forec473-wanda's presentation

Forest Economics 473

Evaluating Information

Sept. 20, 2011

Academic Publications

Contain bibliographies and citations to indicate original source of information in the article Can be published in electronic or paper journalsOften have a narrow content focus

Academic Publications

Known as scholarly, academic, or peer-reviewed articlesReport of review current scholarly research findingsPeer reviewedTarget audience: University students, professionals and researchers in the field

Evaluating Academic Publications

Cannot simply accept that all published research is QUALITY researchYellow Handout: “Characteristics used to judge the quality of a published paper”

Evaluating Academic Publications

Some basic things to consider:Is there bias? What is the publication date? What is the reputation of the author?Who does the author work for? What is the reputation of journal or

publisher?

As your expertise grows, you can also ask . . .

Are the objectives and statement of the problem clear? Is the language and structure of the paper clear?Is the quantity, quality, and validity of the data acceptable?Is the methodology clearly described and appropriate?Do the conclusions and interpretations follow from the data presented?

Newspapers/Magazines

Purpose is to entertain (as well as inform) Target audience: general public (Gr.6)Rarely cite information source (no bibliography)Content controlled by editors / advertisersOften have a well-recognized bias

Evaluating Newspapers / Magazines

Variability of quality in terms of correctness of information. Ranges from very high to very low Focus on date, author reputation, publisher reputation Find primary sources or multiple verifications for “facts” included. Use for public opinion, current trends, rapidly changing information (such as prices) rather than as source of research data

Websites

Completely uncontrolled – created and mounted by anyone for any purposeHuge variations in information quality and target audiencesMay or may not cite information sources Good information on web is often not free

Evaluating Websites

VERY IMPORTANT TO CAREFULLY EVALUATEhttp://www.dhmo.org/

Cream Cream Handout: Evaluating Web Resources Checklist http://www.library.ualberta.ca/instruction/science/evalweb.pdf

Part 2: Resources to Consider

Good places to start:Library Catalogue: Don’t forget about books! Library home page subject links to Databases and Resource Guides

Databases-Scholarly

CAB AbstractsAgricolaWeb of Science USDA Forest Service Database(FS Database)Scirus

Database-Canadian News

Canadian Newsstand – full text of major Can. newspapers

CBCA Full Text Reference - full text of newspapers, magazines and

journals

Canada Newswire – full text of Can. Business news

CPI.Q – full text of Globe and Mail; indexes Can.

and Int’l periodicals

Websites

Canadian forests-Forest Industries Directory Website: http://www.canadian-forests.com/forest_industries.html

Natural Resources Canada:http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/com/

Citing References

To help you with your references and bibliography, the University of Alberta has subscribed to RefWorks.What is RefWorks? It is a web-based citation manager that helps you to build a database of references, organize your references and then use them in your papers. It will construct a bibliography based on the citations you have put in your paper

Citing References

To access RefWorks, go to:www.RefWorks.com

ORhttp://www.guides.library.ualberta.ca/refworks

You can access this service anytime, anywhere at no cost or fee.

Tips for Citing References

Use any citation guide for assignment, but you must be consistent.U of A Library Research GuidesForestry specific citation styles,d.g., Can J Forest Research http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjfr

Questions????

Wanda Quoika-Stankawanda.quoika-stanka@ualberta.caPh. (780) 492-1448