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Archmere Academy Library: 3. EVALUATE

Serving the Archmere Academy Community

ANALYZE

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it."

- Samuel Johnson

Evaluate your sources

As you progress through your research, remember that your instructor expects that you will provide credible, truthful, and reliable information and you have every right to expect that the sources you use are providing the same. This step is especially important when using Internet resources, many of which are regarded as less than reliable.

Honest, Abe!

Evaluating Websites

Who Is?
Simply enter the domain name you're curious about, and learn the name of the owner and the organization behind the site.

 

T is for Thinking The ICYouSee Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web

More Questions!

Some other important questions to ask yourself...                            

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE? What did you already know about this topic?

MAIN POINTS: Use keywords and "bullets", not full sentences.

AUTHOR BIAS:  support/opposes/neutral

QUOTE: Identify a quote to back up your assessment of the author's view or a quote that sums up the essence of the article.

SO WHAT? (Why is this news important? Who is likely to feel the impact of this news?  What difference does it make?)

REACTION: What is your personal reaction to this news? How does the new information change your understanding this topic?

QUESTIONS: What issues remain unanswered? What else would you like to know?

Lateral Reading FTW

Crash Course - Navigating Digital Information #3

Look to your left. Look to your right. Look at this video. Today, John Green is going to teach you how to read laterally, using multiple tabs in your browser to look stuff up and fact check as you read. Real-time fact-checking can help you figure out what's real and what's not on the internet.  (2019)

Primary vs. Secondary

Is that source a Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary source? Make sure to track which source you're using - by doing so, you will be able recognize if the author is reporting on his/her own first hand experiences, or relying on the views of others.

Source Type Examples

Primary
A first person account by someone who experienced or
witnessed an event. The original document has not been
previously published or interpreted by anyone else.
  • First person account of an event
  • First publication of a scientific study
  • Speech or lecture
  • Original artwork
  • Handwritten manuscript
  • Letters between two people
  • A diary
  • Historical documents, e.g. Bill of Rights

Secondary
One step removed from the primary original source.
The author is reexamining, interpreting and forming
conclusions based on the information conveyed in
the primary source.

 
  • Newspaper reporting on a scientific study
  • Review of a music CD or art show
  • Biography

Tertiary
Further removed from a primary source. It leads the
researcher to a secondary source, rather than to the primary source.

 
  • Bibliography
  • Index to articles
  • Library catalog

From "Research Process: A Step-by-Step Guide: 3b. Primary vs. Secondary", Georgia Tech Library, https://libguides.gatech.edu/researchprocess, 2020.

ANOTHER INTERPRETATION:

Primary sources provide firsthand evidence gathered by the author(s).  They may be created or documented at the time of an event, as in scholarly research articles, reports, letters, speeches, diaries, photographs, conference proceedings, and newspaper reports. A primary source may also be  documented at a later time, such as autobiographies, interviews, memoirs, and oral histories...but these are still firsthand accounts. 

Secondary sources describe, interpret or analyze information obtained from other sources (often primary sources).  Examples of secondary sources  include many books, textbooks, and scholarly review articles. 

Tertiary sources compile and summarize mostly secondary sources.  Examples might include reference publications such as encyclopedias, bibliographies or handbooks.

  • Defining a source as primary, secondary, or tertiary can also depend on how you are using the material. A newspaper article may be both primary and secondary. This example is from the University of Maryland:
    • A magazine article reporting on recent studies linking the reduction of energy consumption to the compact fluorescent light bulb would be a secondary source.
    • A research article or study proving this would be a primary source.
    • However, if you were studying how compact fluorescent light bulbs are presented in the popular media, the magazine article could be considered a primary source.

      adapted from "Q. What are primary, secondary, and tertiary sources?" Richard G. Trefry Library, https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/2299

Domain Names

Domain names are handy little clues to let you know what kind of site/information you are looking at.

