Locating sources review presentation

Don’t Get Lost With Bad Sources:

Locate and Evaluate Credible Sources

LOCATING SOURCES

Where to locate sources?

Sometimes searching for sources can feel like trying to find a leaf in the forest…

How to evaluate print resources?

Before you read a source or spend time hunting for it, begin by looking at the following information in the citation to evaluate whether it’s worth finding or reading. Ask yourself:

Who is the author? What is the author’s educational background? What has the author written in the past about this topic? Why or how is the person considered an expert? What is the date of publication? •Who has published this resource?•Who is the audience?

The importance of evaluating Internet Sources

Anyone, and I mean anyone, can post information on the Internet. You want to utilize knowledgeable and reputable sources for your research. Therefore, you want to be cautious and you your evaluative skills when using Internet sources.

Tips to using the Internet effectively

Be aware of URLS: Gov: means government operated site.Edu: means educational institution site.Org: Site operated by non-profit institution.Com: Site is commercial.

Utilize search engines effectively:

Search engines organizes web pages and assorts them by specific key words.Common search engines include: Google, Yahoo, and Dogpile, Altavista, and Ask Use keyword searches.

Search engines are good for finding sources for well-defined topics. Typing in a general term such as "education" or "Shakespeare" will bring back far too many results, but by narrowing your topic, you can get the kind (and amount) of information that you need.

Instead of searching for “Shakespeare,” search for “women in Shakespeare’s tragedies,” or specific characters, such as “Ophelia.”

Authorship: Who is the creator of this

site? What are his/her credentials? Credibility: Does this site document

source material that it uses? Does it have a Works Cited Page.

Purpose/Content: What is the site’s mission? Is it biased/opinionated? Does it have anything you can purchase? Does it contain grammar/spelling errors? How this does information correlate with your other research?

Timeliness: When was this site created? Has it been recently updated? Is the information up-to-date.

How to evaluate Internet Sources

Questions

A lot of this information came from Purdue University’s Writing Lab

Questions