1. Evaluating Information Sources
Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood
Department of Library & Information Science
University of the Punjab
Lahore, PAKISTAN
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2. Evaluating information sources
for relevance – Book
• Skim its index for your key words, then skim the
pages on which those words occur.
• Skim the first and last paragraphs in chapters that
use a lot of your key words.
• Skim introduction, summary chapters, and so on.
• Skim the last chapter, especially the first and last
two or three pages.
• If the source is a collection of articles, skim the
editor’s introduction.
• Check the bibliography for titles relevant to your
topic.
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3. Evaluating information sources
for relevance – Article
• Read the abstract.
• Skim the introduction and conclusion, or if they
are not marked by headings, skim the first six or
seven paragraphs and the last four or five.
• Skim for section headings, and read the first and
last paragraphs of those sections.
• Check the bibliography for titles relevant to your
topic.
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4. Evaluating information sources
for relevance – Online
• If it looks like a printed article, follow the steps for a
journal article.
• Skim sections labeled “introduction,” “overview,”
“summary,” or the like. If there are none, look for a
link labeled “About the Site” or something similar.
• If the site has a link labeled “Site Map” or “Index,”
check it for your key words and skim the referenced
pages.
• If the site has a “search” resource, type in your key
words.
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5. Use colour post-it to mark relevance
–Red - high relevance
–Blue – medium relevance
–Yellow – low relevance
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6. Evaluating information sources
for reliability
• Audience
• Authority
• Bias
• Currency
• Scope
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7. Audience
• What age group/education level/political
affiliation/etc. is the audience?
• Is this for a person with in-depth
knowledge or a layperson?
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8. Authority
• Does the author’s name appear on the Web
page?
• What are his/her credentials?
• Does the author provide contact information?
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9. Bias
• Is the source objective?
• Could the writer or the organization’s
affiliation put a different spin on the
information presented?
• What is the purpose of the source?
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10. Currency
• When was the work published?
• When was the work last updated?
• How old are the sources or items in the
bibliography?
• How current is the topic?
• If a Web page, do the links work?
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11. Scope
• What does/doesn’t the work cover?
• Is it an in-depth study (many pages) or
superficial (one page)?
• Are sources and statistics cited?
• If a site, does it offer unique info not
found in any other source?
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