EVALUATING INFORMATION SOURCES

Scott Cowanscowan@uwindsor.ca

Fay Kennedywork@uwindsor.ca

AGENDA

• Talk about what sources of information are available

• How to evaluate the information

• How to search for the information

LET’S TALK RESEARCH….

MATCHING AN INFORMATION NEED WITH AN INFORMATION SOURCE:

WHAT IS OUT THERE??

SOME SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Newspapers/Magazines

• Dictionaries/Encyclopedias

• Books

• Data/Statistics

• Peer reviewed/Scholarly Journals

• Websites

MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

Examples of Periodicals and Magazines:•Time, Macleans, Nature, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Wired, Rolling Stone

•Either in print or online

• Often very current and immediate

• Offers a wide range of perspectives

• Articles are usually short/concise

• Usually not peer-reviewed or “scholarly”

(editors)

ENCYCLOPEDIAS/DICTIONARIES

• Excellent overviews – useful for introduction to a topic/concept

• Well-organized

• Wide range of topics

• Provide further readings

• Example: Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia

WIKIPEDIA – GOOD OR EVIL??

• Who wrote it?

• Can report incorrect information (has a history of reporting wrong deaths/information

• Can be biased

ENCYCLOPEDIAS/DICTIONARIES

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS

“A scholarly book or treatise on a single subject, complete in one physical piece, usually written by a specialist in the field.”

• Comprehensive, covers many aspects of a topic

• Written by experts, edited by publishers

• Can take years to research, write, and publish

• Usually long

SAMPLE BOOKS & MONOGRAPHS

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

• Can also be called academic• Research/review articles written by experts• Evaluated by scholars for its content and accuracy• Very specialized; articles focus on a specific aspect

of a topic• Reviewed by editors and/or subject specialists

before being published• Sometimes too specific for an overall picture of a

particular topic

• Example: Canadian Journal of Psychology

GENERAL WEBSITES

Advantages

• Immediate and fast• Readily searchable• Multiple points of view

available• Vast amounts of

information available almost anywhere 24/7

Disadvantages

• Quality and reliability of information frequently questionable

• Information can be very general

• Finding information can be difficult

• Sites or information can disappear over night

OTHER KINDS OF RESOURCES

• Government Documents

• Government Statistics

• Market information

EVALUATING INFORMATION SOURCES

ACCURACY: What is the source? Is it reliable? Are the links accurate? Believable? Cited?

AUTHORITY: Who is the author? Qulaifications? Is it sponsored by an organization?

CONTEXT: Does the content help with my research? Biased? Is it trying to sway you?

CURRENCY: When was it written/published? Kept up to day?

COVERAGE : Do I understand it? How is it presented? Use of graphics, text, stats? In-depth?

HOW TO FIND SOURCES

• Use Leddy Library databases- search by subject or title if you do not

know the name of the journal- Browse journals is you know the name of

the journal the article is in• Use Google Scholar

- In Google, type Google Scholar and then click on advanced search

• Other Search Engines?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SEARCH TERMS

• Words are how we find information

• Different resources use different words

• Have an arsenal of search terms at your disposal

Names

Other Spellings

Dates

Places

Synonyms

Vocabulary

Concepts

Descriptions

SEARCH HINTS

AND OR NOT

Truncations (*) finds all forms of a word Example: econom* will find economy, economics, economical,

etc.

Wild Cards (?, $) Wom?n will find woman, women Behavio?r will also find behaviour

Phrase Searches Use with two or more words in an exact order Example: “World Series,” “Civil War”

FROM QUESTION TO CONCEPTS

Is incarcerating male perpetrators of violence against women an effective response to the problem?

•Key Concepts:IncarcerationMalesViolence against womenEffective

Prison, mass incarceration, prison abolitionMenDomestic violence, batteryPrevention, intervention

*Finding good information can take patience and thoughtful planning*

DEAD ENDS?

• Difference resources?• Different approach?• Reword question?• Broaden question?• Narrow focus?• Different source?• Different database?

LET’S PRACTICE!!