1. Mindy Wilmot Reference Librarian
Evaluating Sources
Mindy Wilmot
Reference Librarian

2. Evaluating (Qualifying) Sources
“A piece of information is Academic if it is accepted as Academic by those in the field” (Badke, p. 19)
So how do you prove it?

3. I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy
By Lori Andrews

4. Evaluating Books/Authors
Book Review Digest
EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier
Amazon (last resort)
Contemporary Authors
Gale Biography in Context

5. Book Review Digest (book)
Start with the year book was published. May need to look in previous year and following year. Look up by author’s last name.

6. EBSCOhost (book) Go to EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier
Type in the title of the book
Limit to
Full text
Review

7. EBSCOhost (book)

8. EBSCOhost (book)

9. Editorial NOT
customer reviews
Amazon (book)

10. Contemporary Authors (author)
Start by looking up the author’s name in the index. The index will tell you which volume to look in. Authors’ names are listed in alphabetical order.

11. Contemporary Authors (author)

12. Gale Biography in Context (author)
Type in author’s name
Look under “biography” tab
Includes “Contemporary Authors Online”

13. To double check your author…
Check the jacket cover

14. “Protecting Privacy After Death”
By Natasha Chu

15. Evaluating Periodicals/Authors
Magazines for Libraries
EBSCOhost
Gale Biography in Context
EBSCOhost (article itself)
Search Engine (last resort)

16. Magazines for Libraries (periodical)
Search for title of periodical in the Title Index. You will be given an entry number. Look for entry number.

17. Magazines for Libraries (periodical)
NOTE: this journal not found in Magazines for Libraries.

18. EBSCOhost (periodical)
You can look up the publication in EBSCO (or click the title of the periodical when you are looking at the article).

19. Contemporary Authors (author)
You can use the same methods you used for the authors of books. It often doesn’t work, however, because they are often scholars and not authors, per se.

20. EBSCOhost (author)
Look at the article itself or in the bibliographic information for the article. Most often, they will tell you the affiliation of the author.

21. Search Engine (author)
Now that you know the affiliation of the author, you can search the name on Google or some other search engine to get more information.
Note: Look at her bio from the site Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati under “experience”

22. Explain why the source is appropriate
Don’t just say “it looks good.”
Is the author an authority? Explain
Does the book have favorable reviews? Explain
Is the periodical scholarly or academic in nature? Explain
Is the periodical peer reviewed?