  • Educational Websites--Websites ending in .edu belong to schools and universities.
  • Government Websites--Websites ending in .gov belong to the U.S. government (Federal, State and Local). Information found on these sites are generally considered reliable. Click here for a complete list of U.S. government websites.
  • Corporate and Organization Websites--Websites ending in .com or .org belong to businesses or interest communities.  They are created to influence the viewer, to sell products or ideas.

Adapted from College Readiness Skills and Resources: Evaluating Websites, University of Kansas

What about Wikipedia?

Because Wikipedia is easily edited by the general public, it’s not considered reliable.  But it is commonly used and can be useful as a starting place for research, especially for finding the sources that are cited in each article.  In summary, here are some tips:

  • When you find an article on Wikipedia, scroll to the end for the bibliographical information.  This can lead you to the gold – the treasure of print and online information to further your research.
  • Wikipedia articles are also very helpful for gaining insight about a topic that we may not be familiar with.  While not reliable, it’s useful for offering overviews of subjects so that we can go forward with more confident searching.
  • Wikipedia is a good tertiary source of information, like print encyclopedias. Always find a second, reliable source of information to back up what is found on Wikipedia.

  • Wikipedia can be solid starting point for key words, and the sources listed and linked in their "References" or "Citations" sections can be great resources.

Adapted from "Is Wikipedia a Reliable Source?" https://libraries.blogs.delaware.gov
/2013/05/05/is-wikipedia-a-reliable-source/, 2013.

Evaluating Websites

The Five Ws

WHAT: What type of document is it?

  • A factual piece
  • An opinion piece
  • Article (Popular, published in a magazine or newspaper)
  • Article (Peer-reviewed, published in a scholarly journal)
  • Blog Post
  • Book
  • Column
  • Conference Proceedings
  • Editorial
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Press Release
  • Report
  • Review (e.g., a book review or film review)
  • Website

WHO: Who created the document?

  • Who wrote this? Where do they work? What has the author published before?
  • Does the author have a master's degree, Ph.D., or other qualifications (such as work experience) that contribute to his/her authority?

WHY: Why was the document published? (What was the writer's MAIN PURPOSE for writing?) 

  • To convince readers of something
  • To entertain readers
  • To inform readers
  • To sell something to readers
  • To criticize another author's work

What type of language does the author use? Formal (technical language) or conversational (everyday language)?
What is the author's point of view? Is it an objective, neutral perspective or interested, opinionated, favoring one side?

WHEN: When was the document published? When did the events or research occur? What was happening in the world at the time this was published that might explain why the author wrote what they did, when they did?

WHERE: Where did this information come from? What is the name of the organization that published this document? What type of publication is it? Was the document published in a...

  • Blog
  • Academic/Scholarly Journal
  • Magazine
  • Newspaper
  • Website

Has the publication/publishing organization won any significant awards or other distinctions? 
Where can you contact the author and/or publishing organization if you have questions or want more information? 

  • The author has an email and/or mailing address listed.
  • The publishing organization has an email and/or mailing address listed.
  • No contact information for either the author or the publisher is provided.

This publication is primarily intended for what kind of audience/reader?

  • Scholars and peers in a particular academic discipline 
  • An educated audience interested in a particular professional trade
  • The general public

If your publication is available online, what is the domain of the publication's Website?

  • .com OR .org OR .net
  • .edu OR .gov

HOW: How was the information gathered and presented? How did the author use his/her information?

  • References are cited throughout the document in a scholarly style. (There are footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations and a bibliography.)
  • References are cited throughout the document in a popular style. (There are in-text quotes and attributions, but there is no bibliography at the end of the document.)
  • References are not listed.

How did the author reach his/her conclusions?

  • Interviewed a group of people who are very different from one another
  • Interviewed a group of people who are very similar to one another
  • Gathered data from an academic research study he/she conducted
  • Gathered data from a variety of news sources
  • Found multiple academic research studies that support his/her study

Which of the following elements does the document contain?

  • Abstract 
  • Advertisements
  • Eye-catching fonts
  • Graphics (designs, cartoons, and illustrations not conveying data)
  • Graphs, charts, tables, and/or maps
  • Methods section 
  • Bibliography at the end

Overall, what is your impression of the document?

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