Printer-friendly version
How to Evaluate the Information Sources You Find
Evaluating the authority, usefulness, and reliability of the information you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, multimedia titles, or Web pages are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item, a physical item in hand, or an electronic version on a computer. ALL SOURCES: Critically Analyzing Information Sources lists some of the questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.
BOOKS: Use book reviews to gather critical information about books. Three quick ways to access them online [Cornell users only]:
More sources for book reviews at Book Reviews: A Finding Guide. PERIODICALS: Distinguishing Scholarly from Other Periodicals shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.
Download videos: identifying scholarly journals identifying news sources
Evaluating Web Pages: Questions to Ask & Strategies for Getting the Answers is an excellent guide from UC Berkeley.
Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites is a brief table of tips and questions to ask.
|
Return to Guide to Library Research at Cornell
Revised 18 September 2012 [MOE]
Michael Engle
Research & Learning Services
URL: http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/evaluate.html