Evaluating information

The places we find information A short guide to information types commonly used for assignments Evaluating information

books Books often give an overview of a large or complex topic. Their length allows for exploring ideas in depth, both theoretical and practical They often contain the fundamental theories and ideas of a discipline However, due to longer publishing time, they may be not be current

Journals Evaluating information Journals are “scholarly” or academic and often focus on a particular subject They publish the latest theories and research Journal articles usually examine a specific aspect of an issue or idea Journal articles are usually long (10+ pages) Some journal articles are peer reviewed before publication to ensure quality Are generally published monthly or quarterly and are often more up to date than books for this reason Evaluating information

Magazines Evaluating information Magazines are not scholarly or academic They contain short articles Magazines are good for background information Professional magazines interpret events and current issues from the profession’s perspective Magazines can contain industry information from a more practical perspective Evaluating information

newspapers Evaluating information Offer in-depth coverage of a particular country, state or city Report on activities of government Good source of information about prominent people Contain obituaries and other genealogical information Eyewitness accounts of events Analysis of news and events Up-to-date coverage of breaking news Historical research using newspaper archives Evaluating information

Government publications Government publications are a rich source of quality information on many topics Often contain in-depth information difficult to find anywhere else Are generally accepted as containing factually correct information Many are now available on Departmental and Organisation websites Some examples are: reports, statistics, green papers, white papers, legislation Evaluating information

websites The C.R.A.P. test Evaluating information There are many different types of website: government, commercial, social, personal etc Generally government websites are considered reliable sources of information The following is called the C.R.A.P test, helping you decide whether information is worthy of use in your assignment: Currency: how up to date is the information? when was it last updated? Reliablity: is the information factual or opinion? Are there references and sources for the information provided? Authority: who is the author/creator of the page? What are their credentials? Is there a sponsor named on the site, are they reputable? Purpose/Point of view – is it biased? Is the website trying to sell you something? Try the Evaluation flowchart from Cardiff University Evaluating information

wikipedia Evaluating information Wikipedia is not an academic source and is not recommended for university assignments Wikipedia is useful for background information, helping you to understand your assignment question Wikipedia entries should always have the source they have derived the information from When Wikipedia pages contain reference lists, assess them in the same way you would any information using the C.R.A.P test. Eg: how current are the references? Are the journals reputable? If the Wikipedia article doesn’t acknowledge it’s sources, don’t use it! Evaluating information