills shown on IQ tests-in short Caucasians ("whites") perform better and are better prepared for intelligence tests. In the authors' own words, "…low intelligence, independent of social, economic, or ethnic background lies at the root of many social problems." If you were researching such issues as racial differences, racism, intelligence tests, or the effects of class distinctions in America, The Bell Curve would obviously be very relevant to your research. If you were researching a paper about national defense or the tax structure in America, this book would not really be relevant.
Currency: The Bell Curve was written in 1994 (16 years ago) so the issues addressed in it are not current.
Author's Credentials: The Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index indicates that Richard Herrnstein is discussed in volume 153. In vol. 153, we find a section on Herrnstein on pages 154 - 158. In these pages we find that he has a PhD from Harvard University and has been both a Professor of Psychology and a practicing Psychologist. Much of his research and writing has been focused on IQ tests. Thus, for a man writing about IQ tests and psychology, Herrnstein's credentials, research, and reputation indicate that he is a credible author.
Content: The Book Review Digest volume for 1994 lists twelve reviews of The Bell Curve. Of these, four reviews are quoted. The first claims, "The argument of the book is straightforward, provocative, and disturbing." Another reviewer writes, "There is a good deal of genuine science in The Bell Curve and there is also an awful lot of science fiction…In short, the Bell Curve is not only sleazy; it is, intellectually a mess." A third review claims that, "Nowhere is the authors' dishonesty clearer than with respect to race…[They] take pains to sugarcoat and hedge their more outrageous claims, but their nasty political agenda [is] always visible in the wings…" Simply put, the professionals who have reviewed this work were very critical and rejected most of the authors' conclusions.
Bibliography: A fast scan of the book finds that it has 220 pages of Appendices and notes and a 57 page-long bibliography.

Conclusions

The bibliography of The Bell Curveseems to identify many other good sources of information and the credentials of its main author seem pretty strong. But the book reviews excerpted in the Book Review Digest indicate that the conclusions in this book have been challenged and found wanting. So, a researcher must approach this book with a great deal of skepticism and caution.

Additional Resources

Critical Evaluation of Resources University of California Berkeley Library

Critically Analyzing Information Sources Cornell University Library

Evaluating Internet Sites

In this Learning Unit, you will learn how to decide which internet sites are the best to use for your class assignments. The key idea is evaluation-that is deciding which sources of information are the most reliable and useful. Students should look at evaluation as a process used whenever information is sought.

Relevance

Does this site address the issue that you are researching? A source is relevant if the majority of it is tied to the subject you are researching. Often the items found by internet searches are not really about the desired topic. A search using the term "AIDS," for example, might find a site such as "Training Teachers How to Use Teaching Aids." While the word "AIDS" was part of the title, this is obviously not a site about the AIDS disease.

Currency

Many of the best sources of information will be ones that have been recently written. Current sites offer up-to-date statistics and information, and usually, the newest research on your topic. This is not to say that older sources can't be valuable, but you need to make that decision. If you, for example, were writing a history of AIDS, older sites might be useful for finding out how it was treated ten or twenty years ago. If your assignment, however, is about current AIDS therapies, then your sources need to be current.

Look at the dates listed within the site as well as the " Updated on" date on the site. Sometimes, sites claim to be updated frequently but the only portion actually being updated is the " Updated on" date. Ask yourself a couple of questions:

Do I need a historical overview for my paper? (For example do you need a history of the ideas and debates on your subject?) If this is the case, a current publication date is not vital.
Am I working on a contemporary topic and thus need more current material? If your research topic is something like "Water Pollution," materials published before the 1950's are not likely to contain information on the dumping of toxic wastes into our drinking water. With this topic, you should begin your research for information dated after the 1950's.

Author's Credentials

One key part of evaluating a source is to look at the person or persons who wrote it. The author's credentials can show if the author is a specialist, or has done research on the subject. Obviously a medical site written by someone who is not a doctor would be suspect-just as a site on economics written by a chemist might be suspect. Specifically, you should try to answer the following questions about the author:

Is the author's education related to this subject?
Is this author well known in the field?
What else has this author written on this subject?
Have other experts critically examined the writings of this author? (If so are they favorable about the item you are looking at?)

