Evaluating for credible, authoritative, reliable sources: Why is evaluating information important?
Why evaluating sources is important to your education
Many of your instructors will ask you to use only credible, reliable and authoritative sources in your work.
Here are some definitions from Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary:
CREDIBLE:
offering reasonable grounds for being believed.
AUTHORITATIVE:
having or proceeding from authority; clearly accurate or knowledgeable.
Image source: "Stack of books2" by Auntieruth55, MikiMedia Commons is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Why evaluating sources is important to your life
There will be many instances outside of the classroom when you will make decisions based on information. If you know how to evaluate information, you will be able to make better informed choices.
For example, you might rely on your friend "the movie buff" for advice about what film to see on Friday night, but would you ask him to perform an operation if he has no medical background? Probably not.
Image source: "Doctor's Office in New Orleans" by Bart Everson, WikiMedia Commons is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Additional sources
These open access materials go more in-depth into related issues, strategies, and importance of evaluating information and resources.
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"Evaluate: Assessing Your Research Process and Findings"This chapter was published in The Information Literacy User’s Guide: An Open, Online Textbook by Allison Hosier, et al, SUNY Albany, 2014. It includes sections on Distinguishing Between Information Resources, Choosing Materials, Identifying Key Points and Arguments, and Evaluating Resources in Practice.
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Chapter 06 - Web LiteracyThis chapter was published in The Research Process: Strategies for Undergraduate Students by Rebecca M. Marrall and Jenny K. Oleen, Western Washington University Libraries, 2016. In this chapter, you will be able to: Identify the concepts of web literacy; learn about Google and Wikipedia as research tools; and explore the Digital Divide phenomenon.
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