Blog # 8

Critically Analyzing Information Sources

• There are five main parts of the source that one should look at
  • Author
  • Date of Publication
  • Edit or Revision
  • Publisher
  • Title of Journal
  • One must next look over the content of the journal if they find that the source is reliable
  • If there is an abstract or preface, it is important to read that over first to see if the source is even going to help with your research

Engle, Michael.  “Critically Analyzing Information Sources.”  Cornell University Library.  24 Sept. 2009 http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

Critically Analyzing Information Sources

• There are a couple main steps
  • Is there an author and what are his credentials
  • Look at date of publication, is it an out of date journal
  • Who is the publisher, many colleges publish and then these are usually scholarly journals
  • Now you must look at the content and see if it applies to your research
  • Consider if the content is biased or opinionated
  • Is the material primary research or secondary research
  •  

“Critically Analyzing Information Sources.”  Texas A&M University.  24 Sept. 2009 http://library.tamu.edu/help/help-yourself/using-materials-services/critically-analyzing-information-sources>

I find that after looking at these two articles that the most important aspect is making sure the author is reliable. In both articles, the authors said that checking the credentials and date of publication and other aspects of without even reading the article is the first thing to do. I found this very interesting because I always go right for the content to see if I can use it. I guess it makes sense to check this entire section first though because if it can’t be used, why even read it right? I also realized that I need to look into the type of writing and how biased the piece is more. Most of my articles so far, I have just picked them out because when I typed my topic into EBSCO HOST they came up and after quickly skimming them, I thought they would work. I now see that I have a lot more work than I imagined and a lot more critical reading than I thought. All of these steps are extremely important to finding reliable and informational sources. In order to write a well written paper and a paper that is backed up by legitimate information, one must complete these steps, no matter how lengthy the process.

Add a comment September 24, 2009