1. Credibility of Sources
How can you tell if a source is going to be credible or reliable ?

2. Primary sources
A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand information.
Eye witness accounts are also a primary source, but are less reliable than a document.

3. A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand information.
historical and legal documents
results of an experiment
statistical data
art objects
eye witness accounts

4. Secondary sources
A secondary source is something written about a primary source.
You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondhand source.

5. Secondary sources Secondary sources include: comments on
interpretations of
discussions about the original material

6. Secondary sources Secondary source materials can be:
articles in newspapers
popular magazines
book or movie reviews
articles found in scholarly journals that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research

7. What is the source of the information being considered?
Publication -Date - is the information current, or does it need to be current?
-Reputation of publication - is the source well known and trustworthy?
-Kind of publication - is it a scientific report,   eye-witness account, a work of fiction?

8. Checklist for Information Quality
CARS is an acronym for . . .
Credibility,
Accuracy,
Reasonableness,
and Support
CARS
Students write these notes on the paper they already started with the "Fast Five" info text reading activity.
This poster is FREE in my
Checklist for Information Quality

9. CARS Credibility Check the URL (.gov or .edu)
Check the sponsor (a univ or goverment or medical agency)
Can you identify the author?
Purpose (are they selling or informing or just talking?)

10. CARS Accuracy Correctness Up to date (for what it is) Spelling
Grammar mistakes

11. CARS Reasonableness Tone (is it angry or whiny or professional?)
Bias (does it lean more toward one side?)
Logic (does it make sense?)

12. CARS Support Sponsored Cited (research evidence provided)
Contact information

13. Author or Speaker -Qualifications - is he an expert in his field?
-Bias - is he one-sided in his point-of- view?
-Values - what does the author value in regards to the topic?
-Chance for personal gain - does the author stand to benefit from his position?

14. Means of getting the Information
-Witness or researcher - was the author or speaker a first-hand witness to the information or did he gather it from some other source? 
-Equipment - what kind of equipment was used to record information?          

15. How Credible?

16. How Credible?

17. How Reliable?

18. How Credible?

19. How Reliable?

20. If you were doing a report on Barack Obama, rank these sources from most reliability to least reliability.
1. A recent Time magazine article
2. An encyclopedia article dated 1/30/05
3. An article in the National Enquirer
4. A blog by Obama’s campaign manager
1,2,4,3

21. Rank the following resources from greatest reliability to least realiability for an essay titled “War in Iraq.”
1. Newspaper article “War in Iraq” by a war correspondent
2. Tabloid article “What They Don’t Let Us Know”
3. Internet site on Iraq and the postwar period
4. Journal of a soldier serving in Iraq
1, 4, 3, 2

22. Rank these sources from most reliable to least reliable.
1. Article in The Tennessean
2. Eyewitness account
3. Internet article
4. National Enquirer Magazine
2, 1, 3, 4

23. Perhaps the best way to think of the reliability of information is to think of it as existing on a scale, rather than falling into the categories of reliable or unreliable. Information can range from very unreliable to highly reliable and also anywhere in between.

24. How reliable is the Internet?
Let’s check out this
website on the tree octopus.
That’s right, it’s a complete hoax!!
The entire website (as well as MANY others) is a joke.
Remember – Don’t believe everything you read…..ESPECIALLY on the Internet.
Question: Is the internet a reliable source?
Answer: Not always….BE CAREFUL!

25. Rank these sources from most reliable to least reliable.
1. Internet website
2. Written diary of an eye-witness to an event
3. Newspaper article from USA Today
4. An article in a supermarket tabloid
2, 3, 1, 4