Evaluating Resources
Searching the Internet can generate a great deal of information. While some is credible and useful, you can also find a lot of misinformation and poorly researched material. As you become more skilled at searching and locating academic resources, you will be able to determine useful and credible information more quickly. In the meantime, consider using the following evaluation framework.
Evaluating Resources
The Ronald Williams Library at Northeastern Illinois University created this succinct video with tips to help you evaluate information you find online.
The CARS Checklist for Online Source Evaluation
The CARS Checklist for Online Source Evaluation (Harris 2010[1]) presents a framework you can use to determine whether an online source is credible, accurate, reasonable, and supportive.
Credibility – Trustworthy source, author’s credentials, evidence of quality control, known or respected authority, organizational support. Goal: an authoritative source that presents trustworthy evidence.
Accuracy – Up-to-date, factual, detailed, exact, comprehensive, audience and purpose reflect intentions of completeness and accuracy. Goal: a source that is current (not yesterday's news) and presents the whole truth.
Reasonableness – Fair, balanced, objective, reasoned, no conflict of interest, absence of fallacies or slanted tone. Goal: a source that engages the subject thoughtfully and reasonably, concerned with the truth.
Support – Listed sources, contact information, available corroboration, claims supported, documentation supplied. Goal: a source that provides convincing evidence for the claims made that you can triangulate (find at least two other sources that support it).
Source: Harris, Robert 2010, Evaluating Internet Research Sources. VirtualSalt. Accessed Oct. 17, 2001
Reading Plus Annotation
- Read Evaluating Internet Research Sources.
- Log in to Hypothes.is and post comments and annotations as appropriate (Remember to include the course tag: lida101 in your post.)
- If there are a large number of public posts, click on the search icon and enter the course code (lida101) to filter posts for this course from the public feed.
- Try to find one example online to illustrate the point sharing the link in an annotation or comment. Replies and comments are encouraged.
Did you find this resource valuable? Feel free to share your thoughts by posting on the course forum, for example:
- When evaluating resources, I didn’t realize that …
- Evaluating online resources is harder because …
- Evaluating online resources is easier because …
Note: Your comment will also be displayed in the course feed.
References
- Harris, Robert 2010, Evaluating Internet Research Sources. VirtualSalt. Accessed Oct. 17, 2001.