Information Literacy

It's important to understand that every question has a variety of options for being answered.

However, there are some information sources that are more appropriate for a particular question than others. If you want the definition of an unfamiliar word, you need a dictionary. When you have questions about a current event, your best bet is a newspaper. If you are assigned to write a paper about the contributing factors leading to the French Revolution, a history book written by a respected historian is a better resource than a blog post. However, if you need some baseline information about the French Revolution to help direct or refine your research plan then an encyclopedia would be helpful. Have you used the same word too many times in a paragraph you're writing? Thesaurus. Or maybe you want to look at letters written by people who lived in a time closer to that time in history. In that case, an archive would be the place to go. 

This is why it's important to spend some time discussing the types of information sources that are currently out there to help you complete your research with accuracy and efficiency.  

When evaluating a source, it is important to look at the elements that will tell you whether this is an appropriate source to answer the question you are asking. 

Critical Analysis

Author – What credentials does the author have in the subject they are writing about? What institutions or organizations is the author associated with and are they credible? If they are a scholarly author have they been cited by other writers?

Date of Publication – When was this source published? (title page of a print book or bottom of a webpage) How important is date of publication for the topic you are writing about? If your research is on history then this wouldn’t be as much of a factor, but for technical or medical topics then recency is very important.

Edition or Revision – For research on a topic that requires up-to-date information, it is important to check for the edition number for that source. Additionally, there may be revised versions of articles for journals or websites that you should look for before deciding to use that source.

Publisher – Who published this source? Is this publisher scholarly or less formal? Depending on the research need, the reputation of the publisher is important to evaluate.

Title of Journal – Does the title of this journal tell you anything about the authors, publisher, or expertise on the topic? A journal called, “The Library Quarterly” tells you that it is likely written by and for librarians. Another quick search tells you that it is published by the University of Chicago, making it a credible scholarly source.

A similar framework is used to assess the content of a source you are considering using.

Authority – Do a search on the author of the source you are considering to see if that author is qualified to be writing about the topic, what is their research focus, what school or company are they associated with and what is their role there.

Purpose – Take a minute to consider why this article or story was written. Does there seem to be a motivation or bias you can see? Does it seem to be trying to convince you of a position or just stating the facts? Who is the intended audience for this material? Other experts or laypersons in that field?

Publication and Format – Was this resource published by a university or some other less formal publisher? Did the publishing process utilize fact checkers or peer review to be certain of the accuracy of the content? Was this resource translated from one language to another? Does the format, whether it’s a digital copy of a journal article or a video on YouTube, tell you something about the purpose and intended audience?

Relevance – As you scan the contents of the information source, be sure that it is relevant to your research topic and meets your information needs. Titles or headlines can be misleading and not reflective of the content of the story or article.

Documentation – Does the author of this source correctly cite their sources? Are the cited authors also credible sources of information? Are their arguments supported by credible information? Are they leaving out relevant information in a biased way?