Content

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources that were used in a web page. A good source lets the reader know where the information came from. This allows the researcher to either double check the author's conclusions or to find out more about the subject. If a source does not provide a bibliography, the researcher has to guess how much the author actually knows about the subject. The bibliography will give you lists of additional sources for your paper. If these sources do not appear to be helpful, then this source may not be of much value to you. Many of the better web pages include bibliographies, even if occasionally they are called something other than "Bibliography" (for example, "Recommended Readings").

Additional Resources

Critical Evaluation of Resources University of California Berkeley Library

Critically Analyzing Information Sources Cornell University Library

Evaluating Information Found on the Internet Johns Hopkins University

Evaluating Periodicals

In this Learning Unit, you will learn how to decide which periodical articles are the best to use for your class assignments. The key idea is evaluation-that is deciding which sources of information are the most reliable and useful. Students should look at evaluation as a process used whenever information is sought.

One of the most important aspects of the research process is evaluating the quality of each of your sources in order to determine which provide good information and which do not. The key is to Question Authority. Not everything in print is true, even if found in a scholarly work on the library's shelves. Just as novels, films, and music are regularly criticized, so too with scholarly work. Begin to Think Critically. Learn to utilize library resources such as biographical sources and periodical reviews to authenticate the information you find.

It is important to remember that not all periodical articles are equally good. In fact, the quality of most articles can be anticipated by identifying what type of periodical that they were printed. There are three types of periodicals: newspapers, magazines, and journals (sometimes called either "professional journals" or "peer-reviewed journals"). The value of these periodical types rests in the depth and quality of research of the articles and the reliability of the authors. Newspapers are good for telling you the news, but very few provide much in-depth research. Magazines are written to be easy and entertaining to read, so their articles are usually short, have lots of pictures, and are not very scholarly. The best and most reliable periodicals for researchers are journals. This is because journals are written by professionals and their articles are reviewed and edited by other professionals (hence the term "peer-reviewed") to insure the accuracy of their content. Most journals offer long, detailed articles complete with bibliographies (lists of the sources used by the authors when they wrote the articles).

Relevance

Does this article address the issue that you are researching? A source is relevant if the majority of it is tied to the subject you are researching. Today many students search on databases or the Internet, and often the items found by such searches are not really about the desired topic. A search using the term "AIDS," for example, might find an article such as "Training Teachers How to Use Teaching Aids." While the word "AIDS" was part of the title, this is obviously not an article about the AIDS disease.

Currency

Many of the best sources of information will be ones that have been recently written. Current articles offer up-to-date statistics and information, and usually, the newest research on your topic. This is not to say that older sources can't be valuable, but you need to make that decision. If you, for example, were writing a history of AIDS, older articles might be useful for finding out how it was treated ten or twenty years ago. If your assignment, however, is about current AIDS therapies, then your sources need to be current.

Look at the issue date on the cover of the periodical or on the Contents page, and ask yourself a couple of questions.

Do I need a historical overview for my paper? (For example, do you need a history of the ideas and debates on your subject?) If this is the case, a current publication date is not vital.
Am I working on a contemporary topic and thus need more current material? If your research topic is something like "Water Pollution," materials published before the 1950's are not likely to contain information on the dumping of toxic wastes into our drinking water. With this topic, you should begin your research for information dated after the 1950's.

Author's Credentials

One key part of evaluating a source is to look at the person or persons who wrote it. The author's credentials can show if the author is a specialist, or has done research on the subject. Obviously a medical article written by someone who is not a doctor would be suspect-just as an article on economics written by a chemist might be suspect. Specifically, you should try to answer the following questions about the author.

Is the author's education related to this subject?
Is this author well known in the field?
What else has this author written on this subject?
Have other experts critically examined the writings of this author? (If so are they favorable about the item you are looking at?)

Content

Does the source you are using contain information appropriate for your topic? To make this determination, scan the following Abstract of the article. Often it will summarize the article and assist you in determining its relevance without having to read the entire article.

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources that were used in writing an article. A good source lets the reader know where the information came from. This allows the researcher to either double check the author's conclusions or to find out more about the subject. If a source does not provide a bibliography, the researcher has to guess how much the author actually knows about the subject.

The bibliography is frequently found at the end of the article. It may also be used to give you lists of additional sources for your paper. Many of the better periodicals include bibliographies, even if occasionally they are called something other than " Bibliography " (for example, "Recommended Readings").

