We live in an information age. The quantity of information available
is so staggeringly huge that we cannot know everything about a subject.
For example, it's estimated that anyone attempting to research what's
known about depression would have to read over 100,000 studies on the
subject. And there's the problem of trying to decide which studies have
produced reliable results.
Similarly, for information on other topics, there's not only a huge
quantity out there but a very uneven level of quality. You don't want
to rely on the news in the headlines of sensational tabloids near supermarket
checkout counters, and it's just as hard to know how much to accept
of what's in all the books, magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, journals,
brochures, Web sites, and various media reports that are available.
People want to convince you to buy their products, agree with their
opinions, rely on their data, vote for their candidate, consider their
perspective, or accept them as experts. In short, you have to sift and
make decisions all the time, and you want to make responsible choices
that you won't regret.
Evaluating sources is an important skill we need all the time. It's
been called an art as well as work--much of which is detective work.
You have to decide where to look, what clues to search for, and what
to accept. You may be overwhelmed with too much information or too little.
The temptation is to accept whatever you find. But don't be tempted.
Learning how to evaluate effectively is a skill you need both for your
course papers and your life.
When writing research papers, you will also be evaluating sources as
you search for information. You will need to make decisions about what
to search for, where to look, and once you've found material on your
topic, whether to use it in your paper.
What kind of information are you looking for?
Do you want facts? Opinions? News reports? Research studies? Analyses?
Personal reflections? History?
Where would be a likely place to look?
Which sources are likely to be most useful to you? Libraries? The Internet?
Academic periodicals? Newspapers? Government records? If, for example,
you are searching for information on some current event, a reliable
newspaper like the NY Times will be a useful source. Are you
searching for statistics on some aspect of the US population? Then,
start with documents such as United States census reports. Do you want
some scholarly interpretations of literature? If so, academic periodicals
and books are likely to have what you're looking for. Want to know about
commercial products? Will those companies have Web sites with information?
Are you searching for local history? Then a county library, government
office, or local newspaper archive is likely to be the most useful.
