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Published on March 3, 2021 | 5 minute read
"Don't believe everything you read" is true for information that you find in books, online, on social media, or anywhere. Even if a webpage looks professional and links to sources, it doesn't mean it's true and accurate.
Knowing how to assess if the information is true is a vital skill, now more than ever.
When publishers controlled publishing, they could face expensive lawsuits if they printed false or slanderous information. Publishers would not publish books or articles that were not accurate and had a review process that kept authors honest.
Publishers still do a good job of reviewing information that they print. However, some publishers have a reputation for printing "sensational novels, conspiracy theories, or supermarket tabloids.
Self-publishing is on the rise because a print book can be printed, and e-books can be uploaded to Amazon for a low cost.
Here are 7 questions to ask to determine if a book is useful for your assignment.
In the United States, there is minimal governmental editing or censorship of what is posted on the internet. Webpages that are outdated, unsupported, pranks, fake news, and conspiracy theories thrive on the internet. Websites need to be checked to verify that you can use them for your assignments.
Here are 10 questions to ask to determine if a webpage can be used for your assignments. If you cannot answer any question on this list, you may want to avoid using the webpage.
Beck, S. E. (2009). Evaluation criteria. Retrieved from New Mexico State University Library website: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
Branham, C. (1998). A student's guide to WWW research: Web searching, Web page evaluation, and research strategies. Retrieved from Saint Louis University, Department of English website: http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/cai/research
Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010). Truth be told: How college students evaluate and use information in the digital age (Project Information Literacy Progress Report). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED535166.pdf
Purdue University. (2010). Evaluating information sources. Retrieved from http://gemini.lib.purdue.edu/core/files/evaluating4.html
Virginia Tech University Libraries. (2013). Evaluating Internet information. Evaluating webpages for research. Retrieved from http://www.lib.vt.edu/instruct/evaluate
The checklist provides five basic aspects of a source that should be evaluated before the information is used for academic purposes.
Currency - Timeliness of the information
Relevance - Importance of the information
Authority - Source of the information
Accuracy - Reliability and truthfulness of the information
Purpose