Magazines for Libraries (REF Z6941 .M23)

After you have located an article or criticism in a periodical and have determined it to be useful for your paper, you should verify the credibility of the periodical. A more credible title adds strength to an argument or position statement within a term paper. For example, the National Enquirer and American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography are both periodicals; however, one is more appropriate than the other for assessing the writings of William Faulkner. To help you decide which title is more appropriate (or credible) refer to Magazines for Libraries. This particular source provides an annotated list and evaluations of some 6500 periodicals arranged by over 100 major subject headings. Experts on each field or subject wrote the descriptions of each periodical. Moreover, the annotations point out the strengths and weaknesses of each periodical in relation to similar titles. After reading the comments about the National Enquirer and American Literature: A Journal of Literary History..., it should be clear which periodical would best evaluate Mr. Faulkner's writings.

To access the annotations, refer to the title and subject indexes located at the back of the volume. To find a critique of a given periodical, look up the periodical's title in the "Title Index." In this index, all of the periodicals are listed alphabetically. Find the title and write down the number that follows it. This number indicates a paragraph in the main body of the book that evaluates this periodical. Go to that paragraph and see if it specifies weather this periodical is a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, or journal. There will be a short description of the kinds of articles found in this periodical. The paragraph also describes the target audience and the type of library (if any) in which this periodical would be appropriate. Using this information it is possible to determine if a periodical is a journal or magazine. For example, if a periodical is described as appropriate for a research library it is more likely to be a journal or a well-respected magazine.

The "Subject Index" works like the "Title Index;" however, you look up a topic or subject instead of a title. In this index, the numbers are listed below each subject. Again, each number indicates a paragraph-long description of a periodical that is relevant to that specific subject. Both indexes can be somewhat difficult to use, so don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help.

Example of a Periodical Evaluation

The year 2002 was the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the then unknown lands of the American west. If you log on to any of the databases available through the Hartfield Library, you can find many articles about the Lewis and Clark expedition. For example, using InfoTrac's database Expanded Academic Index and the search terms "Lewis and Clark" finds over 500 articles. One such article is listed and evaluated below.

The article is: Hall, Brian, "The Slave Who Went With Them," Time, July 8, 2002, Vol. 160, issue 2, p. 58.

Relevance: This article is about one member of the expedition; William Clark's slave and "manservant" named York. If you are researching the expedition, information about a distinct member of the expedition could be useful, so this article would be relevant to your research.
Currency: Since this article was written very recently during a spate of bicentennial related research on the expedition, it is a very current source of information.
Author's Credentials: The article gives no information about the author other than his name. Using the Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index, we find that two Brian Halls are listed; one, Brian (Jonathan) Hall, is described in volume 137 while the second, Brian (Patrick) Hall, is described in volume 9. A quick read of Brian (Patrick) Hall's entry shows an author of books on chemistry and psychology. He is probably not the author we are looking for. The entry for Brian (Jonathan) Hall indicates that he does write for a magazine called Travel-Holiday as well as for the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Perhaps then, this indicates that he may be the correct Brian Hall. If he is the correct Brian Hall, his education is a Bachelor's Degree and he has written a novel and articles for a newspaper and a travel magazine. As such he certainly does not seem to be a specialist in either American history or the Lewis and Clark expedition. If we do not have enough information to be certain that we are evaluating the correct author, we can also evaluate the article by deciding if it came from a newspaper, magazine, or journal. Using the 'Title Index' of Magazines for Libraries, we find that Time is assessed in paragraph 5952. This paragraph-long analysis of Time identifies it as a "news magazine," not a journal.
Content: The article is listed as "Brief." In fact it totals but 727 words. This is about one half page. While the identification of York as a slave might be interesting, it is clear that a half-page long article isn't going to offer much in the way of substantial information for a research paper.
Bibliography: The article gives no indication of where Brian Hall found the information that he used when he wrote this article.

Conclusions

While this article is relevant to a paper on the expedition, the author is not a specialist, the article is very short, and the periodical it was published in is a magazine, not a journal. So, it is a pretty good bet that better and more useful articles on the expedition could be found and should be used as sources for your paper.

Additional Resources

Critical Evaluation of Resources University of California Berkeley Library

Critically Analyzing Information Sources Cornell University Library