Learning Skills
Evaluating Internet Resources
In this information age we are surrounded by information sources, such as: books; journals; academics; audio-visual media; electronic & web resources. But not all these sources of information are equal in terms of quality, accuracy and reliability. This makes the critical evaluation of information resources a crucial step in the academic research process.
When writing your assignments, if you use poor quality information sources or cite misinformation, it will degrade the quality of your work. Therefore, it is your responsibility to carefully and critically evaluate the information sources you use to write your assignments.
The following checklist will assist you to critically evaluate the value of information from both print and electronic resources. The more checklist questions that you are about to answer, then the more likely the resource is of higher information quality. If you can not find an answer to one or more of these questions, then you should probably not rely on that resource.
Checklist:
- Scholarly/Academic Peer Reviewed Journal Articles vs. Popular Information Sources
- Authority of Author / Publisher
- Accuracy
- Currency
- Relevance – including purpose, audience and coverage
- Objectivity
- Stability
Website evaluation, a useful 7-page guide
Here is a point to ponder in relation to your particular subject area
Is it suitable to use just one type of resource (print or web) or should I try to balance my use of printed and electronic resources?