Evaluating What You Find

Why? How? What?

Bibliographic Criteria
Authority
Currency
Intended Audience
Source/Publisher

Content Criteria
Accuracy
Coverage/Scope
Objectivity/Bias
Quality
Relevance

Activity

 

Relevance

When examining an information resource, it is important to decide if the content is appropriate for your task or assignment. To make this determination, examine the table of contents and index to get an overview of the resource, and ask yourself:

• Will the information contained in the resource satisfy the information need?

• Is the content relevant to your research questions or to the questions posed in the assignment?

• Is the information written at the appropriate level for academic research? In other words, is the information published in a scholarly or popular publication?